The final season premiere of Game of Thrones – cultural juggernaut as it is – was bound to be a major ratings hit for US network HBO, and similarly popular with UK audiences when it aired at 9pm on Monday night. What’s surprising, though, is how many Brits stayed up until the wee hours to get their fix.

In addition to its standard broadcast the following night, Sky Atlantic simulcasts new episodes at the time of its US premiere – 2am if you’re not versed in the time difference.

A record 115,000 – a 30 per cent increase from the season six premiere – of us stayed up on a school night to catch the episode, adding to the total of 2.83 million (which includes recordings and on demand viewers) over 24-hours, reports Radio Times.

Will this number hold? Possibly, but so might the amount of sickies pulled on Monday mornings…