Indira Varma cast as Ellaria Sand in Game of Thrones season 4

Rome and Luther actress Indira Varma has become the latest name to join the cast of Game of Thrones season 4, with Entertainment Weekly reporting that she's set to play Ellaria Sand, "the sexually adventurous paramour" of another newcomer, Prince Oberyn Martell (a.k.a. The Red Viper), who is being portrayed by Pedro Pascal (Graceland). Varma becomes the new addition to the cast of HBO's epic fantasy ahead of its new season, with Mark Gatiss (Sherlock) previously announced as joining the series in an as-yet-unrevealed role.

“We got more action, which is obviously more time consuming,” says showrunner David Benioff with regards to the upcoming fourth season, which is based upon the second half of George R.R. Martin's A Storm of Swords. "“It’s a brutal shooting season ahead. But if we can make it through, yeah, I think it’s going to surpass season three. The last 3 episodes, there’s so many scenes we’ve been waiting for so long to do. And it just gets more and more fun to write for these characters. After three years of doing it, we have that much more comfort to make everything uncomfortable for them. We’re very excited for it."

Game of Thrones is set to return to TV screens next year, presumably around the end of March.