7 underrated fantasy shows you need to watch

6. His Dark Materials

HBO had massive success with Game of Thrones, and it hasn’t stopped trying to make excellent fantasy entertainment. His Dark Materials is based on the legendary book series of the same name by Philip Pullman, and while the series has a ton of fans, it’s struggled in its transition to the screen. New Line Cinema’s movie version of The Golden Compass largely defanged much of Pullman’s vision, in part because the Catholic Church objected to it.

HBO and the BBC’s attempt at His Dark Materials succeeded where the movie failed. For the first time, Pullman’s world was brought to the screen in a way that mostly did it justice — and in some cases, actually improved it.

His Dark Materials follows young orphan Lyra Belacqua as she goes on a journey to stop a shadowy group that’s kidnapping children for nefarious purposes. Along the way, she meets a band of gypsies, a hot air balloon pilot, and an armored polar bear, all of whom join the cause to stop the child-snatchers and set things right. But the problems Lyra is out to solve are bigger than one group of kidnappers…or even one world.

Did His Dark Materials have some hiccups and pacing problems in its first season? Sure. But it had plenty of brilliance as well. Several key characters — like Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) — ended up with far more nuance. The CGI is top notch, which you can in the depiction of the characters’ animal companions (called daemons) or Iorek Byrnison, Lyra’s polar bear friend.

There’s a second season coming out this year, and since the first took the time to set up the character of Will Parry (Amir Wilson), that means it can dive right into The Subtle Knife, and second and best of Pullman’s books. The story is about to get much bigger and more epic, so there’s never been a better time to catch up.