Fans of Philip Pullman’s cult fantasy book series His Dark Materials have waited decades for a great on-screen adaptation (many discount the widely panned film version starring Daniel Craig).
Now, it seems as though they might just get their wish, with the BBC’s upcoming televised version of the beloved trilogy of novels (starring Dafne Keen in the role of gutsy, fierce hero Lyra) will soon be coming to screens.
- Jack Thorne opens up about his “exciting” His Dark Materials TV series
- His Dark Materials has finally released its first full trailer – and it was worth the wait
- Meet the cast of His Dark Materials
Here’s everything you need to know about the highly-anticipated fantasy drama…
When is the BBC’s His Dark Materials on TV?
His Dark Materials’ first episode will air on BBC1 on Sunday 3rd November, the BBC has revealed, and will be available on HBO internationally from the 4th November.
Filming on the first series finished in December 2018.
The eight-part series will subsequently air every week until the latter half of December.
The first series will cover the events of Northern Lights, the first book in the His Dark Materials trilogy. Filming took place predominantly in Cardiff at Wolf Studios Wales, with some production work on location amongst the dreaming spires of Oxford where the first instalment of the book series begins.
Harry Potter and The Cursed Child writer Jack Thorne is on board as screenwriter, while The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper is helming the project. Philip Pullman said he was “looking forward immensely to seeing how it looks.”
The second series will follow the events of sequel The Subtle Knife, while the as-yet unconfirmed series three would adapt The Amber Spyglass.
Is there a trailer for His Dark Materials?
“It’s time.”#HisDarkMaterials, coming to @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer later this year. pic.twitter.com/mDD5kRjgiO
— BBC One (@BBCOne) July 18, 2019
Yes, quite a few! The latest trailer was debuted at San Diego Comic-Con and shows off all sorts of exciting moments from the book, including an extended look at Lin-Manuel Miranda’s Lee Scoresby and Ruth Wilson’s Mrs Coulter.
Earlier, the first teaser packed in quite a bit, including an introduction to some major characters, a glimpse of some key scenes and a look at the alethiometer, the ‘Golden Compass’ that always points Lyra towards the truth…
We’re keeping our daemons close. Here’s an early sneak peek of #HisDarkMaterials pic.twitter.com/YZl21m7iqX
— BBC Press Office (@bbcpress) February 24, 2019
…. and another full trailer was released some months ago.
We also have this…
This autumn, one girl will change worlds. #HisDarkMaterials, coming soon to @BBCOne and @BBCiPlayer. pic.twitter.com/9au7UM3VKZ
— BBC iPlayer (@BBCiPlayer) August 26, 2019
Who will star in His Dark Materials?
James McAvoy will star as Lord Asriel, with The Affair’s Ruth Wilson as the magnetic and dangerous Mrs Coulter.
Dafne Keen, a British and Spanish child actor best known for her role as Wolverine’s daughter in Marvel’s Logan, will play our hero, Lyra, an orphan who’s raised by the Master and scholars of a (fictional) Oxford college, Jordan.
Stars including The Wire’s Clarke Peters, Black Mirror’s Georgina Campbell and Anne-Marie Duff also join the cast as the Master of Jordan College, journalist Adele Starminster and Ma Costa respectively. Game of Thrones’ James Cosmo will play elderly Gyptian Farder Coram.
Also joining the cast is Lin-Manuel Miranda, the Tony award-winning creator and star of musicals Hamilton and In the Heights as well as Mary Poppins Returns. Miranda will play balloonist and explorer Lee Scoresby.
The Crown’s Will Keen (Dafne’s father) will play Father MacPhail, a mysterious man whom Lyra meets at a London society party. Joining him there is Ariyon Bakare as Lord Boreal.
Completing the main cast of Gyptians are Lucien Msamati as John Faa, Mat Fraser as Raymond Van Geritt, Geoff Bell as Jack Verhoeven, and Simon Manyonda as Benjamin de Ruyter.
Daemon Pantalaimon will be played by young actor Archie Barnes, alongside Lewin Lloyd as Roger Parslow, Daniel Frogson as Tony Costa and Tyler Howitt.
Witch queen Serafina Pekkala was notably absent from the original cast announcement – but we now know that she will be portrayed by Ruta Gedmintas.
“My name is Serafina Pekkala. I am the queen of the witches of Lake Enara, which is in another world.”
Welcome to #HisDarkMaterials, @Ruta_Gedmintas ????
More info here: https://t.co/xFQU9sFiXm pic.twitter.com/jvxdkeMJJy— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) August 24, 2018
The first dæmon casting, meanwhile, came during San Diego Comic-Con, where it was revealed that Helen McCrory of Peaky Blinders and Harry Potter fame would voice Lord Asriel’s dæmon Stelmaria.
Get a first look at some of the key characters here
Following on from that it was revealed that Sherlock star Andrew Scott would also be joining the cast, playing explorer and shaman Jopari (aka Stanislaus Grumman) in the currently-filming second series.
"So I have summoned you here, and you are to fly me northwards”
When Lee Scoresby met Jopari.@Lin_Manuel #AndrewScott#BehindTheScenes #HisDarkMaterials pic.twitter.com/m0Rv6JlzSG— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) August 19, 2019
What is His Dark Materials about?
Where to start? The sweeping trilogy of novels – Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass – are set (at first) in Oxford, but in a pre-industrial parallel universe, where people are constantly accompanied by ‘daemons’: a physical manifestation of a person’s soul, which takes the form of an animal (or, in children’s cases, multiple animals, before it settles into one shape). Lord Asriel’s daemon is a snow leopard, while Marisa Coulter’s is a golden monkey.
12-year-old Lyra, whose daemon is called Pantalaimon, lives a happy existence running circles around the Jordan scholars, whom Lord Asriel, Lyra’s uncle, left her with as a baby. Instead of studying, she spends most of her days playing with kitchen boy Roger and their Oxford friends.
Things abruptly change, however, when the glamorous Mrs Coulter arrives at Jordan, offering to take Lyra away to live with her.
How closely will His Dark Materials follow the novels?
The first series will cover the first novel in the trilogy, Northern Lights, and it looks like it will be faithful to the storyline and atmosphere created by Pullman.
As filming began, screenwriter Thorne said: “His Dark Materials are the most beautiful set of books, taking us into a world of constant imagination. Reading them I was a massive fan, in adapting them I’ve increasingly felt in awe of them. It’s the constant invention, the way the story never sits still, and that the characters constantly surprise you.
“It’s been a joy being part of a creative team for this; from Tom’s incredible analytic mind and amazing eye, to Joel’s beautiful world building, to everyone else involved. And then there’s the cast, which has proved to be the cast of dreams, we are so lucky to have been able to entice them in.”
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