Game of Thrones was known for many things – nudity, graphic sex scenes, incest, epic battles, heaps of violence, blood, and gore, and all the inventive ways in which most of the cast got killed off – so you would think that swearing would be the least controversial aspect of the fantasy series. However, swearing has got the inhabitants of Westeros into trouble recently because Sky aired an episode at 7.30 in the morning without password-protecting it, meaning that under 18s could have had a few effs and jeffs thrown in with their breakfast cereal.
According to Deadline, Sky Atlantic viewers were not required to enter a PIN code due to a technical fault with Sky’s system for around 40 minutes before the show was taken off air. Under-18s were therefore able to easily access an episode “which contained multiple use of offensive language including ‘c**t’, ‘fuck’ and ‘shit’” according to Ofcom’s ruling this morning, which found Sky to be in breach.
Ofcom acknowledged that there had been an “unseen technical fault” with Sky’s technology and said “measures have been put in place to prevent a reoccurrence.” Sky said it “fully accepts strong content should not be broadcast before the watershed without the necessary mandatory PIN protection” and that they “sincerely apologise to those customers who viewed this content.”
Game of Thrones prequel House of the Dragon, which aired its first season earlier in 2022, continued where its predecessor had left off – with its graphic depictions of sex and violence. This didn’t put the audience off, however, with the premiere getting 10 million viewers. The second episode got 10.2 million, and the season finale got 9.3 million – but the finale leaked online a couple of days before.
It seems as though the final season of Game of Thrones – which was panned by critics, audiences, and even the most loyal fans – did not put them off returning to Westeros for more Targaryen shenanigans.
They are now eagerly awaiting House of the Dragon season 2, but unfortunately there may be 18 months or more to wait. It starts filming in March 2023, but there will be a significant amount of time needed for post-production and effects after that.