Review 541: His Dark Materials (Series 1)

Based on the fantasy novel Northern Lights by Philip Pullman. In an alternate world where all humans have animal companions called deamons which are manifestations of the human soul, a young girl named Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) who is an orphan living with the scholars at Jordan Collage, Oxford. Lyra soon discovers a dangerous secret that involves her uncle Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) and Marisa Coulter (Ruth Wilson). In her search for her missing friend, Roger Parslow (Lewin Lloyd), Lyra also unsovers a series of kidnappings and its link to a mysterious substance known only as Dust.

The eight episode season unravels at an appropriately brisk pace.

I don’t expect His Dark Materials to have the longevity that Game of Thrones had but its good to see that Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials Trilogy is getting the adaptation that it deserves.

Directors Tom Hooper, Dawn Shadforth, Otto Bathurst, Euros Lyn and Jamie Childs direction is
The cinematography is fabulous, the production design (creating Philip Pullman’s alternate reality) is all marvellous bringing it to life in so many wondrous and magical ways drawing creativity and intelligently from our own world but infusing it with a Steampunk vibe ranging from the practical  the costumes are lavishly colourful, the special effects are outstanding and some of the best that TV has to offer rivalling that of Game of Thrones. The locations are gorgeous and rich with texture and detail and adds to verisimilitude of the world. The scenery is breathtaking, the score by Lorne Balfe is beautiful

The acting is outstanding, all the characters that Philip Pullman created are brought to life splendidly namely Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson and Lin-Manuel Miranda who play Lyra Belacqua, Lord Asriel, Marisa Coulter and Lee Scoresby respectively.

 

Ariyon Bakare has a most interesting role in this show playing Lord Carlo Boreal (a character who only has a minor role in the book and doesn't have a prominant role until the second book, The Subtle Knife.

It's a clever way of getting us as an audience more accustomed to Boreal early on, which makes it more of a natural transition when the show begins covering Book 2.

Anne-Marie Duff is also wonderful playing Ma Costa, mother of Bill Costa and member of the Gyptians. Duff brought a lovely maternal  to the role which was ideal for making her relationship with Lyra seem authentic.