With swashbuckling swordsmen (and women), suits of armour, kings, queens and lots of blood and gore, the most successful tv series in HBO history – the epic Game of Thrones has both shocked  audiences throughout the world with it’s gritty plots and fantastical stories based faithfully on the books of George R.R. Martin, and has left millions of people from China to Chile, New Zealand to Nigeria in awe of our amazing scenery as many of Northern Ireland’s best loved locations have doubled for the fictional Seven Kingdoms of Westeros.

Special signs marked the way to the “secret” filming location

Earlier today along with a selected panel of press and television crews, the ni2012 team (with thanks to NIScreen) was privileged with behind the scenes access as filming on Series 3 continues, and today some of the principal cast and crew were shooting top secret scenes with Nikolaj Coster-Waldau (Jaime Lannister) and Gwendoline Christie (Brienne of Tarth) on the grounds of Shane’s Castle in County Antrim.

Despite heavy rain, the show must go on and production on the scene played out on the bridge below was not affected – afterall Northern Ireland was not chosen for it’s unwavering summer sunshine. Cast and Crew were well prepared for the torrential downpour, with cameras and equipment wrapped up much better than any of the excited onlookers.

Naomi Liston, Key Assistant Locations Manager discussed the hard-work and dedication of the team involved in the production but spoke passionately about the choice of locations in Northern Ireland for the series. Naomi explained that with so many places of outstanding natural beauty across Northern Ireland that there is a real wealth of locations that the crew can choose from with castles and mountains, rivers and our unparalleled coastline, Naomi explained that the production team had “only scratched the surface” when it came to identifying places for each of the key outdoor shots. “Sometimes locations will jump out at you” and often you are chasing your tail looking for locations with quite outlandish specifications according to Naomi.

Viewers can look out for this bridge in the special scene coming up in Season 3

Executive Producer, Frank Doelger explained that during filming on Season 3, the crew would spend 140 days shooting in Northern Ireland with the production also taking in locations in Iceland, Morocco, and Croatia purely because authentic snow-capped mountains and deserts are not features of our landscape and the crew need to capture all the worlds in which the characters live. Frank discussed that 80% of the filming would take place in the Belfast based studios however confirmed that filming will be taking in locations across all 6 counties in Northern Ireland.

The production team spoke about the support they had received in Northern Ireland from Government Agencies and funding bodies, to farmers and landowners who help ferry equipment up mountains on tractors and quad bikes. Mr Doelger explained that Northern Ireland was a real location of choice for the crew given its well serviced airports, supportive local governments, and unique landscapes while Ms Liston confirmed that the location’s team had a lot of surprises still tucked up their sleeves.

So fans of the series, keep an eye out and let us know which of our locations you spot on Screen! Game of Thrones Series 3 will air next year. For more information on the show visit www.hbo.com/game-of-thrones/index.html.

The stunning Maine River at Shane’s Castle provided a backdrop to today’s filming

The set visit was made possible by the team at NIScreen – the lead agency in Northern Ireland for film, television and digital content. Check out which productions they have supported and are currently working with now at http://www.northernirelandscreen.co.uk/

More information on each of the iconic locations used featured in the series can be found at www.discovernorthernireland.com

Watch some of the behind the scenes footage captured by UTV at the press event yesterday (17th July) now!