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His Dark Media

ElectricBoogaloo

By ElectricBoogaloo
in His Dark Materials

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scrb

scrb

Slate has a recap podcast called The Authority.  Both hosts have read the books 

The point out for instance that Will isn't introduced until the second book.

Also they note that Lyra reads the alethiometer with grace, can intuit the meaning of the symbols and can ask and understand questions right away whereas adults have to study books for years and can't interpret the answers as quickly.

They compare that to the readers of the Pullman books.  Children read and enjoy the book intuitively while adults can look at layers of meaning and the literary allusions in the books.

To me, it's quite understandable that a child would be so much better at intuiting the meaning of imagery, since we see it happening every day with emojis.  Well messaging apps. are not exactly these mythical alethiometer devices but they do also seem to require some altered state of consciousness.

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scrb

scrb

Slate's The Authority podcast has been recapping the show after each episode.

For the Season 1 finale episode, they answer some questions from the listeners of the podcast and one of the questions prompt the hosts to go into length about the Golden Compass movie, which apparently end with the children being freed at Bolvanger.

New Line spent $180 million, the movie only made $70 million domestically, though it did better overseas.  But this failure caused New Line to be dissolved into Warner Brothers, no longer continuing as an independent studio.

Bill Pullman wanted the studio to commit to all 3 movies and film them at once, as LOTR had done.  But the studio was cautious and they were worried about religious backlash to the movie, so they didn't really want to play up how evil the Magisterium and the Authority were.

The hosts think the studio was worried about coming off as anti-religious, because an evangelical was in the WH and the evangelicals wielded a lot of influence.

Otherwise, they did cast a lot of big names for the movie, though the hosts both believe Kidman was poor in the role as Mrs. Coulter.

Lyra in the movie was fierce and had some bloodlust, reveling in Iorek killing Iofur.  The children in the movie were more affectionate with their daemons but the series has emphasized what a loss Roger was for Lyra, because the movie sped though all the events, really didn't emphasize the bonds of some of the characters.

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Cranberry

Cranberry

The movie looked fantastic (for the time; the show's CGI is much better) and the acting was great; some of those people were perfectly cast (Sam Elliott!). It was also faithful to the book's plot, aside from ending with Bolvangar instead of with the aurora window. However, it lacked all of the soul of the books. It didn't make the human/daemon bond clear, it removed most of the religious stuff, it had too much exposition... it just felt flat. It was like a rote retelling of the books without any of the feeling that made the books special. I had been looking forward to it for years, I loved the trailer... and then I hated the movie.

An article about the different writers' visions and why the finished product was bad.

A Reddit post with more info.

A newer article describing why the movie failed and the show doesn't.

Chris Weitz's first draft.

 

 

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scrb

scrb

Season 2 news:

https://tvline.com/2020/07/23/his-dark-materials-terrence-stamp-season-2-cast/

Terrence Stamp joins cast.

 

And they released a season 2 trailer, showing debut in the fall.

 

 

 

They must have been able to shoot before the pandemic?

Actress playing Lyra is noticeably older.

So they're in post-production presumably, aiming for Fall premier.

 

Pleasant surprise!

Season 1 finished airing in the US in December?

So the UK could get it late summer?

 

 

 

 

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scrb

scrb

So apparently they were filming right before the pandemic and shooting was halted and they had to drop an episode from season 2, 7 episodes instead of the planned 8.

https://deadline.com/2020/07/his-dark-materials-bad-wolf-cut-episode-season-2-comic-con-at-home-1202993036/

Quote

Bad Wolf has been forced to cut an episode from Season 2 of BBC and HBO fantasy drama His Dark Materials after filming was derailed by the coronavirus pandemic.

Speaking at Comic-Con@Home on Thursday, executive producer Jane Tranter said that the new season will be seven episodes instead of eight after a standalone story starring James McAvoy as Lord Asriel was unable to shoot.

The episode featured a self-contained narrative, which does not appear in The Subtle Knife, the second Philip Pullman novel on which Season 2 is based. Writer Jack Thorne penned it with the blessing of Pullman, and it was set to be McAvoy’s main appearance in the second season. Instead, it has ended on the cutting floor after filming halted when the UK went into lockdown in March.

“It was separate from the other seven episodes because it was a standalone episode which Jack had written with the blessing and input of Philip Pullman, which looked at what Lord Asriel had been doing between going through the anomaly at the end of season one and when we see Lord Asriel at the beginning of book three The Amber Spyglass,” Tranter said.

“It meant that we could continue post-production on the seven episodes that make up The Subtle Knife and just put the Asriel standalone episode to one side and maybe in the future we can revisit it as a standalone. But essentially our adaptation of The Subtle Knife had been completed.”

 

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Bill1978

Bill1978

What exciting news to see a trailer has dropped for Season 2. I have been waiting since The Golden Compass was released to see the story continued on screen. I am pumped. Especially since the first part of Season 1 'bored' me because I had seen the movie but those episodes that featured the story after the movie had ended had me gripped to the edge of my seat, so I can only imagine what Season 2 will be like. And yeah I know I could read the book but that requires effort on my part haha.

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paulvdb

paulvdb

Renewed for a third (and final) season
 

Quote

 

HBO and BBC One have renewed the drama series HIS DARK MATERIALS for a third season, it was announced today by Francesca Orsi, Executive Vice President, HBO Programming. Production on the eight-episode third season is slated to begin in Cardiff in 2021.

