Why Game of Thrones is taking over the world
As season 7 of Game of Thrones arrives, Charlotte Runcie explores why it has become HBO's most successful series of all time.
The Telegraph, 7 November 2017.
If you appreciate human decency, sexual modesty or a general sense of fair play, thenGame of Thronesmight sound like something out of your worst nightmares.
Millions would disagree. Game of Thrones is HBO’s most popular TV series of all time,being shown in 170 countries and illegally downloaded more times than any other programme on the planet.
Even David Cameron is a fan, claiming to watch it “on the box set”. A series about the machinations of warring nobility in their quest for power, watched by our leading politicians? Reason enough to give it a spin, surely.
The series of the medieval-esque fantasy epic is based on the best-selling books by George R R Martin.
If you haven’t seen any of Game of Thrones so far, you might be wondering if it’s worth ploughing through 40 hours of fantasy hokum to get you up to speed. It certainly looks, at first glance, like a load of old nonsense comprising bare breasts, fighting, dragons and not much else.
Granted, all of those are there in abundance. But the cleverness of Game of Thrones is that, the more you watch it, the more you realise you’re actually enjoying the intricate power plays, the pitch-perfect comic moments, and the apparently inconsequential characters who grow through intense hardship towards power and glory.
If you don’t fancy bingeing on the backstory, why not try plunging straight in instead? Think of it as visiting a new country: don’t try to meet everyone at once, just get your bearings and explore. Most of the action takes place in Westeros, a landscape similar to medieval Europe and with hints of Roman conquest and the Wars of the Roses. But it’s not directly based on any real geographical area or historical period.
Don’t get too attached to anyone. The essential points to remember can be summed up in two lines, the first courtesy of the beautiful, vindictive and incestuously inclined Queen Cersei (played by Lena Headey): “When you play the game of thrones, you win or you die.” The second is said by a torturer prior to an act of horrific violence, but could just as well have been overheard at a script meeting: “If you think this has a happy ending, you haven’t been paying attention.”
As the many dynasties and powerbrokers of Westeros plot for control of the Iron Throne, the main seat of power, everyone’s lives hang in the balance. Game of Thrones delights in creating complex and engaging characters, giving them rich histories and rounded personalities, casting much-lauded British actors in the roles – and thenkilling them instantly.
The more famous the actor, the more likely it is that their character will be disembowelled in front of their children. I’ve got a strong stomach, but there are several episodes after which I’ve needed to have a quiet five minutes and a calming cup of tea.
But it’s utterly exhilarating to watch, and has something for everyone: if you’re worried you’ll feel adrift in a sea of meaningless fantasy, let the solid-oak cast, which over the course of the entire series has included Sean Bean, Charles Dance, Iain Glen, Anton Lesser, Mark Gatiss and now newcomer Jonathan Pryce, reassure you. And if anyone catches you watching during a particularly fruity sex scene, you can always deflect attention with a sharp “Did you know Diana Rigg is in this?”
It will become clear very quickly that it’s a show for grown-ups after all. And by then, you’ll have forgotten all about fair play.