Game of Thrones replaced by London footie hooligans after Sky blunder

Game of Thrones replaced by London footie hooligans after Sky blunder

Hot dragon drama dethroned by thugs. Sky clearly needs to iron out the problem…

Kelly Fiveash – Jul 18, 2017 11:55 am | 18

Credit: Sky/HBO

Anyone hoping to catch up on the first episode of season 7 of Game of Thrones via their Sky box on Monday were in for a thuggish surprise, after the on demand service temporarily served up East London football hooligan film ID2: Shadwell Army instead of the hit dragon drama.

Ars reader Dave Holmes told us that he had “settled down to watch GoT on catch up” but “some random thug film” appeared on the screen in place of the HBO show, which airs exclusively on Sky Atlantic in the UK. “What a major balls up for the premiere of one of their hottest properties,” he reasonably observed.

And Dave wasn’t alone in spotting the boob. Outrage, Arya-style, was heavily expressed at the moanfest altar that is Twitter. “Where is GOT!! What an earth is Shadwell Army and why is Billy Mitchell on my screen @skyatlantic Sort it out!!,” wrote Chelsea Hodgson. While others captured the moment in all its glory.

@SkyUK trying to download GoT S7E1. It downloads movie shadwell army instead. Not happy. Phone support sucks @SkyHelpTeam @GameOfThrones pic.twitter.com/sThG4Am19C

— Ashutosh Tomar (@Ashtom1) July 17, 2017

@skyatlantic Bit of a weird one trying to watch #GameOfThones7 on demand @SkyUK and I’m getting a film called ID2 Shadwell Army pic.twitter.com/oHQd7o1zdF

— DARREN MCR ❤️ (@darren_tenerife) July 17, 2017

Naturally, we’ve asked Sky to tell us why its on demand service had dethroned Game of Thrones for what must have seemed like an eternity for anyone wanting to see Ed Sheeran’s cameo in the show. It’s safe to say that the experience probably wasn’t as bad as being forced to listen to Galway Girl on repeat, though.

Sky is promising a response, but told Ars it was still “looking into” the blunder at time of publication. We’ll update the story if we do get a statement from the broadcaster.

And Sky wasn’t the only one to have a wintry windswept wobble with season 7 of Game of Thrones. HBO’s website collapsed under the demand, leaving an unknown number of viewers unable to stream the drama when it debuted online on Sunday night.

Update

Sky told Ars: “Yesterday a very small number of customers had issues accessing the first episode of season seven of Game of Thrones on demand. This has now been fully resolved and we apologise for any inconvenience caused.” It didn’t reveal what had caused the snafu.