SPOILER WARNING: The first episode (and presumably the rest of the series) will air at 20:00 GMT on Sunday 3rd November in the UK, and in the rest of the world on 4th November. Non-UK viewers, please be aware that there will be spoilers in this thread from that time on a Sunday.
In addition, ANY BOOK SPOILERS must be posted in clearly labelled spoiler tags e.g. if you want to discuss something that happens to Lyra in The Subtle Knife:
With that out the way, on to the fun part!
What is His Dark Materials?
The Books
His Dark Materials is a trilogy written by Philip Pullman, published in the late 1990s. The books are often categorised as Young Adult novels, although Pullman says that they were written with no particular target audience in mind. The name comes from Paradise Lost by John Milton (the works of Milton and Blake are heavily referenced throughout the trilogy):
...Into this wild abyss,
The womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless the almighty maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds...
His Dark Materials is perhaps best known for its challenging presentation of issues related to philosophy, theology, and religion. I can't go into much more detail without spoilers, but in particular the books are sharply critical of religious dogma and authoritarian tendencies within organised religion.
Wasn't there a rubbish movie based on these books?
There was indeed! Back in 2007, a film adaption of the first book in the trilogy was released, under the title "The Golden Compass" (incidentally, this was the title of the first book in the US; to the rest of us, it is known as The Northern Lights). It was largely negatively received by fans of the books, in large part due to the watering down of the aforementioned religious themes.
The World of His Dark Materials
The first series of His Dark Materials will cover the contents of The Northern Lights. This book is set in a world which possesses many similarities to our own, but several key differences. In many respects, it is broadly technologically analogous to our world in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. However, the world is dominated by a theocracy known as the Magisterium (which in many ways is like a more powerful and controlling version of the Catholic Church). The other key difference is the existence of daemons.
Dæmons
Dæmons (pronounced in the same way as "demons") in the world of The Northern Lights are manifestations of a part of humans' souls which naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of animals. Dæmons can speak, both to their person and to other humans/dæmons, and their personalities share the same range of types as humans. Children's dæmons can freely and instantaneously change their appearance into that of any real or mythical creature; once people reach puberty, however, their dæmons settle into one permanent form. This form in essence represents a person's true nature; a professional soldier might have a wolf-dæmons, whilst an explorer might have some form of travelling bird. Humans and their dæmons remain very close to each other; if they attempt to seperate by more than a small distance, both experience tremendous pain.
Witches
In this world, witches exist! And beyond traditional witchy activities such as magic and the ability to fly, there are two primary differences between witches and regular people. Firstly, witches live much longer lifespans (up to a millennium in some cases), meaning that they are generally somewhat estranged and distant from shorter-lived humans. The other big difference relates to their dæmons; witch-dæmons can separate from their humans over great distances (often hundreds of miles).
Panserbjørne
The other major difference which should be mentioned (because they're cool as hell as much as anything else) are the panserbjørne, or armoured bears. These bears are very similar to larger versions of polar bears, but with opposable thumbs and a much greater level of intelligence. They mostly live in the North, around Svalbard. Their name derives from the fact that they are exceptional metalsmiths and go into battle wearing armour they have forged themselves.
Details of the TV series
Schedule
The first episode will air on BBC One in the UK at 20:00 GMT, Sunday 3rd November. Globally, it will premier on HBO on Monday 4th November. The series will run for 8 episodes and has already been renewed for a second season (which will broadly adapt the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife).
Characters/cast
Lyra Belacqua - Dafne Keen
Lord Asriel - James McAvoy
Marisa Coulter - Ruth Wilson
Lee Scoresby - Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Master - Clarke Peters
John Faa - Lucian Msamati
Farder Coram - James Cosmo
Roger Parslow - Lewin Lloyd
Ma Costa - Anne-Marie Duff
Serafina Pekkala - Ruta Gedmintas
Lord Boreal - Ariyon Bakare
Voice Actors
Iorek Byrnison - Joen Tandberg
Pantalaimon (Lyra's daemon) - Kit Connor
Stelmaria (Lord Asriel's daemon) - Helen McCrory
Hester (Lee Scoresby's daemon) - Cristela Alonzo
The Golden Monkey (Marisa Coulter's daemon) - Brian Fisher
In addition, ANY BOOK SPOILERS must be posted in clearly labelled spoiler tags e.g. if you want to discuss something that happens to Lyra in The Subtle Knife:
[Insert spoilers here]
What is His Dark Materials?
