Sky Atlantic Copyright: Sky Atlantic

It looks like there will be a further two seasons of Game of Thrones after series six - and possibly even a prequel.

"'Seven seasons and out' has never been the conversation," Michael Lombardo, president of HBO programming, told reporters on Thursday. "The question is, how much beyond the seventh season are we going to do?"

He said the show's creators, David Benioff and Dan Weiss, "are feeling two more years after [series] six".

Asked about the possibility of a prequel, he added: "I would be open to anything David and Dan want to do … there's enormous storytelling to be mined in a prequel."

But he stressed nothing had been signed off yet, concluding "the focus is on figuring out the next few years of this show".

And what of Jon Snow's demise in last season's finale - will he rise again as fan speculation has suggested?

"Dead is dead is dead. He be dead… Everything I've seen, heard and read, Jon Snow is indeed dead," said Lombardo.

This year, Game of Thrones amassed an average of 20 million viewers for its fifth season in US and received 24 Emmy nominations.