Game of Thrones: George RR Martin regrets smaller scenes being cut, such as this one with Arya and Sansa

The author has spoken before about missing 'the things (producers) leave out'

Maisie Williams as Arya in the first season of Game of Thrones

George RR Martin has spoken of his regret at certain Game of Thrones scenes being axed, after previously saying that he wanted more episodes per season.

HBO’s hit fantasy TV series, based on Martin’s A Song of Ice and Fire novels, will bring its fourth season to a close in a 66-minute finale next Monday.

But as the books are long and detailed, not everything can be included in the small screen adaptation. While Martin has mentioned liking many of the added scenes, he misses “the things they leave out”.

“As I’ve been saying for years, I wish they had more hours – every time I see another HBO show I wonder why we only have 10 and they have 13,” he said.

What producers could do with the extra time is “include smaller scenes that we had to cut, scenes that make the story deeper and richer,” Martin suggests.

The US writer, 65, is not partial to making edits, with his editor Anne Groell describing him as “one stubborn man, very set in his ways”.

One such cut scene, Vanity Fair reports, sees Arya and Sansa debate between taking tea and lemon cakes with the queen or hunting for rubies with the butcher’s boy.

This segment was cut from season one while the pair are en route to King’s Landing but, as Maisie Williams and Sophie Turner acted it out in their Game of Thrones auditions, it is available to view on YouTube (see below).

While Martin is under contract to pen seven novels, Groell has hinted that an eighth instalment might be on the cards.

“In all honesty only George knows how many books there will be in the series and he’s not saying,” she told the Guardian. “Indeed at this stage of his writing, with the many branching pathways of the characters’ stories still to intersect, he may not know.”

Michael Lombardo, HBO’s president of programming, was apparently “delighted beyond comprehension” by this news, so fans can look forward to plenty more from Westeros yet.