Kit Harington defends naked scenes and shares hope drama will not 'finish on a whimper' 

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Game of Thrones season 5: Kit Harington defends naked scenes and shares hope drama will not \'finish on a whimper\'

Harington will be back playing Jon Snow in season five of the fantasy drama

Jess Denham reports on Arts + Entertainment for The Independent website

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Kit Harington, also known as Jon Snow to most of us, has shared his view on how Game of Thrones should end and defended all the nudity in the show.

The 28-year-old actor believes the hit HBO fantasy drama will run for seven seasons and that the upcoming fifth will be “important”.

“Some of my favourite TV shows in history, the best season was five – and they’ve maintained [the quality] till the end,” he told reporters at a press conference.

“It’s about keeping the viewership happy and keeping the quality up and not doing what other TV shows have done in the past, which is finish on a whimper.”

Harington also touched upon the series’ sometimes controversial naked scenes, agreeing with co-star Sophie Turner’s view that they are “very necessary” to reflect the attitudes of “medieval times”.

“I do think there should be an equal amount [of male and female nudity] but I think it’s wrong to say there isn’t any male nudity in

“Unfortunately, you can\'t show a man sexualised on TV because of all the problems that that entails. There’s more than in any other show – it’s just the ratio [that’s the problem].”

Turner, who plays Sansa Stark, added that “women didn’t really have a huge say in the [Thrones] world”.

“They couldn’t manipulate that well through their power because they didn’t have a huge amount,” she said.

“I think one of the main ways that women can use what they have is through sex. They can really manipulate people through men’s desires, and the same vice-versa, so I think it is quite necessary that they show that aspect.”

Sophie Turner as the eldest Stark daughter Sansa in Game of Thrones

Harington has hinted before that Jon Snow will have a major storyline in season five, revealing that he was “on set every day with more dates than anyone”.

is based, dropped a bombshell on fans last weekend when he warned them to “be on their toes” for unexpected deaths.

“People are going to die who don’t die in the books, so even the book readers will be unhappy,” he said at the Writers Guild West Awards on Saturday.

“Everybody better be on their toes. [Showrunners David Benioff and D.B Weiss] are even bloodier than I am.”

returns to HBO on Sunday 12 April before airing in the UK the following night on Sky Atlantic.

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