CANNES: “Game of Thrones” may be about to take a final bow, but fans of the television series need not despair — Game of Trolls is coming.

A madcap new fantasy show call “Magnus” featuring the lumbering fairytale monsters is the talk of the Canneseries festival in the French Riviera resort, where the world’s top TV market MIPTV is also being held.

Funnier than anything in the Seven Kingdoms, it has been described as a hilarious fantasy mix of a Scandi noir cop show and Inspector Clouseau, with elements of Inspector Gadget and the deadpan surrealism of Finnish director Aki Kaurismaki thrown in for good measure.

It creator, actor Vidar Magnussen, the brains behind the “Mind Phallus” spoofs of the British series “Sherlock”, said that he has been “blown away” by the reaction to the series, already a huge hit in his homeland.

His “Sherlock” send-ups went viral in 2014 when one of the series’ stars Amanda Abbington shared them on social media.

Published in Dawn, April 8th, 2019