Game Of Thrones star Emilia Clarke has urged viewers not to take the show so seriously following criticism of the programme's portrayal of women.

Critics have accused producers of the hit fantasy series of showing females in a negative light by including rape and sexual violence in the last season, as well as a scene in which Lena Headey's character Cersei Lannister is forced to walk through the streets naked while she is pelted with rotten vegetables and excrement.

However, Emilia Clarke, who plays exiled royal Daenerys Targaryen, is adamant the show is just fiction and should not be treated as anything other than entertainment.

She tells Entertainment Weekly Radio, "Obviously it's never nice hearing criticism about something that you, and... everybody else, puts their heart, soul, blood, sweat, and tears into... But in the same breath, it's a shocking show so it's going to invite commentary... I think the thing that's important to remember is that sadly, first and foremost, it's a story that we're telling that is make-believe... So whilst there is a political commentary that people can take from the show... I think not taking it too seriously is the key here."