A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms star reveals which scene scored him high praise from George RR Martin

The world of Westeros is expanding on screen, with new Game of Thrones spin-off series A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms set to start airing next week.

The new series is based on author George RR Martin's novellas of the same name, which are known by fans as The Tales of Dunk and Egg, in reference to the central characters – knight Ser Duncan the Tall, aka Dunk, and his squire Egg.

Dunk is played in the series by Bad Sisters star Peter Claffey, while young actor Dexter Sol Ansell plays Egg.

Speaking exclusively with RadioTimes.com, Ansell, spoke about filming one particularly dramatic scene, for which he received praise from Martin himself.

"It was this tug-of-war scene," Ansell said. "I was dangling off this rope, I was holding, literally for my life, 'cause I really didn't want to fall in the mud. None of anyone was listening 'cause the stunt coordinator, CC [Smiff], was going, 'Right, now, this house, move this way, move this way. You've got to win now'.

"And no one was doing that. We were all just actually playing a proper game of tug-of-war, and our side was losing. So, my own decision, I put my feet onto the rope and dangled on for my life. And it was really good. And then we won the tug-of-war, so Dunk threw me up in the air, back and forth for a few takes.

"And this one take threw me so high that when I went down, I smashed my eye into his nose. And the funny thing is, they used that take, but they cut off when I went high."

He continued: "And then Dunk, Peter, had me, and then everyone was chasing and running everywhere and everyone was running around. And then I was just sitting there like, 'Ah!', and it was so funny. And then my mum comes up to me saying, 'Are you okay?' And then she also goes, 'Oh, George RR Martin's here, do you wanna see?', and I'm like, 'Yeah'.

"So, I go over, I go over to him, and he says, 'Wow, you're so good, and you look and you act like you've really just jumped out the books'. And that's amazing to hear from the creator of my character."

Ansell said of his character that he's "brave, cheeky, mysterious" and that he's got secrets that even the actor himself doesn't know.

At the age of 11, Ansell is too young to watch Game of Thrones, but he said he's "glad" he hasn't seen it, as his character would have no knowledge of those events – not least because A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms is set about a hundred years earlier.

As well as Ansell and Claffey, the new series also stars Finn Bennett, Bertie Carvel, Tanzyn Crawford, Daniel Ings, Sam Spruell, Ross Anderson and Edward Ashley.

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms debuts on Sky and NOW from 19 January 2026 – find out more about how to sign up for Sky TV.

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