‘His Dark Materials’ series renewed for season 2, HBO signs on to co-produce with BBC

HBO is partnering with the BBC in order to co-produce new fantasy drama series, His Dark Materials, which will be an adaptation of author Phillip Pullman’s trilogy of novels: Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife, and The Amber Spyglass. According to Deadline, the deal allows HBO the worldwide rights to the series outside of the UK.

This bit of news comes on the heels of the announcement that the series had been greenlit for a second season, without having aired an episode from season 1, yet. Season 1 is currently filming now and will consist of eight episodes, as will season 2. In July of this year, the BBC revealed an all-star cast, along with a synopsis of sorts, on what is being called the most ambitious and expensive  BBC production, to date.

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Dafne Keen (Logan) will play the lead role of Lyra, “the young protagonist of the story who lives in Jordan College, Oxford. Placed there at the request of her Uncle, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) she lives a sheltered life amongst the scholars and college staff while under the watchful protection of The Master (Clarke Peters) and Librarian Scholar Charles (Ian Gelder).” Gelder played Kevan Lannister on Game of Thrones. He’s not the only Thrones alum on board the series, as James Cosmo (Lord Commander Jeor Mormont) will play Farder Coram.

Continuing with the synopsis: “When Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) enters Lyra’s life she embarks upon a dangerous journey of discovery from Oxford to London. Here she meets Father MacPhail (Will Keen), Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare) and journalist Adele Starminster (Georgina Campbell) at a glittering society party where she first hears about the sinister General Oblation Board.”

"Lyra is subsequently thrown into the nomadic world of the boat dwelling Gyptians – Ma Costa (Anne-Marie Duff), Farder Coram (James Cosmo), John Faa (Lucian Msamati), Raymond Van Geritt (Mat Fraser), Jack Verhoeven (Geoff Bell) and Benjamin de Ruyter (Simon Manyonda) who take her North in her quest. Once in the North she meets charismatic aeronaut and adventurer Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manuel Miranda) who joins them on their epic journey and who becomes one of Lyra’s closest allies."

With season 1 focusing on Pullman’s first book, Northern Lights, and presumably season 2 focusing on Pullman’s second novel, The Subtle Knife, it’s hard to imagine the series not leaning heavily on CGI, especially when it will have to introduce a race of talking armored bears. Oh, and let’s not forget everyone has a talking animal spirit called a daemon.

Perhaps this is why the BBC is spending so much money on the series, and I for one, hope it pays off, as the novels are fantastic, and the film adaptation, The Golden Compass (2007), really did them no justice at all. If done right, and adapted faithfully, His Dark Materials could be the perfect series to fill the void left when Game of Thrones ends in early 2019.

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