House of the Dragon's Matt Smith battled 'infuriating' insomnia after Doctor Who

Matt Smith portrays Prince Daemon Targaryen in HBO Max’s Game of Thrones prequel series, House of the Dragon, but he just revealed that he was initially hesitant to take on the role!

is off to a flying start. HBO's prequel — set 200 years before Daenerys Targaryen's quest for the Iron Throne — scored nearly 10 million viewers in its Sunday night debut, making it the most highly-rated original new series premiere in the history of HBO. Officially, the cable network reports 9.986 million viewers across both linear and HBO Max streaming platforms in the United States on Sunday night -- even as the streaming app crashed on Amazon Fire TV devices, leaving a portion of potential viewers in the dark. A press release from HBO indicates that Sunday's viewership is expected to make up just a small portion — 20 to 40 percent — of the show's total gross audience. While a direct comparison would be impossible to nail down -- due in part to shifting landscapes in streaming and evolving fandoms — the and both note that first season premiered to 4.2 million viewers in 2011, while its eighth and final season premiere was watched by a record-setting 17.9 million people in 2019. brings to life George R.R.

Game of Thrones, which is known for it's incestuous storylines and gory depictions of graphic scenes.However, fans of the Westeros franchise could expect nothing less from the new series which made it's debut over the weekend which stars the likes of Matt Smith, Olivia Cooke and Rhys Ifans.READ MORE: Game Of Thrones' most horrific scenes - fan fury, 'worst day of career' and axed plotViewers tuned into the premiere episode of the medieval-style drama where they were greeted with a graphic birth scene that left fans reeling.Some fans said the first episode should even have come with a trigger warning because scenes were so realistic.One fan wrote: "House of the Dragon premiered last night. I won ruin for those who haven’t seen it yet, but I believe one of the scenes was the most painfully graphic , realistic, horrifying things I’ve ever seen at work or anywhere.

MATT Smith left House of the Dragon fans 'choking on their dinners' with a graphic brothel sex scene. The former Doctor Who and The Crown star plays Prince Daemon Targaryen in the Game of Thrones prequel series. The first episode of House of the Dragon quickly introduced us to the Prince and his personality.

House of the Dragon made history in its debut Sunday evening on HBO and HBO Max, as the Game of Thrones prequel garnered 9.99 million viewers - the largest ever in the network's history - Warner Bros. Discovery said Monday.The ratings for the debut marked the biggest numbers ranging back before the streaming era, and shows that later debuted on the since-shuttered HBO Now and HBO Go, according to Variety.

Selome Hailu Westeros came back to HBO last night with the series premiere of “House of the Dragon” — and brought the masses along with it.“House of the Dragon” drew in 9.99 million viewers across HBO and HBO Max after premiering with one episode on Sunday, according to Warner Bros. Discovery.“Game of Thrones” has remained HBO’s biggest hit of all time since concluding in 2019, and as its prequel series, “House of the Dragon” is arguably the project to get the most marketing and fanfare from the network since.

“House of the Dragon” on Sunday evening — but some viewers were in for an infuriating night when the much-anticipated 10-episode series finally dropped after months of hype.So many fans were trying to stream the show simultaneously — that HBO Max actually crashed. This led to thousands of users not being able to watch the first episode.Many subscribers reportedly fell victim to the streamer’s app fizzling out, with the website outage service Down Detector reporting that there were at about 3,000 blackouts between 8:40 p.m. and 9:25 p,.m.

Warning: Spoilers ahead for the first episode of “House of the Dragon.”Sunday nights in Westeros are back.The “Game of Thrones” spinoff show, “House of the Dragon,” kicked off with a bang on HBO Sunday night, with fans tuning catch up with the dragon riding, incestuous Targaryen family and their questionable platinum wigs.“Game of Thrones” made fantasy TV appointment viewing during its run from 2011 to 2019, and it looks like “House of the Dragon” might bring that back. The show takes place around 200 years before the events of “Game of Thrones” and is based on George R.

[Warning: Spoilers for episode 1 of “House of the Dragon”, “Heirs of the Dragon”, written by Ryan Condal and directed by Miguel Sapochnik.]

House of the Dragon, set to premiere tonight on Sky Atlantic, will introduce Game of Thrones fans to a whole new host of characters entwined in George R.R. Martin’s fantasy world. Viewers will become more familiar with the Targaryen dynasty throughout the 10 episodes of GoT’s prequel.

Game Of Thrones, is coming just like Winter. The new drama series will see the likes of Paddy Considine, Rhys Ifans, Olivia Cook, Emma D'Arcy and Matt Smith in the prequel which focusses on the House Targaryen and the events leading up to and covering the Targaryen war of succession, set two hundred years before the events of Game of Thrones.Initially the original series depicted a web of political conflicts between families trying to either claim the Iron Throne or fight for independence from the occupier of it.READ MORE: Matt Smith winced over number of sex scenes in Game of Thrones spin-off show However, despite many plotlines of power, greed and manoeuvring, the series is also known for it’s many raunchy scenes that have been etched into the minds of pop culture enthusiasts forever.

, the prequel, premiered with the first episode on Sunday, bringing to life George R.R. Martin’s.

The wait is almost over. House of the Dragon - the Game of Thrones prequel - finally premieres in a few hours time.

The much-anticipated Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon premiered on HBO Max with some hiccups for some subscribers. As the first episode was launched online, some users reported the app crashing which prompted them to seek help.

Game of Thrones” spinoff series, “House of the Dragon,” premieres Sunday, Aug. 21 at 9 p.m. on HBO and HBO Max.

The biggest marketing campaign in HBO’s history, reaching 130M people in the U.S., culminates this weekend with the premiere of the long-awaited Game of Thrones prequel, House of the Dragon.

House of the Dragon star Tom Glynn-Carney has revealed he got caught up in a "scrap" on the HBO set which lead to a painful injury.The hotly-anticipated new HBO show will be coming out on August 21.The series is set 200 years prior to the original Game Of Thrones series.READ MORE: Matt Smith winced over number of sex scenes in Game of Thrones spin-off showInstead of showcasing various families and lands, the spin-off will focus solely on the Targaryen family.Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star at the London premiere on Monday (August 15), Tom, who will play Aegon Targaryen, revealed a little about his character and what fans should expect to see.Talking about his new role, Tom said: "It's been nerve-racking but I'm just trying to soak it in and enjoy it."Aegon brings a danger to Westeros and there is a certain amount of twists and turns which make him somebody to be quite wary of... but I'm shutting up now."He also explained: "The original series was so fantastic that we're standing on the shoulders of giants, so we're wanting to bring the same amount of angst and danger to the show as they did."It's about humanity and you see the flaw of man and all that sort of stuff, it's exciting."But has there been any injuries or stunts go wrong in the HBO studio?Tom answered: "Yeah, there was a bit of a scrap with - in character - with Ewan Mitchell, who plays my brother."That got a bit hairy and I have a bit of a dodgy shoulder so my shoulder popped out.

Matt Smith has become one of the most renowned English actors on TV after rising to prominence in the 2010s. Smith played the eleventh incarnation of the Doctor in the BBC’s long-running sci-fi programme before portraying Prince Philip in Netflix’s The Crown, a royal performance which earned him a Primetime Emmy Award nomination.

The trials and tribulations of Westeros are back in a new show from HBO set long before the smash hit Game of Thrones. Fantasy epic House of the Dragon brings a new era of family treachery, schemes, and all out war for fans to dive into.