"This essay examines how the construction of authorship as an indicator of quality plays a crucial role in the success of US cable network HBO's TV series 'Game of Thrones'. It relates the authorial concept of literary studies to that in the visual media and then analyses mise-en-scène and narrative structure of the show pilot in order to detect markers of an authorial voice within the text. Subsequently, it turns to a selection of paratexts – critical reviews, producers' commentaries and special features of the show’s DVD box set - to show how the team of producers help manufacture and promote the presence of a showrunner-auteur collective in order to help foster a perception of this text as a quality television narrative."