Game of Thrones HBO spin-off Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight finishes filming in Northern Ireland, with estimated £30m boost for economy
Filming has just finished in Northern Ireland for a new spin off from the Game of Thrones, with the resulting series due to air next year
The six part high-end HBO TV drama series, A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms, was filmed for four months on location across Northern Ireland, including Glenarm and Titanic Studios, with funding support from Northern Ireland Screen.
The first series is adapted from a novella, The Hedge Knight, by celebrated Game of Thrones author George RR Martin.
Season one will follow the exploits of the knight Ser Duncan the Tall (Peter Claffey) and his young squire, Egg (Dexter Sol Ansell), roughly 100 years before the events of Game of Thrones and 100 years after the events of House of the Dragon.
Their journey will take them to a competition in which they encounter several members of the Targaryen dynasty — including Prince Aerion Targaryen (Finn Bennett), Prince Baelor Targaryen (Bertie Carvel) and Prince Maekar Targaryen (Sam Spruell) — along with another knight known as the Laughing Storm, Ser Lyonel Baratheon (Daniel Ings), and a puppeteer named Tanselle (Tanzyn Crawford).
A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Screen told the News Letter: “A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms employed approximately 650 local crew members as well as hundreds of local extras while filming in Northern Ireland. A host of Northern Ireland facilities companies were used including catering, construction, lighting, camera and post-production services.”
Northern Ireland Screen estimates the series will generate investment of £30m for the local economy as well as reinforcing NI as a premier destination for global film and television projects.
The author, George RR Martin, has been teasing fans with updates on his blog about the series since June and hinting that further series may follow - depending on how popular it is.
He said:"The show will make its [TV] debut next year… and if it does well, The Sworn Sword the Mystery Knight will follow."
By that time, he hopes to have finished writing some more stories in the series, he said.
Earlier in the summer he told fans that he hoped to visit the set in Northern Ireland in person in July.
Sarah Adina Smith will direct three of the six episodes for Season 1 while executive producer Owen Harris will direct the other three.