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00:06We are, of course, back in Westeros.
00:09I can't really believe that it's happening sometimes.
00:14This was going to be different from Game of Thrones.
00:17We're taking a look at Westeros from the ground up
00:20rather than the POV of kings and queens.
00:24There's a grit and an earthiness in it,
00:26but it's a sweet at its heart tale
00:28of two slightly hapless characters.
00:30See to the horses.
00:32You'll get a copper if you do well
00:33and a clout in the air if you do not.
00:35Sorry, lads. Apologies. Sorry. Go again.
00:53I don't know the right words.
00:55Ought to be a sefton here.
00:57You're a true knight.
00:59Precinct!
01:01A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is based on
01:03the first of three of George's sort of beloved novellas,
01:08A Hedge Knight.
01:08The story follows Sir Duncan the Tall,
01:11a new knight who comes from very little
01:13and is on his way to Ashford to compete in a tournament
01:16and egg his new squire who he meets along the way.
01:21It's right in the middle of the two shows
01:23that have been on so far.
01:24It's somewhere between sort of a 90 to 100 years
01:27between House of the Dragon and the beginning Game of Thrones.
01:33Do the dead frighten you?
01:35The realm is at peace.
01:37There's no dragons anymore,
01:38but there's people who are living
01:40who once saw The Last Dragon.
01:47I met George and we had discussions about what the series should be.
01:53Ira's great.
01:53He has a lot of enthusiasm,
01:55a lot of resonance with the story.
01:57Owen had one of the greatest pitches I've ever seen from a director.
02:02Lots of our conversations were about
02:03how to maintain the tone of Game of Thrones
02:06but allow the audience to sit into this crungier world
02:10where you can almost live the life of a Hedge Knight.
02:13It's a Hedge Knight, ain't it?
02:15What?
02:16It's like a knight, but sadder.
02:19No, I'm not sad.
02:20He's got to sleep in the hedges because no lard will have it.
02:22Aw.
02:23A Hedge Knight is a knight that has no formal allegiance to anyone.
02:29And he's called a Hedge Knight because a lot of the time,
02:32sleeping rough outside under hedges.
02:35Sir Duncan the Tor.
02:37Four pages for Sir Duncan.
02:39He must have been quite a man.
02:40So they say.
02:42We're so used to being in big, important rooms
02:44with kings and important people
02:46and suddenly disappearing to this different lair of Westeros
02:50as a real opportunity to tell a story
02:52that felt grittier, earthier, maybe more honest.
02:56Oi!
02:58My lord.
02:59You thief.
03:00I did not mean to offend you.
03:01Take that armor off you.
03:03Now.
03:05The biggest challenge was actually casting
03:07because to get the casting right was crucial.
03:10We had a lot of fun casting it.
03:12I love Peter as Dunk and Dexter as Egg.
03:15Peter absolutely stuck out
03:17because he was just incredibly charming.
03:21What are you doing?
03:22Cooking fish.
03:23Do you want something?
03:24I mean, how did you get here?
03:26He's an ex-professional rugby player
03:29and there was just something about his team mentality
03:31that sort of lets all take this on
03:33and have a fun swing at it.
03:35Let's go!
03:36Woo!
03:38I remember meeting Owen and Ira
03:39for the first time since the audition process
03:42and I went to the toilet
03:42and I puked everywhere in the production office
03:46because I was just so nervous
03:47and so full of anxiety.
03:49I was like to hire a, you know,
03:51that was pretty mental
03:52and he was like,
03:52oh, that's great, man.
03:53It's so good
03:54because that's just like Dunk.
03:56You know what I mean?
03:57Sir Dunk?
03:59I'll send him for a night.
04:01Dexter was the first person
04:03our casting director sent me.
04:06At first, I didn't know
04:07what I was auditioning for.
04:09I didn't know anything about Game of Thrones
04:10or House of Dragons
04:11because I'm too young to watch it.
04:13We asked everybody to come in
04:15just sort of with a prepared story
04:17that told us a little bit about their personality.
