--- title: "Game of Thrones" year: 2011 kind: "series" canonical: "https://film.one/tv/game-of-thrones" fi1m_score: 82 critics_score: 75 critics_reviews: 6 published: "2026-09-17T01:58:09.661133+00:00" updated: "2026-09-17T01:58:23.046393+00:00" region: "US" licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL." --- # Game of Thrones (2011) Created by David Benioff, D. B. Weiss · MPA TV-MA · Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Action & Adventure **Fi1m score: 82** · Critics 75 from 6 reviews *In a sentence:* Seventy-three episodes of people saying winter is coming, mostly while stabbing each other indoors > The biggest thing television has attempted, and for six seasons close to the best of it: a political drama in armour, with a cast that has no weak link. The last thirteen episodes hurry, and it shows, but not enough to keep you away. ## Synopsis Westeros, a continent with one king and seven great families who serve him grudgingly. At Winterfell, in the cold north, Lord Eddard ‘Ned’ Stark (Sean Bean) keeps order with his wife Catelyn (Michelle Fairley), his son Robb (Richard Madden), his bastard Jon Snow (Kit Harington) and his youngest daughter Arya (Maisie Williams). King Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), an old friend, rides north with his queen Cersei Lannister (Lena Headey), her twin Jaime (Nikolaj Coster-Waldau) and her brother Tyrion (Peter Dinklage), to ask Ned to become his Hand and run the kingdom for him. Across the sea, the exiled Daenerys Targaryen (Emilia Clarke) is married to a horselord in exchange for an army, with Sir Jorah Mormont (Iain Glen) at her side. Beyond the Wall, something has started killing rangers. ## Review David Benioff and D. B. Weiss took George R.R. Martin’s unfinished novels and made seventy-three episodes of television from them, over eight years. It is the largest thing the medium has attempted, and for most of its length it is one of the best: a story about who gets to sit in a chair, told through a dozen families who would each rather see the others dead. It also has a famous problem at the end, and we will come to that. The verdict first: watch it, all of it, and know that the last two seasons are not the reason the first six matter. The trick, Martin’s before it was Benioff and Weiss’s, is that the dragons are almost beside the point. For most of the first season there is barely a spell in sight. What there is instead is a king, Robert Baratheon (Mark Addy), who is bored of being king; his old friend Ned Stark (Sean Bean), dragged south to run the country for him; and the queen’s family, the Lannisters, who have other plans. The politics are played as politics: who owes money to whom, whose children are whose, which lord can raise how many men. We had the map of Westeros straight before we could pronounce half of it, because every scene tells you who is stronger. The cast has no weak link, which in a company this size is close to unheard of. Peter Dinklage’s Tyrion Lannister is the part people remember, and he earns it, playing a man who has decided that if the world will laugh at him he had better write the jokes. Lena Headey’s Cersei does more with a raised glass than most actors manage with a speech. Sean Bean plays Ned as a decent man who has never needed to be clever, and you can see the cost of that on his face in every scene set south of his own castle. Nikolaj Coster-Waldau’s Jaime begins as a sneer in gold armour and becomes something harder to place. It looks like money well spent, which is rarer than it sounds. Gemma Jackson and Deborah Riley’s production design gives every family its own architecture: the Starks in grey granite and bare timber, the Lannisters in red and gold, the throne room a hall of pale stone with a chair of melted swords at the far end. Michele Clapton and April Ferry dress the north in fur and boiled leather and the capital in silk, so you know where a scene is set before anyone speaks. Ramin Djawadi’s title theme, a cello working its way round a clockwork map, is one of the few pieces of television music a stranger will recognise from two bars. The photography passes between fifteen credited cinematographers over the run and is remarkably consistent for it, though one late night battle was too dark for many living rooms, ours included. Then there is the turn. Late in the first season the story does something we will