His Dark Materials (TV series)

His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama television series based on the trilogy of novels by Philip Pullman. It is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Productions, for BBC One and HBO, with the latter handling international distribution. The show follows the orphan Lyra Belacqua as she searches for a missing friend and discovers a kidnapping plot related to an invisible cosmic substance called Dust.
The eight-episode first series premiered on 3 November 2019 on BBC One in the United Kingdom, and on 4 November on HBO in the United States and other markets. The seven-episode second series premiered on 8 November 2020 in the UK, and on 16 November 2020 in the US. The eight-episode third and final series premiered first on HBO on 5 December 2022, and on 18 December 2022 in the UK. All three series received generally positive reviews, with praise going towards its cast, visuals, production values, musical score and its faithfulness to the source material.
His Dark Materials is set in a multi-world reality, with the action moving from one world to another. The series is based on Philip Pullman's trilogy of the same name, and opens in an alternative world where all humans' souls manifest as animal companions called daemons. It follows the life of a young girl named Lyra, an orphan living with the scholars at Jordan College, Oxford, in a world governed by the Magisterium, a religious and political body. Lyra discovers a dangerous secret that involves Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter, and is the subject of a witches' prophecy that she will change the world. In her search for a missing friend, Lyra also uncovers a series of kidnappings and a link to a mysterious substance called Dust, which leads her on a journey of epic proportions and ultimately to other worlds. The witches' prophecy also links Lyra's destiny to Will Parry, a teenager from the conventional world, who is himself being pursued by figures connected to his long-lost father.
Additionally, lead puppeteer Brian Fisher provides the uncredited vocalisations for Mrs Coulter's golden snub-nosed monkey daemon.
The three His Dark Materials novels, written by Philip Pullman from 1995 to 2000, achieved critical and commercial success and were adapted into a 2007 feature film, The Golden Compass. The film was criticised by religious organisations, who objected to the story's anti-religious elements, as well as by fans of the trilogy who disliked the dilution of these elements. Despite earning $372 million worldwide, the film underperformed at the box office in North America, making any sequels unlikely.
After several years, the rights reverted to Pullman. In November 2015, BBC One announced that it had commissioned a television adaptation of the trilogy, to be produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Cinema. The eight-part adaptation had a planned premiere date in 2017. In April 2017 writer Jack Thorne told Radio Times that the series was still in pre-production. He said, "It's at an exciting point where we're just throwing things at the page and trying to work out what works and what doesn't", and that he wanted to ensure that they were being loyal to the books. Director Otto Bathurst explained that some elements of the book and film had been changed to give the series a more modern feel, compared to the original's Victoriana fantasy.
On 12 September 2018, HBO was announced as the co-producer and international distributor of the series. On 10 October 2018, Miranda reported that he had wrapped up filming for his role. On 14 December 2018, it was announced that filming for the first series was complete.
Before the series premiered, it was renewed for a second series of eight episodes, primarily adapting the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife. Filming of the second series began before the premiere of the first, which was considered "a necessary move considering the age of the show's young star". While filming for series 2 was mostly completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, a standalone episode focusing on Lord Asriel was left unfinished. As a consequence the series ultimately only consisted of seven episodes. Although McAvoy completed a small amount of filming before production was shut down, his appearance in the second series's final episode was filmed during the pandemic, repurposed from material written for the abandoned episode.
By November 2020, work had begun on six of eight scripts for a third series adapting The Amber Spyglass. The commission was confirmed in December 2020, for a series of eight episodes, and production began in early 2021. Filming for the third series took place between 24 May and 31 October 2021.
On 8 March 2018, it was announced that Dafne Keen had signed on to star in the series to play Lyra with director Tom Hooper signed on to direct. Lin-Manuel Miranda would star as Lee Scoresby. On 8 June 2018, it was reported that James McAvoy, Clarke Peters, and Ruth Wilson had joined the cast.
On 27 July 2018, the BBC and Bad Wolf revealed the cast and crew for the series.
On 1 July 2020, it was revealed that Bella Ramsey had been cast in the role of Angelica in series 2.
Additional casting for the third series was announced on 22 June 2021, including Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Commander Ogunwe, Jamie Ward as Father Gomez, Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Balthamos, Simon Harrison as Baruch, and Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe as Ama. Chipo Chung was also reported as playing the angel Xaphania, who was voiced by Sophie Okonedo in series 2.
On 20 September 2021, it was announced that Sian Clifford and Jonathan Aris had been cast in series 3.
On 14 August 2019, it was announced that Lorne Balfe was hired to score the series. Speaking about the job, Balfe stated that he "wanted to write a musical letter to the creators of the show", also mentioning that the series was a "mammoth task" and one of his biggest projects yet. Scoring primarily took place in St David's Hall in Cardiff, Wales with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales, while the ethnic Bulgarian choir was recorded in Bulgaria with additional remote sessions taking place at the Synchron Scoring Stage in Vienna, Austria with the Synchron Stage Orchestra. Also featured on the score are cellist Tina Guo, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, classical French horn player Sarah Willis, violinist Lindsey Stirling, and recordist Richard Harvey. Two soundtrack albums were released: a musical anthology with thematic pieces and an album containing all the cues used in the series. Silva Screen Records released the albums digitally on 3 November 2019 and 20 December 2019, respectively.
