Picture Credit: The Last Kingdom
One of Netflix’s best historical dramas, The Last Kingdom, is currently scheduled to depart the service throughout 2026. Removal will begin in Canada in March and is expected to continue in the United States and other regions by the end of the year.
Here is everything we know about why the show is leaving, when it expires in your region, and the history behind this beloved series.
When is The Last Kingdom leaving Netflix?
According to our data, the removal of The Last Kingdom will occur in waves, likely aligned with when the final season was added to the service in specific territories. The current removal schedule is as follows:
Removal date on The Last Kingdom on Netflix Canada – With thanks to Jason K.
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- United States: December 9, 2026
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- United Kingdom, Australia and most European territories: April 1st, 2028
Netflix Canada is the first major region to lose the title, with the removal date set for exactly four years after Season 5 premiered. For those in the US and other regions, the removal date is currently set for later in the year, giving you a bit more time to finish your rewatches of Uhtred’s saga. The United States date won’t be surprising to some if you caught our preview of the upcoming Original departures scheduled throughout 2026. As we noted in the article, which was only for US releases, Collider didn’t mention this when covering it without sourcing us.
Why is a Netflix Original leaving the service?
It always comes as a shock when a Netflix Original leaves the library, but in the case of The Last Kingdom, it comes down to ownership versus distribution rights.
For those who don’t know the show’s interesting backstory, it didn’t start as a Netflix Original. Based on The Saxon Stories by Bernard Cornwell, the series premiered in 2015 on BBC Two in the United Kingdom and BBC America in the US. The BBC produced the first two seasons, but due to budget constraints, they could not continue the ambitious historical drama alone. Netflix stepped in as a co-producer for Season 2 and then took over as the sole distributor and financier from Season 3 onwards. This saved the show and enabled it to run for five seasons (46 episodes), concluding Uhtred’s journey to reclaim Bebbanburg. Because the early seasons were BBC productions, the rights situation has always been a mix of licensing deals, which is why we are now seeing these expiration dates come up.
While the show is branded as a Netflix Original, Netflix does not own the property in perpetuity. The series is produced by Carnival Films. Netflix acquired the exclusive streaming rights for a fixed period, which appears to be four years following the release of the final season. With Season 5 releasing on March 9, 2022, the four-year licensing window for Canada closes on March 9, 2026. The US and other international regions often have slightly different contract terms or start dates, which explains the December departure.
What about the movie Seven Kings Must Die?
As of now, the follow-up movie, Seven Kings Must Die, which was released in April 2023, is safe for the immediate future. Our intel suggests Netflix got this for a 10-year period in all regions, meaning that it won’t be going anywhere until April 2033.
Where will it stream next?
Once the rights revert away from Netflix, the show will return to its production company, Carnival Films (part of NBCUniversal International Studios). This means the show could end up on Peacock in the US, or be licensed to services such as Amazon Prime Video or BritBox. In the UK, it is possible the rights could return to the BBC and iPlayer, but no new streaming home has been officially announced yet.
There’s also the chance that Netflix opts to renew the show itself and keep it streaming for the foreseeable future. The show and the movie have pulled in 154.4M views between 2023 and 2025, according to the Netflix Engagement Reports, so it’s absolutely still pulling in decent viewership
Are you disappointed to see The Last Kingdom leaving Netflix? Will you be squeezing in one last binge before it goes? Let us know in the comments.