04:19He charmed everybody and he was funny.
04:22Who here likes the pickles on a McDonald's burger?
04:25Me.
04:26Do you like them?
04:27Do you like them?
04:27No.
04:28No.
04:30Personally, I hate them.
04:31Not for me.
04:32Yucky, yucky.
04:33You got the roll, Dexter.
04:35Congratulations.
04:36He is egg
04:37and he was also very excited
04:38to shave his head
04:39and that was a big stipulation for George.
04:42No bald caps.
04:43Hi, guys.
04:44It's Dexter
04:44and I am shaving my hair off.
04:48I cannot believe it.
04:50See you soon.
04:53What were we doing today?
04:55Today, we were practicing the scripts
04:58and doing a run-through of the whole thing.
05:01How did you think it went?
05:02It went great.
05:04Episode one, The Hedge Knight.
05:05We open over black.
05:07The table read in London
05:09was the first opportunity
05:10to put a face
05:12and put a voice
05:13to all these characters
05:14that you've been imagining.
05:16Half-man!
05:17Do I look like a half-man to you?
05:19Why?
05:20Half-man, half-giant?
05:21It was so, so nice
05:23to finally read the scripts with everyone.
05:26They don't look to be a knight.
05:28And what, do all knights look the same, do they?
05:30No.
05:31They don't look like you either.
05:33A big part of it
05:34was actually hearing
05:35how the humor was going to work.
05:37Our hero theme comes on the soundtrack,
05:39the roar of a crowd.
05:43Moments later, dunk shit's water.
05:46The tone of this show
05:48is probably what marks it out most
05:50in terms of its humor.
05:51There's going to be
05:52this slightly absurd sense to this world.
06:00We love Game of Thrones
06:01and we want to pay tribute
06:03to as much as we possibly can
06:06while also giving everybody
06:07something new and something fresh.
06:10See you all in Westeros.
06:12I mean, Belfast.
06:13Belfast.
06:13See you all there.
06:16The exterior of a grave site,
06:18the Reach,
06:18a hugely tall, shaggy,
06:20big-boned boy, Dunk,
06:22digs a grave in the softened ground.
06:24Dunk's first line in the show is,
06:26I don't know the right words.
06:28That is,
06:29Dunk wrapped up
06:30into a neat little package.
06:31He was lost
06:32and directionless.
06:33So the purpose
06:34of shooting it
06:35in that big,
06:36wide-open vista
06:37is to sort of exaggerate that fact.
06:39Our base is Belfast,
06:41which was where
06:42the original Thrones was based.
06:45There is such
06:46an institutional memory there.
06:47It's a question
06:48of familiarity of crews.
06:50They understood the world.
06:51They understood the energy within it.
06:53It was the first time
06:54we'd ever used a rain machine.
06:55It's about to get cold.
06:58We were under that thing
06:59for six hours
07:00and it was freezing cold.
07:06It fits my grip
07:07as well as it ever fit his.
07:09Sir Arlan's sword
07:11wanted to come across
07:11as quite a utilitarian sword
07:13and not too showy.
07:14So when I drew it up,
07:15I did a really big pommel on it
07:17and a really kind of
07:18chunky cross guard as well.
07:20There is very little detail in this,
07:22but what is there
07:23is telling a story.
07:25I talked to Ira
07:26about putting some influence
07:27from Sir Arlan
07:28into that pommel
07:29and he thought
07:30it would be a really nice idea
07:31to put a copper penny
07:32into there.
07:33We've got some copper pennies
07:34which we've got on the top here
07:35which I've inlaid
07:36which we've actually made
07:37using a coin press here.
07:38Blade steel, hollow ground
07:40so it kind of catches
07:41the light nicely.
07:43I think my favourite piece
07:44of the whole show
07:44has got to be the shield.
07:46Here we've got Sir Arlan's shield.
07:48This is a special make.
07:50It's got a wooden base.
