A record-breaking 3.4million Brits tuned in to the first episode of the final series of Game of Thrones yesterday, figured have revealed today.
The premiere of season eight was first broadcast at 2am UK time as it was aired simultaneously in the US on HBO, with almost 200,000 superfans staying up late to be the first to see what happened in Westeros.
A total of 2.7million, including the overnight viewers, then watched the episode, called Winterfell, throughout the day on demand or by recording it, before another 698,000 tuned into a 9pm showing on Sky Atlantic.
The total 3.4million viewers combined is a new record for Sky, beating the final episode of season seven, which was watched by a total of 3.03million people.
Winterfell was also up 20 per cent on the first episode of season seven, which had an audience of 2.8million.
Almost 3.4million Brits watched the return of Game of Thrones yesterday in a record-breaking audience for Sky, including 192,000 who stayed up until 2am to watch the first episode of series eight (pictured) being broadcast at the same time as it was shown on HBO in the US.
Many viewers were excited to see the return of Queen Daenerys's dragons Drogon, right, and Rhaegal, left
Fans welcomed back familiar faces including Sophie Turner as Sansa Stark, left, and Lena Headey as Queen Cersei
Meanwhile it also broke records in the US, where HBO said viewers peaked at 17.4million, eclipsing the show's previous high of 16.9 million viewers for the Season 7 finale in 2017.
It comes after anticipation had been steadily building for the debut of the new series following almost two years without the popular show.
The figure is expected to increase significantly as more Game Of Thrones fans catch up on the series premiere on demand, through Sky + recordings and through repeats.
After the broadcast, fans in the UK said they were relieved they could "finally come out of hiding" after making it to the series eight debut without hearing any spoilers.
Many people tuning in to the second showing said they had stayed off social media all day in case any of the programme's secrets were spilled before they could watch for themselves.
British fans took to social media to share their sense of anticipation, which built to a frenzy in the minutes before the episode aired
One billion tuned in as the highly anticipated Game of Thrones kicked off its eighth and final season on HBO Sunday night with the season premiere,
