This is it. Our decade-beater. The one that has cleaved a jagged line through television as we know it and proved that fantasy on the box can be thought-provoking, epic, smart and, above all, brimming with blood, guts and raunchiness. An expertly put together adaptation of George R R Martins A Song Of Ice And Fire book series, Game Of Thrones has it all: fictional kingdoms that have a real world feel, long summers and ominous winters, power struggles, civil war, usurpers, movie-esque battles and brawls, dragons, knights, rebels, witches, wargs and so much more. HBO, youve done it again.
Major Players:
From Northern battlers Jon Snow, Arya and Robb Stark (Brits Kit Harrington, Maisie Williams and Richard Madden) to queen in waiting Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke), Game Of Thrones should be given Ser status for introducing us to such a range of new acting talent. Throw some seasoned thespians into the mix in Sean Bean, Mark Addy, Lena Headey and Diana Rigg, as well as fan favourite Peter Dinklage, and it doesn't take a beardy maester to deduce that cast is key to the shows success. Notable mention also goes to creators/show scribes D B Weiss and David Benioff for steering Martins doorstop texts onto the small screen with such apparent ease.
What Next?
Season four made a good claim for being the shows best run of episodes yet. But once it concluded earlier this year, you couldnt help but wonder if Weiss and Benioff were winging ravens Martins way asking him for a helping hand. As book fans will be fully aware, it is arguable that across four seasons all the best bits from Martins five books have already played out on the screen. With season five due to start filming imminently, the safe bet is that Martin was always going to be more involved in this season, where he will be on hand to coax along the intertwining plotlines and, with hope, offer up portions of his yet to be published Winds Of Winter to bulk out the plot of this upcoming order. The war rages on next year. Like the feature or want to share your thoughts? Got some other small screen gems you feel should have made the cut? Then don't hesitate to hit the jump and get commenting on the thread below.
Shaun is a former contributor for a number of Future Publishing titles and more recently worked as a staffer at Imagine Publishing.
He can now be found banking in the daytime and writing a variety of articles for What Culture, namely around his favourite topics of film, retro gaming, music, TV and, when he's feeling clever, literature.
