House Of The Dragon: Breaking Down Each Announced Cast Member

As far as the cast goes, all eyes should be on Matt Smith. In a role that is likely to be the next big villain of Westeros, Daemon Targaryen is having to follow in the footsteps of Joffrey Baratheon, Ramsay Bolton and of course, Cersei Lannister. These are big shoes to fill and whether he is up to the task or not will largely depend on the performance of Matt Smith.

A dragonrider and experienced warrior, Daemon is the heir to the Iron Throne but HBO are already teasing his potential Targaryen madness in his character description. Who he will clash with and how bad remains to be seen but expect Daemon to be a clear instigator of all the surrounding conflict.

Smith got his breakout role as the Eleventh Doctor in Doctor Who and was a popular version of the Time Lord. Since then, he transitioned into more serious work in his Emmy nominated performance as Prince Philip in the first two seasons of the Crown. These are high points for Smith and are a great exhibition of his nuance and dramatic range.

He can however, be known to slip into some slightly hammy performances such as his work on Terminator Genisys or Pride and Prejudice and Zombies (those films have more problems than just him, in fairness).

A lot of this season will hinge around how captivating a mad Targaryen Smith will be and if he can nail the pressure around getting a character like Daemon right.