The Books
His Dark Materials is a trilogy written by Philip Pullman, published in the late 1990s. The books are often categorised as Young Adult novels, although Pullman says that they were written with no particular target audience in mind. The name comes from Paradise Lost by John Milton (the works of Milton and Blake are heavily referenced throughout the trilogy):
...Into this wild abyss,
The womb of nature and perhaps her grave,
Of neither sea, nor shore, nor air, nor fire,
But all these in their pregnant causes mixed
Confusedly, and which thus must ever fight,
Unless the almighty maker them ordain
His dark materials to create more worlds...
His Dark Materials is perhaps best known for its challenging presentation of issues related to philosophy, theology, and religion. I can't go into much more detail without spoilers, but in particular the books are sharply critical of religious dogma and authoritarian tendencies within organised religion.
Wasn't there a rubbish movie based on these books?
There was indeed! Back in 2007, a film adaption of the first book in the trilogy was released, under the title "The Golden Compass" (incidentally, this was the title of the first book in the US; to the rest of us, it is known as The Northern Lights). It was largely negatively received by fans of the books, in large part due to the watering down of the aforementioned religious themes.
The World of His Dark Materials
The first series of His Dark Materials will cover the contents of The Northern Lights. This book is set in a world which possesses many similarities to our own, but several key differences. In many respects, it is broadly technologically analogous to our world in the late 19th/early 20th centuries. However, the world is dominated by a theocracy known as the Magisterium (which in many ways is like a more powerful and controlling version of the Catholic Church). The other key difference is the existence of daemons.
Dæmons
Dæmons (pronounced in the same way as "demons") in the world of The Northern Lights are manifestations of a part of humans' souls which naturally exist outside of their bodies in the form of animals. Dæmons can speak, both to their person and to other humans/dæmons, and their personalities share the same range of types as humans. Children's dæmons can freely and instantaneously change their appearance into that of any real or mythical creature; once people reach puberty, however, their dæmons settle into one permanent form. This form in essence represents a person's true nature; a professional soldier might have a wolf-dæmons, whilst an explorer might have some form of travelling bird. Humans and their dæmons remain very close to each other; if they attempt to seperate by more than a small distance, both experience tremendous pain.
Witches
In this world, witches exist! And beyond traditional witchy activities such as magic and the ability to fly, there are two primary differences between witches and regular people. Firstly, witches live much longer lifespans (up to a millennium in some cases), meaning that they are generally somewhat estranged and distant from shorter-lived humans. The other big difference relates to their dæmons; witch-dæmons can separate from their humans over great distances (often hundreds of miles).
Panserbjørne
The other major difference which should be mentioned (because they're cool as hell as much as anything else) are the panserbjørne, or armoured bears. These bears are very similar to larger versions of polar bears, but with opposable thumbs and a much greater level of intelligence. They mostly live in the North, around Svalbard. Their name derives from the fact that they are exceptional metalsmiths and go into battle wearing armour they have forged themselves.
Details of the TV series
Schedule
The first episode will air on BBC One in the UK at 20:00 GMT, Sunday 3rd November. Globally, it will premier on HBO on Monday 4th November. The series will run for 8 episodes and has already been renewed for a second season (which will broadly adapt the second book in the trilogy, The Subtle Knife).
Characters/cast
Lyra Belacqua - Dafne Keen
Lord Asriel - James McAvoy
Marisa Coulter - Ruth Wilson
Lee Scoresby - Lin-Manuel Miranda
The Master - Clarke Peters
John Faa - Lucian Msamati
Farder Coram - James Cosmo
Roger Parslow - Lewin Lloyd
Ma Costa - Anne-Marie Duff
Serafina Pekkala - Ruta Gedmintas
Lord Boreal - Ariyon Bakare
Voice Actors
Iorek Byrnison - Joen Tandberg
Pantalaimon (Lyra's daemon) - Kit Connor
Stelmaria (Lord Asriel's daemon) - Helen McCrory
Hester (Lee Scoresby's daemon) - Cristela Alonzo
The Golden Monkey (Marisa Coulter's daemon) - Brian Fisher
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