We might still be awaiting the return of Game Of Thrones original flavour to our screens (a little more than two weeks to go and we can feel the dragons' fiery breath on our backs), but what of Game Of Thrones origin flavour? Oh, stop groaning... We mean the prequel series. The new show has announced another batch of casting, with John Simm leading a fresh group that includes Marquis Rodriguez, Richard McCabe, John Heffernan and Dixie Egerickx.
Based on an idea by Thrones novelist/overlord George RR Martin, the show has been turned into a working concept by Jane Goldman, who will be steering it going forward. Set thousands of years before the stories now unfolding, it chronicles the world’s descent from the golden Age of Heroes into its darkest hour. And only one thing is for sure: from the horrifying secrets of Westeros’ history to the true origin of the White Walkers, the mysteries of the East to the Starks of legend... It’s not the story we think we know.
Naomi Watts, Josh Whitehouse, Miranda Richardson, Naomi Ackie, Denise Gough, Jamie Campbell Bower, Sheila Atim, Ivanno Jeremiah, Georgie Henley, Alex Sharp and Toby Regbo are all aboard, with most of their characters still a mystery aside from a brief mention that Watts will play a "charismatic socialite with a dark secret".
The pilot should be shooting this summer and will hopefully go more smoothly than the original Thrones launch episode, which was re-worked and re-cast after it was made the first time. And Game Of Thrones brings its story to a close starting on 14 April. If you'll be craving more once the final episode ends, we can also look forward to two-hour documentary Game Of Thrones: The Last Watch, airing a week after the series finale. Created by filmmaker Jeanie Finlay, who spent a year with the cast and creators, it promises "an up-close and personal report from the trenches of production, following the crew and the cast as they contend with extreme weather, punishing deadlines and an ever-excited fandom hungry for spoilers."
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