His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama TV show based on three books by Philip Pullman. It is made by Bad Wolf and New Line Productions for BBC One and HBO, with HBO handling distribution outside the UK. The story follows Lyra Belacqua, an orphan who searches for a missing friend and uncovers a kidnapping plan connected to an invisible cosmic material called Dust.

The first series, with eight episodes, first aired on BBC One in the UK on November 3, 2019, and on HBO in the US and other countries on November 4, 2019. The second series, with seven episodes, premiered on BBC One in the UK on November 8, 2020, and on HBO in the US on November 16, 2020. The third and final series, with eight episodes, first aired on HBO on December 5, 2022, and on BBC One in the UK on December 18, 2022. All three series received good reviews, with praise for the actors, visual effects, production quality, music, and how closely the show follows the books.

Premise

His Dark Materials takes place in a world where many different worlds exist, and the story moves between them. The series is based on Philip Pullman's trilogy with the same name. It begins in an alternate world where every human's soul appears as an animal companion called a daemon. The story follows Lyra, a young girl who is an orphan and lives with scholars at Jordan College in Oxford. This world is controlled by the Magisterium, a religious and political group. Lyra learns about a dangerous secret involving Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter. A prophecy from witches says she will change the world. While searching for a missing friend, Lyra finds out about kidnappings and a connection to a mysterious substance called Dust. This leads her on a huge journey that takes her to other worlds. The prophecy also connects Lyra's future to Will Parry, a teenager from a normal world who is being chased by people linked to his missing father.

Cast

• Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua (later known as Lyra Silvertongue), a girl raised at Jordan College
• Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, a powerful leader in the Magisterium and Lyra's mother
• Anne-Marie Duff as Maggie "Ma" Costa, a Gyptian woman who cared for Lyra in the first series
• Clarke Peters as The Master of Jordan College (series 1)
• James Cosmo as Farder Coram van Texel, an elderly Gyptian and former lover of Serafina (series 1)
• Ariyon Bakare as Lord Carlo Boreal, an important leader in the Magisterium who moves between two worlds; in Will's world, he is known as Sir Charles Latrom (series 1–2)
• Will Keen as Father Hugh MacPhail (later Cardinal and Father President), a Magisterium official
• Lucian Msamati as Lord John Faa, a leader of the Western Gyptians (series 1)
• Gary Lewis as Thorold, Asriel's assistant (series 1–2)
• Lewin Lloyd as Roger Parslow, a kitchen boy and Lyra's best friend (series 1 and 3; guest series 2)
• Daniel Frogson as Tony Costa, Ma Costa's older son (series 1)
• James McAvoy as Lord Asriel Belacqua, a scholar and explorer who is Lyra's father and leads a group fighting against the Authority (series 1 and 3; guest series 2)
• Georgina Campbell as Adele Starminster, a reporter (series 1)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby, an aeronaut
• Ruta Gedmintas as Serafina Pekkala, a witch and queen of the Lake Enara witches, and former lover of Coram (series 1)
• Lia Williams as Dr. Cooper, a Magisterium scientist working at Bolvangar and later in Geneva (series 1 and 3)
• Amir Wilson as Will Parry, a high school student from Oxford whose father disappeared 13 years ago
• Nina Sosanya as Elaine Parry, Will's sick mother (series 1–2; guest series 3)
• Jade Anouka as Ruta Skadi, a witch queen and former lover of Lord Asriel (series 2–3)
• Sean Gilder as Father Graves, a Magisterium member (series 2)
• Simone Kirby as Dr. Mary Malone, a scientist from Will's world (series 2–3)
• Andrew Scott as Colonel John Parry, a marine and explorer who is Will's father; in Lyra's world, he is known as a shaman named Stanislaus Grumman (series 2–3; guest series 1)
• Terence Stamp as Giacomo Paradisi, the person who holds the subtle knife in Cittàgazze (series 2)
• Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Ogunwe, a resistance fighter recruited by Lord Asriel (series 3)
• Jonathan Aris as Commander Roke, a tiny Gallivespian who works as Lord Asriel's spy (series 3)
• Chipo Chung (series 3) and Sophie Okonedo (voice cast series 2) as Xaphania, an angel who helps Lord Asriel
• Simon Harrison as Baruch, an angel who tries to recruit Will to join Lord Asriel's group (series 3)
• Kobna Holdbrook-Smith as Balthamos, Baruch's companion (series 3)
• Jamie Ward as Father Gomez, a Magisterium member (series 3)
• Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe as Ama, a deaf girl who brings supplies to Mrs. Coulter while she is hiding (series 3)
• Sian Clifford as Agent Salmakia, a Gallivespian spy (series 3)
• Alex Hassell as Metatron, the leader of the Authority (series 3)

• Helen McCrory (series 1–2) and Victoria Hamilton (series 3) as Stelmaria, Asriel's snow leopard daemon
• Kit Connor as Pantalaimon, or Pan, Lyra's daemon. When Lyra was young, Pan could change into different animals, most often a white ermine. In season 3, Pan becomes a pine marten.
• Eloise Little as Salcilia, Roger's daemon (series 1)
• Phoebe Scholfield as Alicia, the Master's raven daemon (series 1)
• Libby Rodliffe as Lyuba, Tony Costa's daemon (series 1)
• Cristela Alonzo as Hester, Lee Scoresby's jackrabbit daemon (series 1–2)
• David Suchet as Kaisa, Serafina Pekkala's gyrfalcon daemon (instead of the book's snow goose)
• Joe Tandberg as Iorek Byrnison (voice and motion capture), an armored polar bear
• Peter Serafinowicz (voice) and Joi Johannsson (motion capture) as the ice bear, Iofur Raknison (series 1)
• Sope Dirisu as Sergi, Ruta Skadi's raptor daemon (series 2–3) (instead of the book's bluethroat)
• Lindsay Duncan as Octavia, Father MacPhail's lizard daemon (series 2–3)
• Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Sayan Kötör, John Par

Production

The three books in His Dark Materials, written by Philip Pullman between 1995 and 2000, became very popular with critics and audiences. A movie version, The Golden Compass, was made in 2007. Some religious groups and fans of the books criticized the movie for changes they felt made the story less true to the original. The movie earned $372 million worldwide but did not do well enough in North America to make more films likely.

