Game of Thrones might be HBO’s pride and joy but many fans will be oblivious to just how much money goes into making the hit fantasy series.

The budget for the upcoming sixth season has been revealed by Entertainment Weekly as “north of $10 million per episode”, meaning over $100 million (£69m) has been spent on production.

Previous reports had suggested that series two cost $6 million to make, which was startling enough in itself, but clearly the network are more than happy to fork out millions more to take Game of Thrones to new levels of epic.

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Co-showrunner David Benioff said in 2012 that he had been “pleading” with HBO for more money after “making a case” for why more cash should be splashed on impressive battle scenes like The Battle of the Blackwater and The Battle of Hardhome.

Game of Thrones returns to Sky Atlantic in the UK at 2am on Monday 25 April to coincide with its premiere in the US. Fans not keen on staying up that late can watch it at 9pm the same day.