The second season of His Dark Materials ended (in the UK, anyway) to rave reviews! Everyone wants a third and final season, but there’s a hold up.
The second season of His Dark Materials ended this weekend…if you live in the UK and watched it on the BBC. If you’re across the pond and watching new episodes on HBO, you still have two more episodes to go, one tonight and the finale next week.
And if you’re one of those people, we recommend you stop reading now, because there are SPOILERS in this post. Otherwise, let’s talk about that ending surprise…
I’m talking about the final scene of the final episode, where Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) turns up to entreat a group of angels to join his war against the Authority. Basically, he’s going to war against God.
Asriel, who has sat out the entirety of this season, was originally due to have a whole episode to himself, but the team had to scrap it thanks to COVID-19. It’s very cool that they could give him this showcase at the end. “Executive producer Dan McCulloch moved mountains to make it happen, and James McAvoy, very brilliantly and generously, came in and gave us a COVID day,” series creator and writer Jack Thorne told Radio Times. “It’s one of the things I most admire about James, he planted his feet and shouted at the sky, and it was glorious to see him do so. I am so so pleased it was kept a secret up to this point, and grateful to the previewers for not spoiling it.”
Thorne also answered a whole lot of questions on Twitter, many of them about a potential third and final season, which everyone seems eager to get now that the second season has ended so strong. It still sounds like another season is in limbo, although Thorne and his team have submitted scripts:
We've had no word on series 3 yet. We've only just submitted them our scripts - 6 written, 2 outlines & a lot of other information beside. We hope to hear soon. They're incredibly supportive broadcasters. We're dead lucky. #AskHDM https://t.co/tu6cIWT7yB
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) December 20, 2020
The third book in Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials series is The Amber Spyglass. It’s the longest of the trilogy, which had some wondering if it might be split into two seasons, but Thorne wants to stick to the original template:
Actually (so far) it's fitted very nicely into 8 episodes. #AskHDM https://t.co/fVnBuJqAX9
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) December 20, 2020
As someone who’s read the books, I think that sounds right. If you ask me, the problem with the first two seasons is that the writers had to stretch out Pullman’s reasonably short books to fit into eight episodes of television apiece. The Amber Spyglass should fit more comfortably, without a need for filler.
The question is whether it’ll get made at all. According to The Wertzone, while viewership has been strong in the UK, where the His Dark Materials books are very popular, it’s been dropping in the US. This show is a BBC-HBO co-production, and if the American response is weak, HBO may pull out. The BBC could go it alone, but that would mean a lot less money, which could hurt a show with this much special effects work; those talking dæmons don’t just happen.
Yikes. Looks like HIS DARK MATERIALS is running at a 50% audience drop on HBO in the United States for its second season, at least on first-night broadcast.
— Werthead (@Werthead) December 21, 2020
HDM is a HBO-BBC coproduction and the series has done much better in the UK (only slightly down on S1)#HisDarkMaterials
I hope the third season does happen; it’s got the best material, and the show has improved as it’s gone along. And Thorne clearly has plans to make it as good as possible, promising more of Lord Asriel and the introduction of several fan favorites from the books:
I'll answer this just about ep 1 if that's OK. Our angels. Balthamos and Baruch. Ogunwe, he's rather special I think. And Ama. I love Ama. But lots and lots are coming down the track, and I fall in love VERY easily. #AskHDM https://t.co/WC87u5eAEw
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) December 20, 2020
Yes, and a scene was written, but the mechanics of series 3 (when we started discussing it) for lots of complicated reasons meant it was best to end without them. Don't worry though, they feature very heavily in series 3 scripts and they are magnificent to write. #AskHDM https://t.co/N7qsIQNoTv
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) December 20, 2020
Well, obviously, we wanted a lot more of him in series 2! We wrote an entire episode (with Philip's help) telling the story of his first movements through the worlds. But Covid squashed us flat. Most of that last speech was taken from that ep. So yes, a LOT more in s3! #AskHDM https://t.co/gDEJjA9ZVN
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) December 20, 2020
We have many plans, both of going deeper into backstory for Mrs Coulter and of finding ways to access Lord Asriel's vulnerability. Writing for those two characters, played by those two actors is a particular pleasure. #AskHDM https://t.co/daPVhgngLx
— His Dark Materials (@darkmaterials) December 20, 2020
Fingers crossed!
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