Game of Thrones season five exhibition opens: Check out the costumes, 'ascend the wall' and be torched by Drogon

Cast member John Bradley helped launch the show at London's O2 Arena

Game of Thrones: The Exhibition opens in London's O2 Arena (Sky Atlantic brings Game of Thrones: The Exhibition to Sky Backstage )

Die-hard Game of Thrones fans will be heading for London’s O2 Arena this week to check out the props and costumes from their favourite TV series.

A huge exhibition opened on Monday to give viewers a behind-the-scenes insight into the world of Westeros before season five reaches our small screens this spring.

Fans can gaze at Missandei and Daenerys’ gowns, wonder at Eddard Stark’s Ice sword and admire Jorah Morment’s blade with its peacock feather sheath.

More than 70 items from the fourth and fifth series are on display, including a Meereenese mask and the hammer and nails used to crucify the Masters of Meereen.

Fans can get their hands on The Mountain’s 5ft 4in sword and, fear not, it is on a stand since most visitors will not be as tall as 6ft 9in actor Hafthor Bjornsson.

Hafthor Bjornsson in Game of Thrones (HBO)

There will be the opportunity to be filmed and photographed re-enacting some of the most shocking Thrones moments, before being engulfed by dragon Drogon’s flames and “turned” by a White Walker, face frosted and eyes turned blue.

Reality experience “ascend the wall” lets fans follow in Jon Snow and the Night’s Watch’s footsteps and ride the Castle Black winch elevator to the top of the 700ft ice wall, before being attacked by wildlings.

Cast member John Bradley, who plays Night’s Watch steward Samwell Tarly, attended the launch of the exhibition and dropped some hints about what to expect from season five.

John Bradley officially opens Game of Thrones: The Exhibition (Sky Atlantic brings Game of Thrones: The Exhibition to Sky Backstage)

“The quandary going into season five, if anything, is that we know what people like, we know what people expect, so we know that we are going to have to keep them interested in what they like but find ways of surprising them still,” he sad.

“I think people, after watching 40 hours of something, they start to know the formula a bit - or they start to think they know the formula a bit - so we have got to find new and exciting ways of both keeping it familiar and double-crossing them.”

The Game of Thrones exhibition is open to Sky TV customers from today until Thursday and again from 15 to 17 February, before going on an international tour.

Season five begins on 13 April on Sky Atlantic.

Fun facts about the making of Game of Thrones

• More than 2,800 different props and over 10,000 weapons have been developed for the show over the past four seasons

• Some 4,700 weapons were used in the Battle of Blackwater Bay scene

• Margaery Tyrell's wedding dress took around 200 hours to make

• The frost-bitten effect on the Night’s Watch costumes was achieved by appling an opaque binder and delicate application of candle wax

• The Battle of the Wall episode took around 28 days to complete