Do you need aristocracy explained to you? Aristocrats have legitimate children with other aristocrats, chosen and arranged by their families. That's why they eventually become inbred.

Most the main characters in Game of Thrones belong to noble families who can trace their lineage back thousands of years. So you'll have to explain to me how actors of any ethnicity could have been cast in any role. How 15 per cent of the Lannister family tree could have been black, or 10 per cent of the Starks could…

Martin himself has admitted that he hates writing the books. As someone who makes it up as he goes along rather than plans the story from the outset, he let the plot get monstrously complicated, and now it's probably impossible to tie all the threads together.

Agreed. The dramatic change is pacing was almost comical. Whereas it used to take characters a season and a half to cross Westeros, they now zip across it in half an episode.

So my wife and I had planned to have an intimate evening last night. We'd just watch a bit of TV first until the kids fell asleep…