MultiChoice and M-Net are giving DStv Compact and Extra customers the chance this weekend to join in the binge fun on M-Net Binge on DStv channel 900. Winning HBO Series Game of Thrones season 6 will air on the channel this weekend, just a few weeks before the new season starts on Monday 17 July.
Game of Thrones Season 6 episodes 1-5 will air this weekend, Saturday 24 June from 21:30 until 01:23, followed by episodes 6-10 on Sunday 25 June from 21:30 until 01:26.
DStv Compact and Extra customers can get a preview of the global phenomenon that is Game of Thrones before the premiere of the penultimate season, to entice them to upgrade to Premium when the new season starts. Game of Thrones season 7 starts on M-Net 101 on Monday 17 July at 2017 at 03:00 (Express from the US) and 21:30 (Prime Time).
Yesterday, HBO released another breath-taking social media campaign for season 7. The social media campaign included the anticipated second trailer, followed by the Twitter Emoji Engine which read: Character Posters are here. Tweet @GameofThrones using #WinterIsHere and an emoji to unlock the 12 #GoTS7 character posters the last was Character Art.
For this weekend’s season 6 broadcast M-Net Binge channel 900 will be using the following hashtags #GoTS6 #GoTNightVigil
Get to know more about Game of Thrones, visitm-net.dstv.com/show/game-of-thrones or mnet.tv. Follow M-Net on Twitter @MNet and Facebook www.facebook.com/MNet
Q & A Isaac Hempstead Wright and Aidan Gillen, completed in London, May 2017 for Game of Thrones season 7:
Isaac Hempstead Wright
(stars as Bran Stark)
Q: Where do we find Bran as we begin this season?
IHW: In the first episode we find Bran in a bit of a predicament. He’s lost Hodor who was basically his legs for the past six seasons. We’ve lost his direwolf, who has got a very deep connection with Bran and is practically a part of him as well as also being quite a valuable protection asset. Coldhands has also left him [Benjen Stark], who came and saved the day last time. So it’s now just him and Meera at the foot of the Wall.
Q: Is he even Bran anymore?
IHW: Not really. On top of all that he has now got this huge responsibility upon his shoulders of being the Three-eyed Raven. He’s no longer Bran Stark. He remembers what it was like to be Bran Stark, but then he remembers everything that’s ever happened in the universe ever. He’s got all this knowledge about Jon Snow and all the knowledge about the origin of the White Walkers – which may come in handy for defeating them. It all means that Bran is a really, really valuable asset for Westeros right now. He needs to make sure this information gets to the right people in time. As such, at the start of season seven Bran is on a mission to get to the right place and save the day.
Q: Crucially he is one of the few who knows what the enemy in the Great War is…
IHW: Yes, in fact Bran more than anyone, because he is now basically the arch enemy of the Night’s King. They are sworn enemies from the first day of time, the Three-eyed Raven and the Night’s King. So Bran knows better than anyone I think the terror and fear they should all be feeling with this threat looming over them.
Q: What’s it been like playing a character who began as a boy but is now barely human?
IHW: It was tricky to work out how exactly we would play him. It was clear that he needed to have this kind of emotionless, soulless, slightly mysterious aura to him, but we didn’t want it to be really dull and monotone. So it was trying to capture the fact that there was this massively interesting spark within him of basically knowing everything ever. At the same time the practical effects on the human mind that it would have were huge. Basically, David and Dan said read the ‘Watchmen’ comics: it’s like Dr Manhattan. When I was playing him instead of just focussing on the scene, I’d be listening to what the other characters were saying but at the same time trying to rush through millions of things that had happened in past scenes and thinking of a moment in an episode in season two – because that’s exactly what’s going through Bran’s head. He’s got this whirlwind of information spinning around the whole time – ‘Oh that happened, that happened, that happened’. It’s like he’s not really in any fixed time.
Aidan Gillen
(stars as Petyr ‘Littlefinger’ Baelish)
Q: Where do we find Littlefinger as we begin this season?
AG: When we first catch up with Littlefinger it’s almost like a direct push from when we last saw him in Season Six. Then, he was standing against the wall in the Great Hall in Winterfell, in the shadows. For his first scene in Season Seven, he is in the same room so I thought I would stand in exactly the same place, at exactly the same angle – that could be interesting. We left him wondering what he’s up to and we take up asking what he’s up to now? Obviously he’s working some of his magic on the power structure at Winterfell. It is now under the command of Jon.
You saw through Season 6 and maybe even from the end of Season 5 that Littlefinger been trying to sow some seeds of doubt with Sansa. Doubts about her brother’s validity as a leader, in fact doubts about his validity as a brother at all. How much of a brother is he really, you know, biologically? How much credit did you, Sansa, really get for saving him down at the Battle of the Bastards? Don’t you deserve a little more? That’s Littlefinger’s thing – he’ll push people. He’ll nudge people in a certain direction but then they don’t always take it. And Sansa doesn’t always take the bait because she’s getting clever.
Q: Why does he do it? Is it for power, for fun?
AG: For the fun would be a correct answer. It’s not just about the result; it’s about the thrill of manipulating on that scale. The danger of it: even though his plans are extremely well thought through they could go wrong easily at any point and that would be end of story. But if you don’t take major risks you’re not going to get major results. For him it is about the fun of it, the game of it – and you want to be seen having fun. That makes the character even more interesting to look at. If it’s just all devious and nasty, people will lose interest I think. So I’ve always tried to have a bit of fun with it and show a bit of a playful side.
Q: Do fans boo and hiss when they meet you?
AG: I don’t get booed and hissed that much. I was greeted very cordially by a group of something like 12 students off a train in Manchester the other day. They were like, ‘Littlefinger!’ It was as if they’d met their favourite uncle just stepping off the train with sweets. I think some people are confused. They say to me, ‘Hey you know, your character confuses me because… I like you.’ And that’s what you want in a villainous role I guess. It’s important to show that this is somebody who can get away with things, precisely because people do find him trustworthy in some way or attractive. Without that it just wouldn’t work. And his plans are so well laid, they go so far back you know – there’s a certain glee watching them unfold.