Lorne Balfe's His Dark Materials score was nominated for two awards: for Best Original Score for a Television Series at the 2020 International Film Music Critics Association (IFMCA) awards and for Music – Original Title at the 2020 Royal Television Society awards.
On 24 July 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fourth quarter of 2019 in the UK and the US. On 12 September 2019, sources revealed that the series was set to premiere on 3 November 2019 on BBC One and the following night on HBO. In New Zealand, the series is broadcast by Sky TV and is available on streaming service Neon. The series began on 5 November 2019. In Australia, the series is distributed by the cable and satellite television company Foxtel through their HBO output deal.
The second series premiered on 8 November 2020 in the UK, and on 16 November 2020 in the US. The third series premiered on HBO on 5 December 2022, and premiered in the UK on 18 December 2022, with the series being released in full on BBC iPlayer, and airing weekly on BBC One.
The three series of the programme were gradually released on Blu-ray, between 2020 and 2023, after each season ended.
Series one received mostly positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first series has an approval rating of 77% based on reviews from 114 critics, with an average rating of 5.75/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "The daemon is in the details and while His Dark Materials' visual splendor and exceptional performances deftly capture the essence of Philip Pullman's seminal novels, it could use a little more magic." On Metacritic, the series has a score of 69 out of 100 based on reviews from 22 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Dan Fienberg of The Hollywood Reporter wrote that "this effort nails much of what makes the books pop, and both the special effects and a star-studded cast led by Dafne Keen and Ruth Wilson are in fine form." However, he followed that by saying "What never fully worked for me in the four episodes... sent to critics is the necessary feeling of narrative and thematic momentum. It's vastly better than the movie, but neither fun nor smart enough to quite succeed." Caroline Framke of Variety wrote: "Despite the rich complexities of the novel's world of daemons, power-hungry players and warring faiths, HBO's His Dark Materials feels like it could have been plucked from most any other fantasy epic out there." Beth Elderkin of Gizmodo was critical of the show's inability to capture the connection between humans and daemons.
Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph gave the first episode 4 out of 5 stars, calling it "a fine piece of drama, capturing the strangeness and childlike wonder of the books, but also their rigour and bite. This is intelligent populism writ large." Huw Fullerton of the Radio Times gave the first episode a positive review: "While there is a slight element of table-setting in the series' first hour the appeal of the actors and setting are beguiling enough to pull you through all the exposition and explanation." Fullerton praised Wilson for her performance, saying she "nearly walks away with the whole series". David Levesley of British GQ wrote that His Dark Materials as a whole illustrates the fundamental problem with remaking adaptations: "the execution doesn't feel far enough removed from the previous version to actually make for a significantly better product".
Series two received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the second series has an approval rating of 85% based on reviews from 33 critics, with an average rating of 6.87/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "His Dark Materials' chilly emotional core and imposing complexity is unlikely to win over the unconverted, but its sophomore season rewards the faithful with impeccable production values and cerebral thrills." On Metacritic, series 2 has a score of 71 out of 100 based on reviews from 4 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".
Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian praised the series and in particular the villainous Mrs Coulter, calling Pullman's creation a compelling monster, and that writer Jack Thorne clearly "revels in punching up Coulter as a combination of Iago and Lady Macbeth with a hint, at her most pantomimic, of Cruella de Vil" and "you never know what she might do next". Jeffries was critical of the musical score, comparing it to "The Boy Who Cried Wolf", leaving audiences in doubt if the next dramatic moment was quite as significant as the music was suggesting, and undermining the two good lead actors who convey the necessary dramatic tension in their performances. Ed Cumming of The Independent wrote: "His Dark Materials looks great, it's robustly made, and there are great actors everywhere, occupying well-built universes. But it doesn't inspire as much wonder as it ought to." Ed Power of The Irish Times was critical of the series. Despite the strong cast, he called it "slow-moving and inhospitable towards newcomers" and plodding in its execution. Power blamed Pullman's source material: "frankly the whole thing is a bit of a drag. It's never fun being preached to, not even by an atheist." He concludes "His Dark Materials has a lot going for it. But it desperately lacks a sense of fun and, crucial for fantasy, the promise of escapism."
Series three received generally positive reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, the final series has an approval rating of 90% based on reviews from 21 critics, with an average rating of 7.30/10. The website's critical consensus reads: "In perhaps its most stirring season, the final installment of His Dark Materials rewards its viewers with a heart-wrenching conclusion befitting this faithful adaptation." Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian gave it four out of five stars, praising the performances and visual effects.