Richard Brake, who played the Night King in Game of Thrones, admits he wanted the White Walkers to win in the show’s finale.

In the hit fantasy-drama’s final series last May, Arya Stark killed the Night King in one of the programme’s most memorable scenes.

And while Brake hoped his character, which he played up until season six before he was re-cast, had triumphed at the end of it all, he also appreciates how the writers had built Arya to that defining moment.

Speaking to the NME, he said: "I wanted him to wipe everyone out, I was hoping for that. But you can’t always get what you want!

"But I love the fact that Arya killed him. That was to me one of the highlights of that season.

"And for the whole series, the way they developed her character from this little girl who watches her father get murdered, into this incredible assassin, who saves the world. To me that was the most genius thing of the whole series."

Many fans of the show were critical about the ending as they felt it was something of an anti-climax following eight seasons of brutal bloodshed.

But Brake, who was not involved in the final two series, insists he loved it.

"I felt before this season that there would always be a backlash. People are always sad when something comes to an end," he added.

"Especially Game of Thrones, everyone had their ideas on how it was going to end, with all the theories banging about for the couple of years it took to make that final season.

"I sensed there would be a portion of people who would be disappointed no matter what they did, but I honestly thought it was great."