Game Of Thrones teaser trailer and final series date revealed

Game Of Thrones will return for its eighth and final series in April next year, HBO has confirmed in a new teaser trailer for the show.

A clip announcing the return of the hit series, which first aired in 2011, features the tagline: "For The Throne."

While few details are revealed, the video shows key moments from past series and lets fans know when they can expect to see the much anticipated final season, which will be broadcast in the UK on Sky Atlantic and Now TV.

Kit Harington, Emilia Clarke and Peter Dinklage will reprise their roles as Jon Snow, Daenerys Targaryen and Tyrion Lannister, while Lena Headey will return to face them as the key antagonist, Cersei Lannister.

Speaking backstage at the Emmys in September, the show's boss David Benioff said the final season took a long time to make "because it's the biggest thing we've ever done".

"Even though it's six episodes, it was nearly a full year in Belfast either prepping it or shooting it," he said.

"It's quite extraordinary what the crew and the actors created, and I think when people see it they'll understand why it took so long.

"No one's going on vacation or slacking off, it's just that last season is far beyond what we've ever attempted before, and it is taking a really f****** long time - and I hope it will be worth it."

By the time the season airs it will be almost two years since the seventh series of the show, based on George RR Martin's book series A Song of Ice and Fire, was broadcast in summer 2017.

Earlier this year, HBO revealed it was moving ahead with a Game of Thrones prequel set thousands of years before the events of the TV show, and that it would be the first of five potential spin-off projects.