The Night Of
Naz Khan from HBO's new show The Night Of HBO

HBO had to find a new show to replace its record breaking hit series Game Of Thrones and their choice came in the form of a murder mystery that in its premiere episode attracted a vast audience.

The Night Of premiered on 10 July on the network and according to Nielsen live-plus-same day numbers attracted 1.3 million total viewers on Sunday. This is not counting the additional 1.5 million who watched it on-demand and on HBO's digital platforms.

Read the network's official description below:

From creators Steven Zaillian and Richard Price, The Night Of is an eight-part limited series that delves into the intricate story of a fictitious murder case in New York City. The series follows the police investigation and legal proceedings, all the while examining the criminal justice system and the purgatory of Rikers Island, where the accused awaits his trial.

The Night Of stars John Turturro and Riz Ahmed and was directed by Steven Zaillian and James Marsh. It is executive produced by Zaillian, Price, Jane Tranter, James Gandolfini, and Peter Moffat; co-executive produced by Garrett Basch, Nancy Sanders and Mark Armstrong.

Filmed in and around Manhattan, the HBO series is based on the BBC's "Criminal Justice," created by Peter Moffat.

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In episode 1 titled, The Beach, viewers were introduced to Pakistan-American college student Naz Khan (Ahmed) who is the prime suspect in the murder of a woman Andrea Cornish (Sofia Black-D'Elia). His DNA and fingerprints were found all over the crime scene and Homicide Detective Box (Bill Camp) finds it hard to believe that the student was innocent.

John Stone (Turturro), an attorney who visits the precinct to meet another client spots Khan and decides to help him. The premiere episode leaves us with some typical crime mystery questions. If we are to believe that Khan is innocent then who could have killed Andrea? And why was the geeky student being framed?

Those who missed the premier of The Night Of, click here to watch it on the official website.