not describe, and we watched it with a hand over our mouths, less because of what happened than because nine hours of television had quietly taught us it would not. We have watched a great deal of drama since, and little has startled us the same way. The lesson holds for years: being good, or clever, or right is no protection here, and after a while you stop trusting anyone’s armour. The problem is the ending, and it is a problem of arithmetic before it is one of taste. Seasons one to six have ten episodes each. Season seven has seven and season eight has six, and the story they carry is larger than anything before it. Characters who spent five years crossing a continent now do it between scenes. Decisions that would once have taken a season take a conversation. We sat through the final six episodes feeling something new in seventy-odd hours of watching: that the people making it wanted to be somewhere else. The battles are still the best staged on television, and Miguel Sapochnik, who directed several of the biggest, deserves the credit he has had. The scenes between them are where the hurry shows. Start it. Give it the first season, which is slow by design and never wastes a scene. If your patience gives out somewhere in the seventh, you will be in good company, and you will still have seen more good television than most series manage in a lifetime. Certificate 18, for reasons the first episode makes clear inside ten minutes. *Fi1m score 82, published 17 September 2026.* ## What the critics say Most critics greet the series warmly at the start, and the praise clusters in the same places: the writing, the size and detail of the world, and the cast. Several single out the ensemble, Peter Dinklage in particular, and the sets and costumes are repeatedly compared to a cinema production rather than a television one. Reviewers of the first episode find it brisk and confident, keeping the family feuds and palace politics in front of the fantasy, and read it as a political drama that happens to have swords in it. The one dissent is not about the opening at all. Radio Times, writing a year after the finale, argues that a weak last season undid seven strong years and let the show drop out of conversation faster than it deserved. That leaves a wide spread with a plain cause: five reviews judge a promising start, the sixth judges how it ended. ### Reviews we read (6) - **The Hollywood Reporter**, Tim Goodman (90/100, inferred): The critic finds that the series has all the dramatic elements that lure viewers to shows like The Sopranos, with exceptional storytelling, strong writing, superb acting and stunning visual effects. The ambition is immense, the fantasy world exceptionally well-conceived, and the writing and acting elevate it beyond contemporaries. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/tv/tv-reviews/game-thrones-review-174120/) - **Variety**, Brian Lowry (85/100, inferred): The series excels on multiple levels with its splendid ensemble cast, intricate palace machinations, sly humor and growing sense of inevitable conflict. The production’s look is a wonder, showcasing a variety of environments and ornate sets and costumes that approximate the feel of a theatrical blockbuster. [Read](https://variety.com/2011/tv/reviews/game-of-thrones-1117944992/) - **Radio Times** (30/100, inferred): The critic reflects on the series finale one year later, noting how a weak final season undermined seven strong years of television and caused the show to fade quickly from popular discussion. They praise the show's earlier scale and ambition while lamenting the rushed conclusion. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/tv/fantasy/game-of-thrones-finale-anniversary/) - **Den of Geek**, Ti (90/100, inferred): The critic praises the pilot as a confident, brisk and exciting entry point to the sprawling saga that keeps the human element front and centre with superb casting and attention to detail. It manages a gripping opening and dramatic conclusion that leaves viewers eager for more. [Read](https://www.denofgeek.com/tv/game-of-thrones-episode-1-review-winter-is-coming/) - **Collider**, Ethan Anderton (85/100, inferred): The critic calls it a stellar new series blending complex family feuds and power struggles with fantasy elements, highlighting the compelling interwoven stories, stellar writing, phenomenal cast, and stunning visuals in