07:52Our blacksmith manufactured
07:53the metal work
07:53to go around the outside.
07:55Then we moulded it
07:55as a single piece
07:56and then on it
07:57it's got a white-winged chalice
07:59and it's also got
08:00a sort of blue chevron.
08:01That just helps
08:02to make it sort of
08:02a bit more punchy
08:03as an addition
08:04from George's books.
08:09Dunk sets off
08:10a stride Sweetfoot
08:11with the two other horses
08:12in tow.
08:13The three organisms
08:14I've spent the most time
08:15with I think
08:16are Dunk's three horses.
08:17What?
08:18I can't tell them
08:19who you're playing.
08:21Christ.
08:22These are all
08:23Devil's Horseman horses.
08:25Dume played Sweetfoot,
08:26Shrek played Chestnut
08:28and Garocha
08:29played Thunder.
08:30We've been really lucky
08:31with Peter
08:32because he was available
08:34to us 12 weeks
08:35before shooting
08:36and he's very enthusiastic.
08:37He's turned up
08:38for every single lesson.
08:39I spend pretty much
08:40every day other than
08:41the weekends
08:41in the saddle.
08:42I've got a really,
08:43really brilliant teacher,
08:44Emma.
08:45I hope I'm not driving
08:46her crazy
08:46with my inability
08:48to get things done
08:49but we tack up
08:50the horses,
08:51we give them
08:51a little bit of a wash
08:52and a brush,
08:53put on the saddles,
08:54put on the stirrups
08:55and the bridle.
08:56He spent weeks
08:57and weeks
08:58and weeks
08:58and hours
08:59and hours
08:59and hours
09:00of horse riding.
09:01He put the work in
09:02and it comes off
09:02on screen.
09:04Later that night
09:04outside an inn,
09:06a warm yellow light
09:07spills from the windows
09:08of a timber building.
09:09A skinny stable boy
09:1010 years old
09:11in a rough spun brown cloak
09:13emerges from a stool.
09:15When Egg came out
09:17of the shadows,
09:18it felt like he just
09:19walked off the pages
09:20of George's book.
09:21The first day on set,
09:22it was so fun.
09:23The costume was amazing
09:24but I warn you
09:26it was a bit itchy.
09:27We gave him
09:27a long robe
09:28because Dexter
09:29is a nine-year-old boy
09:30that we fitted
09:31seven months before.
09:33He was going to grow
09:34so it kind of helped us
09:35that it was
09:35very loose garment.
09:37Dunk meeting Egg
09:38was an important scene.
09:39This is the first time
09:40you actually see Dunk
09:42relating to another
09:43human being
09:44so we can see his size.
09:45It was lovely
09:46working with people
09:47with Peter
09:47for the first time.
09:48I'm meeting Peter!
09:50I'm so excited
09:51and I literally
09:52can't hide it!
09:54Peter was wonderful
09:55at just getting
09:56in touch with him
09:57saying do you want
09:57to go out?
09:58They struck up
09:58this little sort of
09:59friendship.
10:00A lot of people
10:01started talking to me
10:01going oh it's so great
10:03that you went to the
10:03arcade and bowling
10:05with Dexter.
10:05What are you talking
10:06about?
10:06I wanted to go
10:07to the arcade too.
10:08I kicked his ass
10:09in Mario Kart
10:10so many times.
10:11Make sure they say
10:12that I kicked his ass
10:13in Mario Kart.
10:14Anna was Princess Peach.
10:16He's beaten me
10:17in bowling
10:17but he had
10:18bumpers up.
10:20We won't say
10:20much about that
10:22here.
10:22The bumpers up
10:23I didn't.
10:26We're in Ashford Meadow
10:27in the Reach
10:28in the Seven Kingdoms
10:29to Westeros.
10:30Whoa.
10:31The scale of the set
10:32was just incredible
10:34like something
10:35I'd never seen before.
10:36Our genius production
10:37designer Tom McCullough
10:39built us a 360 degree
10:42playground of Ashford Meadow.
