At just six episodes long the final season of Game Of Thrones is the shortest one yet.
But with the episodes getting a bumper running time of well over an hour long, we’re going to get lots of good stuff packed in to each one.
Director David Nutter revealed the expanded running time during a Q&A session with Game Of Thrones fans on Reddit.
When asked about the running time of the episodes for the final season, David replied: ‘Season 8 episodes will all I think be longer than 60 minutes. They’ll be dancing around the bigger numbers, I know that for sure.’
He added that the final season puts together characters who hadn’t shared screen time in the past.
David revealed: ‘It was a chance for a lot of characters to work together that hadn’t worked together before. Or at least hadn’t worked together in a long time. So there was a sense of discovery and appreciation.
‘Everyone saw it was coming to an end so there was a real family sensibility to it knowing that it was about to end — lot of tears, lot of sadness but it was very special.’
The director also revealed that the main players on the show are going to go back to the start as the final season kicks off.
Nutter was asked by a fan what it was like to direct the first episode of a season.
He said: ‘I’ve never directed an opening episode of GOT before until season 8 but I think it’s really important to make a splash.
‘You have to reset the table, put everyone back in their place, you have to take them to their next position. But you have to entertain that’s what’s most important.’
He also teased a ‘shocking’ finale to the hit HBO show. The director said: ‘I’m completely satisfied with how season 8 ends. I think that [creators] David and Dan did a tremendous job, and they took into consideration what the fans want, as well as what is right as far as storytelling is concerned. ‘I guarantee there’s going to be lots of surprises and shocking moments, but it’s really very compelling stuff.’
David added: ‘Season 8 in three words — Spectacular, Inspiring, Satisfying’.
He also described the security surrounding filming on season eight as a ‘very very tight ship’.
He said: ‘It was limited viewing on many things. Not a lot of paper on the set, like none. No scripts were printed, we only used iPads and things of that nature. It was much more serious than in the past but the security has always been high.’
Game Of Thrones is set to return in 2019
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