Gudrun: Series 5-7

Jan 8, 2026 10:54 PM

Author:Lucy Catherine,Kate Phillips,Full Cast,Rosie Boore,Hollie Burgess

Gudrun: Series 5-7

Series 5-7 of the Viking epic of love, revenge and faith set in 11th-century Iceland

Born into a world of otherworldly beauty yet unforgiving harshness, Icelandic heroine Gudrun must fight to forge an independent path and live according to her own rules. A tenacious survivor, she has endured much pain in her young life, from widowhood to the death of her lover, the burning of her family home, separation from her beloved daughter, Sigrid, and being cut adrift from her homeland.

Now, after many years away, Gudrun sails once more into Icelandic waters, with a plan to rescue her daughter who is being brought up in the new Christian faith. But her return to the Sacred Land is not the homecoming she had hoped for, and she soon finds herself exiled again and heading for the New World, with all its new possibilities and new dangers.

Meanwhile, Sigrid arrives in England to marry a man she has never met. Struggling to understand this strange new land of Saxons and Danes, she must keep her darkest secret well-hidden if she is to survive...

Written by Lucy Catherine and inspired by the famous Icelandic Laxdæla saga, this epic tale of love, revenge and faith starsKate Phillips (Peaky Blinders, War and Peace) as Gudrun, with Rosie Boore and Hollie Burgess as Sigrid.

Written by Lucy Catherine

Directed by Sasha Yevtushenko and Jessica Dromgoole

Cast

Gudrun - Kate Phillips

Freija - Samantha Dakin

Dag - Cameron Percival/Joseph Ayres

Sylvia - Carolyn Pickles/Susan Jameson

Volva - Carolyn Pickles

Aoife - Lucy Doyle

Hakon/Guard 2/Priest/King Sweyn -Michael Bertenshaw

Bolli/Guard 1 - Lewis Bray

Aslak - Tony Turner

Sigrid - Rosie Boore/Hollie Burgess

Leif - Don Gilet/Chris Pavlo

Warrior - Don Gilet

Frederick - Simon Scardifield

Heidr - Jeannette Percival/Helen Clapp

Kjartan - Luke MacGregor/Ian Dunnett Jnr

The Virgin - Marilyn Nnadebe

Sailors - Chris Harper and Joseph Ayre

Gorm - David Hounslow

Canute - Aaron Gelkoff

Gunnar - Chris Pavlo

Panuk - Kenny Blyth

Saxon - Joseph Ayre

Vali/Dane - Chris Harper

Tofa - Debbie Korley

Jesus - Paul Hilton

Truda - Charlotte East

Monk/Servant - Ian Dunnett Jnr

Tobias - Hasan Dixon

Abbot Bettega/John Crescentius/Pope - Roger Ringrose

Nun - Emma Handy

Woman/Garvinicus - Jane Whittenshaw

Soldiers - Ian Dunnett Jnr and Hasan Dixon

Jesson at 7 - Harry Clarke

First broadcast BBC Radio 4: 3-14 December 2018 (Series 5), 20-31 May 2019 (Series 6), 1-12 March 2021 (Series 7)

Reviews

An affecting portrait of the Iranian revolution . . . leaves you simultaneously heartbroken and full of hope

—— Sunday Times

Explores the darkness and hope of a city on the brink of revolution . . . Epic. An impressive debut, not easily forgotten

—— Observer

Warm-hearted, compelling, hugely enjoyable

—— Times

A sweeping saga about the Iranian revolution as it explodes - told from the ground level and centre of the chaos. A Doctor Zhivago of Iran

—— Margaret Atwood, Twitter

Aria is a feminist odyssey, about a girl in a time of intolerance as the revolution in Iran is breaking out ... a poised and dramatic historical novel with contemporary relevance

—— John Irving

A beautiful book set against the pains and passions of the Iranian Revolution . . . It is a book about a particular time and place yet also, and perhaps more importantly, about the common hopes and intimate longings of lives so forcibly invaded by national events

—— Hisham Matar, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Return

Set in a vibrantly depicted Tehran and spanning a 30-year period leading up to the 1981 Iranian Revolution, Hozar's serpentine narrative shows how the inequality and corruption of Iranian society under the Shah gives way to something more sinister...it's a spellbinding debut

—— Mail on Sunday

This rags-to-riches-to revolution tale about an orphan girl's coming of age in Iran is sweeping, cinematic and oh-so gripping. In it we follow Aria as she searches for belonging and falls in love amid the political tumult of her age

—— Sunday Telegraph

Nazanine Hozar's immaculate first novel follows a group of Iranians in the lead-up to the 1979 revolution and marks the arrival of a major new voice

—— Alex Preston, Observer

The skilfully told story of a young woman struggling to find her place in intolerant, revolutionary Iran

—— i

An epic tale of turmoil in Iran. Its skilful blending of personal and political drama, along with its broad scope, richness of setting and vitality of character, gives it something of the quality of [Doctor Zhivago]

—— Guardian

Epic in scope . . . Hozar is a courageous and talented writer, excellent at capturing emotional complexity and interrogating her themes

—— The Irish Independent

Nazanine Hozar's stunning debut takes us inside the Iranian revolution - but seen like never before, through the eyes of an orphan girl . . . heart-pounding

—— Asia House Arts

An impeccable debut of a young girl's odyssey in the Iranian Revolution

—— Foyles newsletter

An alluring and enlightening read

—— Irish Times

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