Production is underway on HBO’s A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight, a prequel to Game of Thrones.

As with Game of Thrones, shooting is based in Belfast; Production Intelligence subscribers have had access to studio details and key UK HoD names since early March.

The drama is a spinoff featuring Dunk and Egg, based on the first of three George R R Martin novellas about the young but brave knight Ser Duncan the Tall, and his diminutive squire, Egg. It is set a century before Game of Thrones and stars Peter Claffey as Dunk and Dexter Sol Ansell as Egg.

On his blog, Martin explained the choice of title: “I love Dunk and I love Egg, and I know that fans refer to my novellas as “the Dunk & Egg stories,” sure, but there are millions of people out there who do not know the stories and the title needs to intrigue them too.

“If you don’t know the characters, Dunk & Egg sounds like a sitcom. Laverne & Shirley. Abbott & Costello. Beavis & Butthead. So, no. We want “knight” in the title. Knighthood and chivalry are central to the themes of these stories.”

Martin is among the executive producers on A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms: The Hedge Knight; Owen Harris directs three of the six episodes and Ira Parker is showrunner.