His Dark Materials (TV series) facts for kids

Quick facts for kids His Dark Materials
Genre	Adventure Fantasy drama Mystery
Written by	Jack Thorne
Starring	Dafne Keen Ruth Wilson Anne-Marie Duff Clarke Peters James Cosmo Ariyon Bakare Will Keen Lucian Msamati Gary Lewis Lewin Lloyd Daniel Frogson James McAvoy Lin-Manuel Miranda Ruta Gedmintas Amir Wilson Nina Sosanya Jade Anouka Sean Gilder Simone Kirby Andrew Scott
Composer(s)	Lorne Balfe
Country of origin	United Kingdom United States
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	2
No. of episodes	15 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producer(s)	Jane Tranter Dan McCulloch Otto Bathurst Carolyn Blackwood Joel Collins Toby Emmerich Deborah Forte Julie Gardner Tom Hooper Ben Irving Philip Pullman Ryan Rasmussen Jack Thorne
Producer(s)	Laurie Borg
Cinematography	Justin Brown
Editor(s)	Niven Howie Nick Arthurs Dan Roberts Chris Gill David Fisher
Production company(s)	Bad Wolf New Line Productions Scholastic
Distributor	BBC Studios (United Kingdom) HBO (international)
Release
Original network	BBC One (United Kingdom) HBO (United States)
Picture format	UHD
Original release	3 November 2019 (2019-11-03) – present (present)

His Dark Materials is a fantasy drama television series based on the novel series of the same name by Philip Pullman. It is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Productions, for BBC One and HBO, with the latter handling international distribution.

The eight-episode first series premiered on 3 November 2019 on BBC One in the United Kingdom, and on 4 November on HBO in the United States and other markets. The seven-episode second series premiered on 8 November 2020 in the United Kingdom, and on 16 November 2020 in the United States. In December 2020, His Dark Materials was renewed for a third and final series of eight episodes.

Premise

His Dark Materials is set in a multi-world reality, with the action moving from one world to another. The series is based on Philip Pullman's trilogy of the same name. It begins in an alternative world where all humans' souls manifest as animal companions called daemons. The series follows the life of a young girl named Lyra who is an orphan living with the scholars at Jordan College, Oxford, in a world governed by the Magisterium, a religious and political body. Lyra discovers a dangerous secret that involves Lord Asriel and Marisa Coulter, and is the subject of a witches prophecy that she will change the world. In her search for a missing friend, Lyra also uncovers a series of kidnappings and its link to a mysterious substance called Dust, which leads her on a journey of epic proportions and ultimately to other worlds. The witches' prophecy also links Lyra's destiny to Will, a teenager from our world, who is himself being pursued by mysterious figures connected to his vanished father.

Cast

Main

• Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua (also known as Lyra Silvertongue), a girl who was raised at Jordan College.
• Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, a powerful figure at the Magisterium who is Lyra's mother.
• Anne-Marie Duff as Maggie 'Ma' Costa, a Gyptian woman who previously nursed Lyra. (series 1)
• Clarke Peters as The Master of Jordan College. (series 1)
• James Cosmo as Farder Coram van Texel, an elderly Gyptian and Serafina's former lover. (series 1)
• Ariyon Bakare as Lord Carlo Boreal, an authoritative figure at the Magisterium who crosses 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), a Magisterium official.
• Lucian Msamati as Lord John Faa, of the Western Gyptians. (series 1)
• Gary Lewis as Thorold, Asriel's assistant. (series 1–2)
• Lewin Lloyd as Roger Parslow, a kitchen boy who is Lyra's best friend. (series 1; guest series 2)
• Daniel Frogson as Tony Costa, Ma Costa's elder son. (series 1)
• James McAvoy as Lord Asriel Belacqua, a scholar and explorer who is Lyra's father. (series 1, 3; guest series 2)
• Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby, an aeronaut. (series 1–2)
• Ruta Gedmintas as Serafina Pekkala, a witch who is the Queen of the Lake Enara witches, and Coram's former lover.
• Amir Wilson as Will Parry, a secondary school student from Oxford, whose father disappeared 13 years previously.
• Nina Sosanya as Elaine Parry, Will's sick mother. (series 1–2)
• Jade Anouka as Ruta Skadi, a Latvian witch queen and a former lover of Lord Asriel. (series 2–present)
• Sean Gilder as Father Graves, a member of the Magisterium. (series 2)
• Simone Kirby as Dr Mary Malone, a physicist from Will's world. (series 2–present)
• 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; guest series 1)

Featured

The following actors are credited in the opening titles, but only appear in up to two episodes.