10:44You could look any way
10:45and it could have been
10:46the exact same
10:47in the 14th century.
10:50When I started out
10:51on this there were
10:52a couple of suggestions
10:53for where Ashford could be.
10:55How George describes
10:57in the book
10:57there's a river
10:58you've got the jousting area
11:00you've got the castle
11:01in the background
11:02how do we stage that
11:04in one place?
11:05We went to an estate
11:07called Glen Armistate.
11:09It gave us
11:09absolutely every element
11:11from a location
11:13perspective.
11:14Looking at the river
11:16I was thinking
11:16at the time
11:17can we get a bridge
11:18across this river?
11:19It turns out
11:20we could get a bridge
11:21across the river.
11:24We finished up
11:26using two and a half
11:27foot in depth
11:28high beams
11:28and we had that
11:29all clad with timber
11:31for strength.
11:32It's a salmon river
11:33so there couldn't be
11:34any kind of threat
11:35to the potential
11:36of the salmon
11:36moving up the river
11:37and we weren't allowed
11:38to drop any legs
11:39into the water.
11:40It had to be one span
11:42across the river.
11:43We dressed it up
11:44with our period timber.
11:46Suddenly it became
11:47the key part of the scripts.
11:49It looks so real.
11:50They should keep
11:51that bridge.
11:52That's a great bridge.
11:55The discussions
11:56going into this show
11:58were let's get
11:59as much in camera
12:00as possible.
12:00We want to limit
12:01the amount of visual
12:02effects needed
12:03because what's real
12:04is real
12:04and that's always
12:05going to look the best.
12:06There's just so much
12:06variety to it.
12:07There's so many props.
12:08You've got the
12:09merchants row area
12:10which is all sorts
12:12of foods and spices
12:13and Moroccan
12:14inspired markets.
12:15You've got the
12:16tournament field.
12:17It's a practical
12:18jousting ground.
12:21And then at the
12:22bottom we've got
12:23the house tents.
12:24The tents
12:25were insane
12:26at night.
12:27All of them
12:28are lighting up.
12:29This is the
12:30tournament ground
12:30that all the big
12:31families want to
12:32come and show off.
12:33Hence they bring
12:34their best tents.
12:35Here we have
12:36the Fossaways,
12:37the Tyrells,
12:40the Lannisters
12:42and the Baratheon tent.
12:44When you're looking
12:44around the grounds
12:45it's not hard to spot
12:47the Baratheon tent
12:47because you have
12:48the two large
12:49dag heads on it
12:50and kind of shouting
12:51out, we are the
12:51Baratheons, you know.
12:52Look at us.
12:56Really?
12:57Lionel Baratheon.
12:58The laughing storm
12:59they call him.
13:00I thought he'd be bigger.
13:04When we first
13:05meet Lionel
13:05in episode one
13:06he has his
13:06big Baratheon tent
13:08of which he's
13:08the sort of
13:09master of that
13:09kingdom.
13:10A hundred gold
13:11to the man
13:11be so god
13:12who sticks me best.
13:14When I got the
13:15scripts they kind
13:16of said there was
13:17a character described
13:18as a cross between
13:19Jack Sparrow
13:20and Ernest Hemingway.
13:21Something about
13:22that collection
13:23of names
13:23made me feel like
13:24I think I probably
13:25would be interested.
13:26I'm a huge
13:27huge Daniel Ings
13:29fan.
13:29Getting to become
13:30his friend
13:30is just something
13:31I never thought
13:31would happen.
13:32I beg your
13:33pardon to Lionel?
13:34Big men.
13:35Get fucked.
13:36I feel like I'm
13:37shouting.
13:37I'm sorry.
13:38Okay.
13:39The Baratheon tent
13:40is one of the
13:41first biggest scenes
13:42so we wanted this
13:43to be not too dark
13:45because it's
13:45supposed to be
13:46a party.
13:47We shot it
13:47in a studio
13:48and it's only
13:49lit by candlelight
13:51inside this tent.