the premiere. [Read](https://collider.com/game-of-thrones-review/) - **Paste**, Josh Jackson (80/100, inferred): The critic sees strong potential in the HBO series as a gritty medieval political drama rather than high fantasy, praising the impressive sets, large talented cast including Peter Dinklage, and the scope of the story in the pilot episode. [Read](https://www.pastemagazine.com/tv/game-of-thrones/game-of-thrones-series-premiere-review) ## Details - **Created by:** David Benioff, D. B. Weiss - **Creator:** David Benioff, D. B. Weiss - **Director:** David Nutter, Alan Taylor, Alex Graves, Jeremy Podeswa, Mark Mylod, Miguel Sapochnik, Daniel Minahan, Alik Sakharov, Michelle MacLaren, Brian Kirk, Tim Van Patten, Daniel Sackheim, David Petrarca, Matt Shakman, Jack Bender, David Benioff, Neil Marshall, D. B. Weiss, Michael Slovis - **Writer:** D. B. Weiss, David Benioff, Bryan Cogman, George R.R. Martin, Dave Hill, Vanessa Taylor - **Story:** D. B. Weiss, David Benioff - **Teleplay:** D. B. Weiss, David Benioff, Jane Espenson - **Novel:** George R.R. Martin - **Cinematography:** Anette Haellmigk, Jonathan Freeman, Fabian Wagner, Robert McLachlan, Gregory Middleton, David Franco, P.J. Dillon, Martin Kenzie, Alik Sakharov, Matthew Jensen, Marco Pontecorvo, Kramer Morgenthau, Chris Seager, Sam McCurdy, David Katznelson - **Editor:** Katie Weiland, Frances Parker, Tim Porter, Crispin Green, Oral Norrie Ottey, Martin Nicholson, Jesse Parker, Yan Miles - **Music:** Ramin Djawadi - **Production design:** Deborah Riley, Gemma Jackson - **Costume design:** Michele Clapton, April Ferry - **Producer:** Greg Spence, Christopher Newman, Lisa McAtackney - **Cast:** Peter Dinklage as Tyrion 'The Halfman' Lannister; Kit Harington as Jon Snow; Sean Bean as Lord Eddard 'Ned' Stark; Mark Addy as Robert Baratheon; Richard Madden as Robb Stark; Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Sir Jaime 'Kingslayer' Lannister; Lena Headey as Cersei Lannister; Michelle Fairley as Catelyn Stark - **Certificate (MPA):** TV-MA - **Release (the US):** 17 April 2011 - **Genres:** Sci-Fi & Fantasy, Drama, Action & Adventure - **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KPLWWIOCOOQ ## Where to watch in the US - HBO Max: streaming, uhd - The Roku Channel: add-on, hd - Hulu: add-on, hd - Amazon Prime Video: add-on, uhd - Apple TV: buy, hd - Amazon Prime Video: buy, sd *Checked 2026-09-17.* Also available in: AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, EC, EE, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IL, IN, IS, IT, JP, LT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PA, PE, PH, PL, PT, RO, RS, SE, SG, SI, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country. ## Awards - Primetime Emmy Awards 2019: Outstanding Drama Series (won) - Hugo Awards 2014: Best Dramatic Presentation, Short Form (won) - Critics' Choice Awards 2013: Best Drama Series (won) - TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama 2013: TCA Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drama (won) - Primetime Emmy Awards 2012: Outstanding Costumes for a Series (won); Outstanding Special Visual Effects (won) - SAG Awards 2012: Outstanding Performance by a Stunt Ensemble in a Television Series (won) - TCA Award for Program of the Year 2012: TCA Award for Program of the Year (won) - Primetime Emmy Awards 2011: Outstanding Main Title Design (won); Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Drama Series (won) - TCA Award for Outstanding New Program 2011: TCA Award for Outstanding New Program (won) ## If you liked this - *I, Claudius* (1976), Fi1m 90: Roman palace murder on a shoestring; the same appetite for poison, played in a studio — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/tv/i-claudius.md) - *Ran* (1985), Fi1m 92: Kurosawa’s ageing warlord divides his kingdom among his sons, with predictable results and colour-coded armies — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/ran.md) - *The Lion in Winter* (1968): One royal family, one Christmas, every possible betrayal; O’Toole and Hepburn at their sharpest - *Wolf Hall* (2015): Court politics by candlelight, where a raised eyebrow is a death sentence and nobody raises their voice - *Shōgun* (2024): Feudal Japan as a chessboard of lords and hostages, with the patience Westeros lost late on --- © Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/tv/game-of-thrones