• Georgina Campbell as Adele Starminster, a reporter. (series 1)
• Lia Williams as Dr Cooper, a Magisterium scientist operating in Bolvangar. (series 1)
• Terence Stamp as Giacomo Paradisi, the bearer of the subtle knife residing in Cittàgazze. (series 2)

Voice cast

• Helen McCrory as Stelmaria, Asriel's daemon
• Kit Connor as Pantalaimon, Lyra's daemon
• Eloise Little as Salcilia, Roger's daemon (series 1)
• Phoebe Scholfield as Alicia, the Master's daemon (series 1)
• Libby Rodliffe as Lyuba, Tony Costa's daemon (series 1)
• Cristela Alonzo as Hester, Lee Scoresby's daemon (series 1–2)
• David Suchet as Kaisa, Serafina Pekkala's daemon
• Joe Tandberg as Iorek Byrnison (voice and motion-capture), an armoured bear.
• Peter Serafinowicz (voice) and Joi Johannsson (motion-capture) as Iofur Raknison (series 1)
• Sope Dirisu as Sergi, Ruta Skadi's daemon (series 2–present)
• Sophie Okonedo as Xaphania, an angel (series 2–present)
• Lindsay Duncan as Octavia, Father MacPhail's daemon (series 2–present)
• Phoebe Waller-Bridge as Sayan Kötör, John Parry's daemon (series 2)

Additionally, lead puppeteer Brian Fisher provides the uncredited vocalisations for Mrs Coulter's golden monkey daemon.

Recurring

• Simon Manyonda as Benjamin de Ruyter (series 1)
• Geoff Bell as Jack Verhoeven (series 1)
• Tyler Howitt as Billy Costa, a Gyptian boy captured by the Gobblers and Ma Costa's younger son. (series 1)
• Mat Fraser as Raymond van Gerrit (series 1)
• Ian Peck as Cardinal Sturrock, the head of the Magisterium. (series 1–2)
• David Langham as Father Garret
• Robert Emms as Thomas, an agent working for Boreal who spies on Will's family. (series 1)
• Morfydd Clark as Sister Clara (series 1)
• Frank Bourke as Fra Pavel Rasek, a representative and alethiometrist of the Consistorial Court of Discipline. (series 1–2)
• Jamie Wilkes as Inspector Walters, "the pale-faced man" and an associate of Boreal and Thomas. (series 1–2)
• Omid Djalili as Dr Martin Lanselius, the diplomatic consul of the witch clans in the North. (series 1–2)
• Ray Fearon as Mr Hanway, Will's school boxing coach. (series 1–2)
• Remmie Milner as Lena Feldt, a witch who accompanies Serafina in finding Lyra. (series 2)
• Bella Ramsey as Angelica, a girl living in Cittàgazze. (series 2)
• Ella Schrey-Yeats as Paola, a girl living in Cittàgazze who is the sister of Angelica. She is a female version of Paolo from the book. (series 2)
• Sasha Frost as Reina Miti, a witch who accompanies Serafina in finding Lyra. (series 2)
• Lewis MacDougall as Tullio, a boy living in Cittàgazze who stole the Subtle Knife and is the brother of Angelica and Paola. (series 2)

Guest

Episodes

Series 1 (2019)

Series 2 (2020)

Production

Casting

Promotional image showing lead characters and locations

On 8 March 2018, it was announced that Dafne Keen had signed on to star in the series to play Lyra with director Tom Hooper signed on to direct. Lin-Manuel Miranda would star as Lee Scoresby. On 8 June 2018, it was reported that James McAvoy, Clarke Peters, and Ruth Wilson had joined the cast.

On 27 July 2018, the BBC and Bad Wolf revealed the cast and crew for the series.

On 1 July 2020, it was revealed that Bella Ramsey had been cast in the role of Angelica. Oliver Monaghan and I-Kay Agu were also announced as playing angels Baruch and Balthamos respectively, although neither ultimately appeared in the second series.

Music

On 14 August 2019, it was announced that Lorne Balfe was hired to score the series. Speaking about the job, Balfe stated that he "wanted to write a musical letter to the creators of the show," also mentioning that the series was a "mammoth task" and one of his biggest projects yet. Scoring primarily took place in St David's Hall in Cardiff, Wales with the BBC National Orchestra of Wales. While the ethnic Bulgarian choir was recorded in Bulgaria with additional remote sessions taking place at the Synchron Scoring Stage in Vienna, Austria with the Synchron Stage Orchestra. Also featured on the score are cellist Tina Guo, Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer Chad Smith, classical French horn player Sarah Willis, violinist Lindsey Stirling and recordist Richard Harvey. Two soundtrack albums were released; a musical anthology with thematic pieces and an album containing all the cues used in the series. Silva Screen Records released the albums digitally on 3 November 2019 and 20 December 2019 respectively.

Lorne Balfe's His Dark Materials score was nominated for two awards: for 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, UK awards.

Release

On 24 July 2019, it was announced that the series would premiere in the fourth quarter of 2019 in the United Kingdom and the United States. On 12 September 2019, sources revealed that the series was set to premiere on 3 November 2019 on BBC One and the following night on HBO.

In New Zealand, the series is broadcast by Sky TV and is available on streaming service Neon. The series began on 5 November 2019. In Australia, the series is distributed by the cable and satellite television company Foxtel through their HBO output deal.

The second series premiered on 8 November 2020 in the United Kingdom, and on 16 November 2020 in the United States.

Accolades

• His Dark Materials (TV series) at BBC Programmes

See also

In Spanish: La materia oscura (serie de televisión) para niños