13:52A lot of use
13:52of the stag
13:53antlers etc
13:54for lighting.
13:58When it's lit
13:59it kind of glows.
14:02Do you like
14:03dancing?
14:04Doesn't everyone?
14:08There's nothing
14:09I love more
14:09than when people
14:10dance in movies.
14:11So many films
14:12that have inspired me.
14:13A big one
14:14coming into this
14:15was Filler on the Roof.
14:17I want it to be weird.
14:18I want it to have
14:19energy.
14:20We brought in
14:21an incredible
14:21choreographer
14:22from Dublin,
14:23Belinda Murphy
14:24who completely
14:25understood what
14:26I was going for.
14:27When you're in
14:28this position
14:29here
14:30you can turn
14:32it into a
14:32kind of run
14:33contract here.
14:34You know like
14:35a tuck jump?
14:37I very much
14:38study what the
14:39characteristics of
14:40the character
14:41is.
14:42Dunk is slightly
14:42nervous so his
14:43movement is a
14:44little tighter
14:44more stoked and
14:45still.
14:46Lionel's nimble
14:47he's playful
14:48unpredictable
14:49it's almost like
14:50a ballet dancer
14:51but loose
14:52and very energetic.
14:54It's so mental
14:55because you're
14:56trying to get him
14:56into your vibe.
14:58Owen came up
14:59with the idea
14:59for stomping on
15:00the feet.
15:02He doesn't
15:02quite know how
15:03to shake off
15:04this slight
15:05annoyance that
15:05Dunk is just
15:06that much
15:06bigger than him.
15:13And then it
15:14just turns into
15:15a bit of a
15:15crazy dance.
15:17We actually
15:17let the camera
15:18dance along
15:19with the characters.
15:20We shot this
15:20in slow motion
15:21and also
15:22opened up
15:22the shutter angle
15:23which makes
15:24this a little
15:25bit more
15:25dreamy and
15:26drunk.
15:26I used to be
15:27a drummer so
15:28I feel like
15:28I got moves.
15:29It's a good
15:29opportunity to
15:30get a bit
15:31wild.
15:32Go big
15:32or go home.
15:38You!
15:39What are you
15:40doing?
15:41Dunk survived
15:42his first day
15:43of being a
15:44knight and
15:45probably feeling
15:45quite small
15:46in this world
15:47so he's sort
15:48of open
15:48to this idea
15:49of a
15:50companionship.
15:51I feel
15:51swear to do
15:52as you're
15:52told.
15:53I'll let you
15:53serve me
15:54for the
15:54tourney.
15:55He indexed
15:55a lot of
15:56fortune.
15:56Hey Mark.
15:58What's
15:59your name?
15:59Sir Duncan.
16:00The Tall?
16:01Stop it.
16:02Stay.
16:03That moment
16:03at the end
16:04where they're
16:05laying on their
16:05back staring
16:06up the stars
16:06is quite hopeful.
16:08They've been
16:08given this
16:09tiny little gift
16:09which is this
16:10shooting star.
16:11It's a lovely
16:12way of just
16:12bonding two
16:13characters
16:14before you
16:14then set off
16:15and chuck
16:16them into
16:16everything else.
16:18Falling star
16:18brings luck
16:19to those
16:19who see it.
16:20So the
16:21look is ours
16:21alone.
16:25Dunk is
16:26starting to feel
16:27like there's
16:28something
16:28universal at
16:29play.
16:29It's a lovely
16:30way to end
16:30the episode.
16:31I'm very
16:32enthused about
16:32these characters.
16:33It's so great
16:34to see this
16:35come alive.
16:35This episode
16:36gives us a
16:37wonderful new
16:38POV into
16:39George's
16:41beautiful rich
16:41world of
16:42Westeros.
16:43What chance
16:44do I have?
16:45Truly.
16:48I don't know.
16:50But it's a
16:51great honor
16:52to test
16:53oneself
16:53against
16:53a worthy
16:54foe.
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