Emily Cox loved the action scenes in new Viking drama The Last Kingdom

EMILY COX really got stuck into the BBC’s big Viking drama The Last Kingdom.

The eight-part epic, which started on Thursday, has Emily playing feisty Brida alongside Alexander Dreyman’s Uhtred.

“Alexander and I arrived on set a few weeks early and we were trained by the stunt co-ordinator along with Palma who is my stunt double,” says Emily, 30.

“I had a few fighting scenes which were fun.

“I also had to lie in the mud for three hours in the heavy rain it’s the most glamorous job in the world!

“And I have an axe so I learned how to throw it properly, which was pretty cool.”

But while Emily says she loved the action sequences, there was a time and place to hand over to the experts.

“The professional stunt guys, who are amazing, did the really complicated stunts,” she reveals.

“There was one in particular that’s one of the most dangerous to perform.

“As soon as the stunt man came on set, the whole atmosphere changed. We were all watching and you could really sense the intensity.”

The series is based on the books by Bernard Cornwell, who created Sharpe, and Emily also got another flavour of 9th Century life.

“We went to Denmark and got to sail on a real Viking ship,” she adds.

“There are a team of volunteers who, alongside their normal jobs, sailed this ship over five weeks from Denmark to Ireland.

“They told me that you can’t go under the deck and so, regardless of the conditions, you had to sleep on the deck in the open sea.”

The Last Kingdom, BBC2, Thursday 9pm.