I have been thinking about peter Jackson quite a bit recently, looking at his directing style and so on. This morning, I was going through his videos on YouTube about how The Lord of the Rings was made. You know, it might not be a perfect copy of the book, but it could have turned out so much worse, and I have every respect for Jackson for producing the most faithful adaptation that he could under the constraints of modern post-classical cinema. After all, think how awful it could have been had Disney got the rights to it.

Anyway, our PA Dominik saw me watching these films and mentioned I might like something called Game Of Thrones, which he said was similar. He kindly lent me a copy of the first season, and I just finished watching the first episode. Truth be told I was expecting something derivative, American and written in a cliched attempt at replicating Tolkien. But then I saw Sean Bean in the opening credits, and realised I might be in for a treat. Bean has been one of my favourite actors since Sharpe, and nothing with Sharpe, Alec Trevelyan or Boromir in it can be that bad.

I was not wrong. I have only seen the very first episode which is barely enough to base a judgement on, but I think I am already hooked. It’s well written, some fairly good plots are staring to emerge, and a few very good characters have been established. These of course include Lord Eddard Stark, Bean’s character, and a pretty cool whore-fucking dwarf. It is fairly bawdy, very bloody at times, and not afraid to hold back. In short my fears were allayed, and I’m looking forward to watching more. You know, I had feared that adapting The Lord of the Rings would produce a swathe of imitations set in similar worlds but with none of the depth and realism of Tolkien: something produced by people wanting to ride on Jackson’s success but who have none of his respect for the fantasy genre or Tolkien’s creation. If game of Thrones is televisions reply to Jackson, so far the legacy of adapting the Lord Of The Rings for the big screen appears to be a good one.