Courtesy of HBO Asia, GameAxis had the pleasure to be part of a phone interview panel with actor Mark Addy, who plays King Robert Baratheon, in the first season of HBO’s medieval fantasy TV series, Game of Thrones.

The medieval fantasy series, with Season 1 screening on HBO Asia from 28 August 2011, is based on George R. R. Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novel series. The book series spans 7 volumes (five of which have already been published), and chronicles the political trials, relationships sexual trysts, murders, backstabbing and intrigues of the seven dynastic kingdoms in the world of Westeros — as they vie to gain the favor of whoever rules (or merely sits like a puppet) on the Iron Throne.

The world is made even more fragile and dangerous with the foreboding threat of the “White Walkers” (known as “The Others” in the books) rising in the icy north (beyond a 700-foot man-made fortification called the Wall) and the vengeful return of an ousted Targaryen dynasty self-exiled in the eastern continent of Essos beyond the sea. Basically, this, and the fact that Martin is famous (or infamous) for his plot twists in the way he spins his ever-convoluted (yet strategically planned) character-driven tales, makes the TV series all the more engaging (oh, did we also mention that there might be dragons somewhere down the line?)

Mark Addy himself plays the role of King Robert Baratheon, the ruler of the seven kingdoms of Westeros. Married to Cersei Lannister, from House Lannister, and surrounded by members of the Lannister family, his biggest challenge is to hold the fragile kingdoms together with the trust and help of his queen, military advisers and city counselors. The story gets interesting when he reaches out to his good friend and confidante, Lord Eddard Stark (played by Sean “LOTR’s Boromir” Bean) to be the King’s Hand.

So anyway, short of having you read reams of excellent excerpts from the panel interview, we’ve decided to re-edit the phone conversation with Mark Addy into an audio slideshow which you can play and listen to. All images in the slideshow are provided or accessed from HBO Asia. Hope you enjoy it.

Whether you’re a fan of the book series (ie. if you’ve diligently finished books one to five so far), or you’ve not read the books but love family-like human drama set against nasty environments (Sopranos, Spartacus, True Blood come to mind…), the series should have lots to offer.

Actors you can expect to see (besides Addy) include Sean Bean as Lord Eddard “Ned” Stark, Peter Dinklage as Tyrion Lannister, Michelle Fairley as Lady Catelyn Stark, Lena Headey as Queen Cersei Lannister, Nikolaj Coster-Waldau as Ser Jaime Lannister, Jason Momoa as Khal Drogo and Emilia Clarke as Danaerys Targaryen. And we’re just scratching the surface here — the stories also follow the children of these dynasties, from Joffrey, Theon, Robb, Sansa, Bran, Arya and Jon as viewers follow them through their different trials and tribulations growing up against expectations and traditions.

Anyway, here’s one of many trailers to season 1.

ps. The first two episodes air on HBO Asia on 28 August 2011 (9pm for Thailand/Jakarta time; 10pm for the rest) and subsequent two episodes will air back-to-back every following Sundays at the same timing. HBO Asia has also set up a Facebook fan page and twitter channel for the series.

pss. At the time of writing, season 1 of Game of Thrones has been nominated in 13 categories in the 63rd Primetime Emmy Awards 2011, including a Supporting Actor category nom for Peter Dinklage for his role as Tyrion Lannister.