House of the Dragon fans were left stunned while watching the latest episode of the Game of Thrones spin-off, as some recognised a familiar face on the show.
The eighth episode was introduced with an announcement from Rhaenys Targaryen, who said: “It's been six years.”
The proclamation came as fans of the show are trying to resettle into the Game of Thrones prequel following the massive cast changes in a recent episode, as the series jumped forward by years.
One of those cast changes sees Maester Gerardys enter the series – and he's played by an iconic EastEnders actor.
Those watching at home were left flabbergasted after seeing actor Phil Daniels with a dramatic new look.
Daniels is best known for his iconic lead role in the film Quadrophenia and also for his turn as Kevin Wicks in EastEnders.
He has also appeared in The Class of Miss MacMichael, Breaking Glass, New Tricks and Rock & Chips.
And it seems his impressive CV had viewers recognise him in the most recent instalment of HBO's House of the Dragon.
Taking to Twitter, one person penned: "Phil Daniels being in House of the Dragon is the strangest crossover of things I love I could have ever imagined."
Echoing their comments, someone else said: "Great to see EastEnders' very own Phil Daniels in House of the Dragon. A fantastic actor."
While a third added: "The only part of the new House of the Dragon that I could make out was the sight of Phil Daniels."
This comes after House of the Dragon star Milly Alcock has opened up about the ‘gnarly’ filming of sex scenes for an episode of the HBO show.
The 22-year-old star, who played Rhaenyra Targaryen before the cast shake-up, described the behind-the-scenes reality of filming the brothel scenes for the show, which she said involved show extras forced to lie in a very intimate position for hours on end.
She said: “There were extras who we had just met who were like, 69-ing for 12 hours.”
She went on to tell the New York Post: “It's pretty gnarly, we felt pretty overdressed because everyone else was nude.”
The fourth episode saw her character in disguise in the Westeros capital of King's Landing, as she’s taken to a brothel by her uncle Daemon, before the pair share a much-discussed kiss.
Daemon, played by The Crown’s Matt Smith, then flees the scene and leaves Rhaenyra to fend for herself.
Actress Milly revealed she first saw the brothel scene as the cameras were rolling, after director Clare Kilner ‘made sure that we hadn't seen any of the brothel stuff’ before the shoot.
She said: “That was our first time walking through the brothel, and he's guiding her through the room with all of these other bodies.
“So, that was quite shocking. You're like, 'This is kind of weird and silly'.”
Reflecting on what it was like to film this scene, Milly said: “I think Matt is an incredible actor and he's also so kind and funny, so I felt very comfortable with him in all of those scenes. We’re just kind of mates. So, it was quite comfortable.
“We had an intimacy coordinator, and we worked with her through the rehearsal process and blocked it out months before.”
