ZED Lines Up AI-Produced Viking Docuseries

ZED has begun production on Knut, the Viking Emperor, a docuseries narrated by a group of international historical experts on the time period and produced with artificial intelligence.

Across four episodes, the series will trace the rise of a Viking warrior who, through a series of conquests, unites Denmark, Norway, Sweden and England under a single crown. The series is being produced for Histoire TV in France and has already been prebought by SVT in Sweden, ZDF Studios in Germany and Sky HISTORY in the U.K.

International experts will narrate the series, ensuring the historical accuracy of the content. All historical sequences are being reconstructed and re-created using generative AI software.

The first images will be unveiled at Sunny Side of the Doc in June. Delivery is scheduled for spring 2026.

“Knut is a great European epic, brought to life by an outstanding team of European partners,” said Manuel Catteau, president and founder of ZED. “This means a lot to ZED, and I hope the series will travel across all continents, allowing us to share our rich history and creative expertise with a global audience.”

Christophe Sommet, CEO of Histoire TV, commented, “As always, we strive to bring Histoire TV viewers the highest-quality entertainment and information series. Working with ZED on series of exceptional quality such as Knut affords us a competitive advantage in a crowded French TV landscape.”

“We are delighted to continue our successful relationship with ZED with this exceptionally high-quality production,” said Nikolas Huelbusch, Director Unscripted at ZDF Studios. “Following on from such great high-end factual programs as Ancient Mega-Cities and D-Day—100 Days for Freedom, we are excited to be able to add this outstanding production to our German-speaking catalog, in close collaboration with ZDFinfo’s history department.”

Kelly Hornsby, head of acquisitions for Hearst Networks UK, noted, “We’re excited to be a part of this innovative visual approach to the life and career of one of medieval Europe’s most iconic figures; a Viking warrior who, through cunning, guile and not a little ruthlessness conquered not only England but united her with Denmark and Norway in the great North Sea Empire. ZED are becoming a great partner of Hearst Networks EMEA, and we look forward to working more with them.”

Mikael Osterby, head of factual at SVT International, added, “Working with ZED is always a pleasure. Knut is the most thrilling of all Viking stories and almost too good to be true. We will work closely on developing the AI drama reconstructions, and I feel that my Viking genes will once again explore new grounds, finding new ways of telling factual stories. Our business is changing rapidly, and ZED is discovering ways of modernizing and developing how to make the audience keep watching our content.”