The Last of Us beats House of the Dragon's viewing figures

The Last of Us has stormed to victory in the TV viewing figures war, becoming HBO's greatest success since the eighth and final season of Game of Thrones.

According to the US network, the first six episodes of this post-apocalyptic video game adaptation averaged 30.4 million viewers since its premiere on 15 January, meaning that if the final three instalments of The Last of Us maintain those numbers, it'll overtake House of the Dragon's 29 million average from 2022.

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House of the Dragon's phenomenal predecessor Thrones averaged over 44 million pairs of eyes across its final season, so there's still a sizeable gap to bridge if The Last of Us wants to become top dog during season 2.

In other news, House of the Dragon actress Emily Carey previously confessed to being "scared" ahead of her intimate scene with Paddy Considine in episode four.

The teenager played a young Alicent Hightower opposite 47-year-old Considine's genial King Viserys I Targaryen, and during the scene in question, the couple engage in some joyless sex.

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"It scared me, because at that point I still hadn’t met Paddy, I didn’t know how much of a joy he was and how easy he was going to make [the scene]," she told Newsweek.

"All I saw was, you know, a 47-year-old man and me. I was a bit concerned.”

Carey also paid tribute to the set's intimacy coordinator, adding: "Having that outlet of the intimacy coordinator, to be able to talk everything through and not be shunned, or not feel awkward… Yeah, it was a lot easier than I thought it was going to be."

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