Game of Thrones season 5: Kit Harington compares new episodes to 'horror film' 

The Budget Breastfeeding & IQ Israel Election George Osborne Greece Michael Gove

Game of Thrones season 5: Kit Harington compares new episodes to \'horror film\'

The Jon Snow actor spoke to reporters ahead of the Tower of London premiere

Jess Denham reports on Arts + Entertainment for The Independent website

Note: We do not store your email address(es) but your IP address will be logged to prevent abuse of this feature. Please read our Legal Terms & Policies

season five will be as “shocking” as fans have come to expect.

The English actor plays Jon Snow in the hit fantasy drama, which had its global premiere in a huge tent at the Tower of London last night.

“They tend to go story season then shocking season then story season then shocking season. This is a shocking season,” he told Radio Times before the screening, adding that new episodes are “like a horror film”.

Harington was one of the large ensemble cast to walk the red carpet on Wednesday, before the series returns to HBO on Sunday 12 April and hits Sky Atlantic the following day.

Audiences are familiar with major characters being killed off, something that author George RR Martin seems to have a passion for, but the 28-year-old remained tight-lipped on his fate.

“I can’t tell you whether I make it through this season, I can’t tell you who makes it through,” he told Express. “There are some big shocks. There are some big events. It’s a really interesting season.”

Harington also mentioned the role of women in Game of Thrones, praising it for its host of “very strong female characters” including Arya Stark and Daenerys Targaryen. “There are more women who are in control than in other shows,” he said.

The latest teaser for season five dropped online earlier this week, focusing on Daenerys’ stake to the Iron Throne and her fiery dragons.

Meanwhile Martin raised fans’ hopes by suggesting there was a slim chance that the sixth book in his

Read more: First look review of Game of Thrones season five

New Game of Thrones sees Daenerys\' dragons looking mighty fine

George RR Martin hints at when to expect The Winds of Winter

Sean Penn's hitman fires wide of the target in half-cocked thriller The Gunman

Film review Michael Glatze biopic isn\'t about a self-hating gay man gone straight

tvWill Ferrell’s new film Get Hard receives its first reviews

Coalition: An absorbing dress rehearsal for the back room deals ahead

Review: Ian Grieve gets another chance to play Gordon Brown... this is the kinder version

Inspirational director of 'Still Alice' dies aged 63

tvReview: He wowed the judges with an avant garde dress

The Great Composers: fourteen of the giants of Western classical music

A TV producer reveals what it's like having to endure presenters' tantrums

John Maynard Keynes biography reveals shocking details about his sex life

Use of rape as plot device 'shifting' sympathy from victim to perpetrator

arts + entsAcademic and author Joanna Bourke in warning to arts world

Electro Velvet aiming to be UK's first Eurovision winner in 18 years

Most dramatic moments of Leonora Carrington's remarkable story

artAfter she fled her aristocratic family, the surrealist painter would take in drinks with Picasso, confinement in a Spanish asylum and a daring escape from Hitler

photographyPhotographer Iris Della Roca makes the dreams of Rio\'s most deprived children come true

Literary festivals 'value celebrity above writing,' claims novelist

booksJoanna Trollope accuses events of paying celebrities to attend and treating some fiction authors with a lack of respect

The art of revenge: How obscure messages reveal painters’ true feelings

TV reviewGrace Dent: Jimmy McGovern\'s new drama sheds light on sex slavery in the colonies

Australian fans unhappy with 'dull ' choice

A cliché-ridden play that will curb the enthusiasm of Larry David fans

theatreReview: Had Fish in the Dark been penned by a civilian it would have barely got a reading, let alone £10m advance sales

Alexa Chung's secret skills impress as Chris Moyles makes Hollywood gag

tvReview: No soggy bottoms, but plenty of other baking disasters on The Great Comic Relief Bake Off

tvReview: Episode one of the new series played it safe, but at least this drama has a winning formula

Drugs Live: Twitter reacts to Jon Snow and Jennie Bond smoking cannabis

Scottish Book Trust’s Children’s Book Blog

Friday Book Design Blog: ABCD awards 2015

Manchester United midfielder Andreas Pereira 'offered student £10,000 for a threesome' with him and team-mate Paddy McNair

Solar eclipse 2015: How to safely take pictures of the sun

Solar eclipse: As Google Doodle marks celestial phenomenon, here is all you need to know in three charts

Jeremy Clarkson 'could be given minder' ahead of a potential Top Gear return

Paramedic shares heart-breaking photo of ER doctor grieving after losing 19-year-old patient

Game of Thrones season 5: Kit Harington compares new episodes to 'horror film'

Game of Thrones season 5 review: The Lannisters and Targaryens are back, but this series feels like the start of the endgame

Fifty Shades of Grey movie shows first sex scene 'after 40 minutes'

Glee season 6 finale: From Rachel to Mr Schue, the best and worst characters to grace the show

Stewart Lee axed: The demise of real stand-up on TV is no laughing matter

Earth has exceeded four of the nine limits for hospitable life, scientist claims

Vladimir Putin says Russia was preparing to use nuclear weapons 'if necessary' and blames US for Ukraine crisis

Israel is supposedly the only democracy in the Middle East, yet 4.5 million Palestinians under its control can't vote

UK solar eclipse 2015: 'Beginning of the end of the world', say Christian pastors

Jeremy Clarkson suspension: Richard Hammond and James May 'refuse to film Top Gear' without him

New genetic map of Britain shows successive waves of immigration going back 10,000 years

Calling all entrepreneurs! See how crowdfunding can provide you with a full-circle, end to end solution for your business.

Win anything from gadgets to five-star holidays on our competitions and offers page.

Business videos from commercial thought leaders

Watch the best in the business world give their insights into the world of business.

But could genetically engineering mosquitoes have other, unintended consequences?

As long as its enemies remain divided, Isis will not be defeated

The jihadis can conscript, train and arm thousands of fighters, but their resilience is based on their opponents waging separate wars, says Patrick Cockburn

As France goes to the polls, Marine Le Pen's party, the Front National, looks set to do well. And key to that rise has been Le Pen's fiery niece Marion, the FN's rising star

When Isis targets a museum to destroy the ‘culture of its disbelievers’, what treasure of the Western world is now safe?

It's the UN's International Day Of Happiness tomorrow, but Rhodri Marsden finds the happiness business makes him, well, a bit unhappy

The Independent's fashion editor Alexander Fury reveals why the nautical new look is making waves

Paleontologists find ancient crocodiles which walked on hind legs

9ft animal roamed South Carolina 220m years ago

Meat Free Week: Star chefs share their tips

Meat Free Week is part of a global campaign to steer us to a more planet-friendly diet

Keep your face feeling smooth and hydrated with a hardworking cream. We give our verdict on the pick of the potions

Outplayed, outfought and out-thought: once again, our English clubs have been miles off the pace in Europe

Mathews must teach emigre Abril a few home truths

Home advantage can be crucial, the difference between victory and defeat, says Frank Warren

What George Osborne said... and what he really meant

Sunnis face an even bleaker future in Iraq if militants' reign of terror is finally defeated, says Patrick Cockburn

How a remarkable new genetic map tells a story of Britons' survival

Alexander Litvinenko's inquest has provided an intriguing insight into the dead tycoon