After several years, the rights to the books returned to Philip Pullman. In November 2015, BBC One announced it had asked a production company, Bad Wolf and New Line Cinema, to make a television version of the trilogy. The series would have eight episodes and was planned to start in 2017. In April 2017, writer Jack Thorne said the series was still in the planning and early stages of development. He wanted to stay true to the books. Director Otto Bathurst explained that some parts of the story would be changed to give the series a more modern style compared to the original’s Victorian fantasy setting.

In September 2018, HBO joined as a co-producer and international distributor. In October 2018, actor Lin-Manuel Miranda said he had finished filming his role. In December 2018, it was announced that filming for the first series was complete.

Before the first series began, it was approved for a second season of eight episodes, which would focus on the second book, The Subtle Knife. Filming for the second series started before the first season aired, partly because the main young actor was still young. Most of the second season’s filming was completed before the COVID-19 pandemic, but one episode about Lord Asriel was not finished. This left the second season with seven episodes instead of eight. Some scenes with actor James McAvoy were filmed during the pandemic using material from the unfinished episode.

By November 2020, six of the eight scripts for the third season, based on The Amber Spyglass, were being written. In December 2020, the BBC confirmed the third season would have eight episodes, and filming began in early 2021. The third season’s filming took place from May 24 to October 31, 2021.

In March 2018, it was announced that Dafne Keen would play Lyra, and Tom Hooper would direct the series. Lin-Manuel Miranda would play Lee Scoresby. In June 2018, James McAvoy, Clarke Peters, and Ruth Wilson joined the cast. In July 2018, the BBC and Bad Wolf shared details about the cast and crew.

In July 2020, Bella Ramsey was cast as Angelica in the second season. The casting director said the actors’ performances were strong, so their roles were expanded.

More actors were added for the third season in 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 played the angel Xaphania, who was voiced by Sophie Okonedo in the second season. In September 2021, Sian Clifford and Jonathan Aris were cast in the third season.

In August 2019, Lorne Balfe was hired to create the music for the series. He said he wanted to write a musical letter to the show’s creators and called the project one of his biggest challenges. Most of the music was recorded in Cardiff, Wales, with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. A Bulgarian choir was recorded in Bulgaria, and other parts were made remotely in Vienna, Austria. The score also included music by cellist Tina Guo, drummer Chad Smith, French horn player Sarah Willis, violinist Lindsey Stirling, and recordist Richard Harvey. Two music albums were released in November and December 2019.

Lorne Balfe’s music for His Dark Materials was nominated for two awards: 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.

Release

On July 24, 2019, it was announced that the series would begin airing in the last part of 2019 in the UK and the US. On September 12, 2019, it was reported that the series would premiere on November 3, 2019, on BBC One in the UK and on HBO the next night. In New Zealand, the series is shown by Sky TV and is also available on the streaming service Neon. The series started on November 5, 2019. In Australia, the series is shared by Foxtel, a company that provides cable and satellite television, through their agreement with HBO.

The second series began on November 8, 2020, in the UK and on November 16, 2020, in the US. The third series first aired on HBO on December 5, 2022, and on BBC One in the UK on December 18, 2022. The entire third series was made available in full on BBC iPlayer and shown weekly on BBC One.

The three series of the programme were slowly released on Blu-ray and DVD between 2020 and 2023, after each season ended.

Reception

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 summary states: "The details are important, and while His Dark Materials' beautiful visuals and strong performances capture the spirit of Philip Pullman's books, the story could use 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 the series captures much of what makes the books exciting, and praised the special effects and the cast, including Dafne Keen and Ruth Wilson. However, he noted that the first four episodes sent to critics lacked a strong sense of story progression. He said the series is better than the movie version but not fun or smart enough to fully succeed. Caroline Framke of Variety wrote that while the books have complex ideas, the show feels similar to other fantasy stories. Beth Elderkin of Gizmodo criticized the show for not showing how humans and daemons are connected.

Ben Lawrence of The Telegraph gave the first episode 4 out of 5 stars, calling it a strong drama that captures the strange and thoughtful parts of the books. Huw Fullerton of Radio Times said the first episode has some setup but is still engaging because of the actors and setting. He praised Ruth Wilson's performance. David Levesley of British GQ wrote that the series shows a common problem with remakes: the new version does not feel different enough from the old one to be better.

Series two received mostly positive reviews. 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 summary states: "The second season has a strong emotional and intellectual side, but it may not attract new viewers. It rewards fans with high-quality production and exciting ideas." On Metacritic, the series 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, especially the character Mrs. Coulter, calling her a powerful and complex villain. He said the writer, Jack Thorne, made her a mix of dangerous characters. Jeffries criticized the music, saying it made dramatic moments feel less important. Ed Cumming of The Independent wrote that the show is well-made and has strong actors, but it does not create the sense of wonder it should. Ed Power of The Irish Times said the series is slow and hard for new viewers to follow. He blamed the source material, saying it is not fun to watch. He concluded that the series has many good qualities but lacks excitement and the escape fantasy usually offers.

Series three received mostly positive reviews. 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 summary states: "The final season is the most powerful, offering a sad but fitting ending that matches the books well." Stuart Jeffries of The Guardian gave it four out of five stars, praising the acting and visuals.