Photo: Sky Atlantic

Dragon-wielding barbarian maidens and sword-wielding dwarves are the new chain-smoking ad men, as the new season of Game of Thrones beat Mad Men in the series' return to UK screens this week.

Broadcast on Sky Atlantic, Game of Thrones drew an average of 522,000 viewers on Monday night, over five times the number who tuned into the return of Mad Men last week. The opening episode of series five of Mad Men drew 98,000 viewers.

Game of Thrones is adapted from the popular series of novels, 'A Song of Fire and Ice' and stars Peter Dinklage, Lena Headey, Emilia Clarke, Aidan Gillen and Alfie Allen.

Watch the trailer for Game of Thrones, series two, below: