Game of Thrones is rolling along, and now one of our intrepid fans got an inside-look into the castle during filming. Needle, a long-time fan and acquaintance of GRRM’s, reported on her sneak peek, spotting Peter Dinklage and learning that Ghost (Jon Snow’s direwolf) had been on set yesterday. She says filming covers the courtyard, walls, great hall, and a kitchen sequence.
Turns out that this was not a sneak peek, however—she just arrived early enough that filming was not going on, and they were able to enter the castle, as Historic Scotland does not close any of its sites for filming. Instead, parts of the castle will be restricted as necessary. To follow up on her report, she added that she saw no one in costume, but Peter Dinklage’s hair was “blonde and longish, scruffy looking”. Echoing an earlier reporter (more on him later), the staff were very friendly at Doune Castle. Needle’s also a gifted artist, and found it amusing that she had “painted Winterfell before knew it was Winterfell”.
Loras provided some exciting reports, having gotten a better look at the outside of the castle than most, starting with discussions of what various screens, scaffolds, and “black boxes” on the castle walls might mean. He also shares the two pictures he was able to take before his camera gave out.
Another fan in the same thread, Gabriele, put up a virtual tour of Doune to give a better sense of the castle.
Finally, we’ve had an unverified report that Lena Headey may have been at Doune Castle as well—an “absolutely beautiful” woman with hair dyed blonde who was entering the castle, which the reporter thought was her but could not cofirm. So treat it as a rumor.