John Bradley played the role of Samwell Tarly on “Game of Thrones” from 2011 to 2019, but it’s not the only dragon-themed TV project he’s ever been a part of. Unlike the HBO original, whose subject matter definitely wasn’t kid-friendly, this one is something the whole family can watch. We’re talking about 2016’s “The Last Dragonslayer.”
In case you didn’t know, “The Last Dragonslayer” is a TV movie released by Sky 1. It follows the adventures of an orphan named Jennifer Strange, who’s destined to become, as the title gives away, the last dragonslayer within her world, where magic has started to lag behind technology and is in danger of becoming obsolete. It’s based on the novel of the same name by author Jasper Fforde. Bradley played the role of Gordon, Jennifer’s sidekick.
The family-friendly film also starred Ellise Chappell, Adeel Akhtar, Matt Berry, and Andrew Buchan, along with several others. You can stream “The Last Dragonslayer” for free on Tubi.
What John Bradley thought about The Last Dragonslayer
John Bradley’s character on “Game of Thrones,” arguably one of the best TV shows of the 21st century, is very different tonally than Gordon from “The Last Dragonslayer,” but that’s precisely why he took the role, per SciFiNow. “With Gordon, you have a guy who’s in possession of all the facts, and he’s very confident in his delivery of the facts,” he said, breaking down the role with the publication. “He’s got a kind of military precision about him. There’s no grey areas and he’s incredibly direct. I’ve never played anything like that before.”
Of course, there are some obvious similarities between projects — most notably the fact that both feature dragons, and both are based on books. After all, “Game of Thrones” is based on George R.R. Martin’s “A Song of Ice and Fire” series. In Bradley’s opinion, Martin’s writing is why “Game of Thrones,” which concluded in 2019, became a cultural phenomenon.
“It comes from the books, but it gained such wide recognition when the show came out; that is, the risks that it takes getting rid of characters,” he told Cherwell in June 2023. “I think George R.R. Martin had written so much for TV where the rule of TV is — don’t kill your lead character too early. He became sick of that restriction and so wanted to write books that broke all of those rules. ” Because of Martin’s daring approach, the show featured many surprising moments for fans, which Bradley felt the powers that be executed “brilliantly.”
