Season 6

Season 6 of Game of Thrones was formally commissioned by HBO on 8 April 2014, following a substantial increase in audience figures between the third and fourth seasons. The fifth and sixth seasons were commissioned simultaneously, the first time HBO has done so for a major drama series.

The season consists of ten episodes. It began filming in July 2015 and will conclude late into the year. David Benioff and D.B. Weiss return as executive producers and showrunners, having signed a new two-year contract with HBO in early 2014.

The season is expected to premiere in Spring 2016.

Season 6 will be based on the hitherto unreleased sixth novel of the A Song of Ice and Fire book series, The Winds of Winter, along with some material from the fourth and fifth novels, A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons.

Production
Spanish location scouting for Season 6 commenced in Girona and Peñiscola as well as Almería. On June 3, 2015, it was confirmed that the production would return to Spain and filming would partly take place in Peñiscola and Girona (later confirmed to depict both Braavos and Oldtown). Next, locations in Almería and Navarre were also confirmed. On July 9, some of the locations were revealed: the Bardenas natural park in Navarre; the Santa Florentina Castle in Barcelona; the Zafra Castle in Guadalajara (confirmed to be the Tower of Joy) ; and the Alcazaba of Almería.

In mid-to-late July, production began in Northern Ireland. The filming headquarters remain at Paint Hall Studios, in Belfast, while location shooting took place at Garron Point (previously Runestone), Magilligan (the Dothraki sea), Moneyglass (at the Winterfell set) , Ballintoy Harbour (previously Dragonstone and Pyke) , Maghermorne (at the Castle Black set) and Saintfield (previously the Godswood and other locations in the North).

Returning starring cast
All starring cast members whose characters survive Season 5 are expected to return for the sixth season.
 * Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister
 * Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister
 * Lena Headey as Queen Mother Cersei Lannister
 * Emilia Clarke as Queen Daenerys Targaryen
 * Aidan Gillen as Lord Petyr Baelish
 * Natalie Dormer as Queen Margaery Tyrell
 * Liam Cunningham as Ser Davos Seaworth
 * Carice van Houten as Melisandre
 * Alfie Allen as Prince Theon Greyjoy
 * Sophie Turner as Princess Sansa Stark
 * Maisie Williams as Arya Stark
 * Isaac Hempstead-Wright as Bran Stark
 * John Bradley as Samwell Tarly
 * Hannah Murray as Gilly
 * Conleth Hill as Varys
 * Jerome Flynn as Ser Bronn
 * Kristofer Hivju as Tormund Giantsbane
 * Michiel Huisman as Daario Naharis
 * Nathalie Emmanuel as Missandei
 * Dean-Charles Chapman as King Tommen Baratheon
 * Tom Wlaschiha as Jaqen H'ghar
 * Michael McElhatton as Lord Roose Bolton
 * Iwan Rheon as Ramsay Bolton

Returning guest starring cast

 * Alexander Siddig as Prince Doran Martell
 * David Bradley as Walder Frey
 * Owen Teale as Ser Alliser Thorne
 * Jacob Anderson as Grey Worm
 * Finn Jones as Ser Loras Tyrell
 * Eugene Simon as Brother Lancel
 * Daniel Portman as Podrick Payne
 * Gemma Whelan as Princess Yara Greyjoy
 * Keisha Castle-Hughes as Obara Sand
 * Jessica Henwick as Nymeria Sand
 * Kristian Nairn as Hodor
 * Ben Crompton as Eddison Tollett
 * Brenock O'Connor as Olly
 * Rupert Vansittart as Lord Yohn Royce
 * Lino Facioli as Lord Robin Arryn
 * Faye Marsay as the Waif
 * Josephine Gillan as Marei

New cast members

 * Ricky Champ as Flynn. Announced July 23, 2015
 * Ian McShane as TBA. Announced August 1, 2015
 * Max von Sydow as the Three-eyed raven. Announced August 3, 2015.
 * Sebastian Croft as Young Eddard Stark. Announced August 9, 2015.
 * Fergus Leathem as TBA. Announced August 9, 2015.

Reported new characters
In past TV seasons, casting calls frequently gave the names of major characters who were going to be introduced. Apparently fearing that this was leading to too many spoilers, however, starting with Season 6 HBO did not actually include the names of characters in their casting calls, only aliases and descriptions - though several of these descriptions are specific enough that the identity of the character can be discerned with reasonable certainty:


 * A pirate who fits the description of Euron Greyjoy, the "Crow's Eye".
 * A father who fits the description of Lord Randyll Tarly, the Lord of Horn Hill.
 * A mother who fits the description of Lady Melessa Tarly.
 * A sister who fits the description of Talla Tarly.
 * A brother who fits the description of Dickon Tarly.
 * A priest who fits the description of Septon Meribald.
 * A leading actress with a traveling theater troupe.
 * High Priestess Kinvara.
 * A fierce warrior who fits the description of a Dothraki Khal, presumably Khal Jhaqo.
 * A large boy.
 * A 7 year old boy.
 * A Child of the Forest.
 * Qhogo, a Dothraki.
 * Akrat, a Dothraki.
 * Bower, a servant.
 * Lachlan, an outlaw leader.
 * Japeth, an outlaw.
 * A legendary fighter who fits the description of Ser Arthur Dayne.
 * A Lord of a Noble Northern House who fits the description of a member of House Umber.
 * A Lord of a Noble Northern Stronghold.
 * A hunter.
 * A submissive maester.
 * A green recruit.
 * A sympathiser (1).
 * A sympathiser (2).
 * A sympathiser (3).
 * A housemaid.
 * A father.
 * A hapless son to cruel father, with a long nose and skeletal features.
 * This could fit the description of a member of House Frey - there are numerous Freys in the novels and the TV series has often turned them into composite characters, so this might not be a one-for-one match to a book character.

Crew
On March 27 2015, author George R.R. Martin said he would again not write a script for Season 6, as he wished to concentrate on finishing The Winds of Winter as soon as possible. On June 4, Miguel Sapochnik indicated he was already preparing to direct next season. Jeremy Podeswa made similar statements in June 12. On June 19, the showrunners confirmed that April Ferry would be the new costume designer for Season 6, replacing Michele Clapton, who decided to leave after five seasons. On June 22, newcomer Jack Bender announced he would direct two episodes for season six. The full list of directors and which episodes they would oversee was released in Entertainment Weekly on June 25. There will be five directors, each doing two back to back episodes, as in Season 5. Jack Bender and Daniel Sackheim are working on the TV series for the first time, while the other three directors previously worked on the series in Season 5; none worked on the first four seasons.

Producers

 * David Benioff: executive producer
 * D.B. Weiss: executive producer
 * April Ferry: costume designer

Writers

 * David Benioff & D.B. Weiss
 * Bryan Cogman

Directors

 * Jeremy Podeswa - episodes 1 and 2
 * Daniel Sackheim - episodes 3 and 4
 * Jack Bender - episodes 5 and 6
 * Mark Mylod - episodes 7 and 8
 * Miguel Sapochnik - episodes 9 and 10