Amanda Peet defends Game Of Thrones' treatment of women: 'They write some of the greatest female characters on TV'

The Togetherness actress has praised the show's strong female characters, but is still mourning the death of one character from last month's finale

Amanda Peet stars in the shot Togetherness (Rex)

Despite the bloody battles, brutal backstabbings and even the occasional grammar lesson, Game Of Thrones was heavily criticised this year for its continually rubbish treatment of women on the show. But actress Amanda Peet thinks we're all over thinking it a bit.

“I think it's really misplaced," the Togetherness actress said, referring to the backlash this season, particularly over the treatment of Sansa Stark and Shireen Baratheon. "They write some of the greatest female characters that are on television."

Speaking to TheWrap, she pointed out that in the world of Westeros, the women are still at the forefront of the narrative - a surprisingly rare thing in television.

“It's much more insidious to have middling, ancillary female roles where the women are not part of the plot - where they don't advance anything," she argued. "Wife roles, girlfriend roles, there are very few of those in Game Of Thrones. If someone takes their clothes off and it's a massive part of the plot? So be it.”

Peet may have had to be on her best behavior - she's married to the show's co-creator and regular bearer-of-bad-news David Benioff.

Regardless, she has a pretty solid point. Women like Arya Stark, Cersei Lannister, Daenerys Targaryen and Margaery Tyrell are some of the most brilliant, complex characters on TV right now, far outstripping their male counterparts (figuratively, although most of them have stripped in a literal sense, too).

But it's not all positive. Peet pointed out that she's still devastated over the season finale's closing moments, when a fan favourite (whose name we're omitting in case you haven't heard) was repeatedly knifed in the gut.

“I was furious. He was already in Belfast, he's back to work now on the next season, but I texted him and said, 'I'm single now!'” she added, laughing.

You know who else should go back and work on the next season? A certain black haired Northerner. But we know nothing.