"Bringing Phillip Pullman's epic, intricate and culturally resonant body of work to television has been a tremendous privilege," said Orsi. "We thank our incredible partners at the BBC and the entire Bad Wolf team, led by the indefatigable Jane Tranter, for their exceptional work on the first two seasons. We look forward to completing the trilogy with this final chapter in Lyra's journey."

 

 

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aghst

aghst

So third season will cover the final book of the trilogy, presumably.

But Pullman wrote several novellas and a new trilogy starting in 2017 based in this universe?

Maybe those are best-sellers and the BBC will try to make shows out of them as well.

But if they feature the same characters, Dafne may be too old to play Lyra?

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Cranberry

Cranberry

Re: The new (still incomplete) trilogy, Lyra is 

Spoiler

20 years old when she shows up as an adult in The Secret Commonwealth (she's an infant in La Belle Sauvage). If anything, Dafne would be too young (although I think they could make it work).

In the companion novella, Lyra's Oxford, Lyra is

Spoiler

15 years old -- it takes place two years after the events of the original trilogy. So that one they could do right away if they wanted, but it would likely be a one-episode special as there's not a lot of story there.

Serpentine

Spoiler

also features Lyra and is set between the original trilogy and The Secret Commonwealth, so could also be done pretty much anytime.

Once Upon a Time in the North is a prequel focusing on Lee Scoresby, so it could be done anytime. Same with Mrs. Coulter's prequel, The Collectors.

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aghst

aghst

Hmm, I guess then the next thing is whether HDM gets good enough ratings that BBC and whoever else would be willing to fund more series.

They built this world so could they leverage it for more?

 

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ElectricBoogaloo

ElectricBoogaloo

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production on the final season of His Dark Materials has begun

Quote

His Dark Materials returns to production with an epic third season of the BAFTA-winning BBC and HBO co-production based on Philip Pullman’s final novel in the trilogy – The Amber Spyglass – produced by Bad Wolf.

This series will see Will (Amir Wilson), the bearer of The Subtle Knife and Lyra (Dafne Keen), the prophesied child, travel through multiple worlds to find and protect each other.

New cast for season three includes Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Commander Ogunwe and Jamie Ward as Father Gomez. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Simon Harrison, and Chipo Chung are the rebel angels Balthamos, Baruch and Xaphania; while Ama will be played by Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe.

Returning cast also include Will Keen as Father President MacPhail, Jade Anouka as Ruta Skadi and Ruta Gedmintas as Serafina Pekkala.

Plot synopsis for the beginning of S3:

Spoiler

At the end of season two we saw Lord Asriel call upon the angels to help him wage a war against the Kingdom of Heaven as Mrs Coulter abducted her daughter Lyra to take her to ‘safety’ in their own world. Season three opens with Lyra unconscious, having been given a sleeping draught by her mother, as Will, still carrying the Subtle Knife, continues his quest to find her. Will is tracked down by two angels – Balthamos and Baruch – who wish to take him to join Lord Asriel’s campaign against The Authority with Commander Ogunwe. But Will is not the only one after Lyra, with Father President MacPhail continuing his mission to destroy the child of the prophecy, employing the help of his most committed follower, Father Gomez.

Meanwhile Oxford physicist Mary Malone reaches another parallel world – that of the Mulefa, a strange animal-like species. They tell her of a cataclysmic phenomenon in their world. 

With multiple new worlds, including the Land of the Dead, returning characters and featuring strange new creatures the Mulefa and Gallivespians, the third season will bring Philip Pullman’s masterpiece to a dramatic conclusion.

 

Quote

New cast members:  Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Commander Ogunwe) Jamie Ward (Father Gomez), Kobna Holdbrook-Smith (Balthamos), Simon Harrison (Baruch), Chipo Chung (Xaphania), and Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe (Ama).

Returning cast members: Ruth Wilson (Mrs. Coulter) Simone Kirby, (Mary Malone), James McAvoy (Lord Asriel), Will Keen (Father President MacPhail), Jade Anouka (Ruta Skadi), and Ruta Gedmintas (Serafina Pekkala).

 

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AnimeMania

AnimeMania

His Dark Materials Season 3      December 5    9 pm   HBO / HBO Max     8 episodes

Two new episodes airing back-to-back each week. There is a video clip, but it hasn't been released yet.
‘His Dark Materials’ Season 3 NYCC Panel Recap

Spoiler

his-dark-materials-season-3-dafne-keen-8

It’s a tricky situation for Lyra. She is in a wooden box with Pan, with Mrs. Coulter sailing across the sea. To where? We don’t yet know. Lyra's very much asleep and passed out for most of it. But, when she does wake up, Lyra can explore what kind of relationship she can have with Mrs. Coulter, she is her mother after all.
His-Dark-Materials_092122_4.jpg 
his-dark-materials-season-3-james-mcavoy
Lord Asriel is summoning angels and appears to be on the start of his great journey – his great quest. Asriel’s goal is winning the war to emancipate the human soul and spirit from the oppression of tyrannical abuse. "I’m going to bring war against the heavens. I’m going to take down the Authority. I’m going to bust a hole in the sky. I’m going to bring together the best from every world, nothing is going to stop him till the love of his life and the daughter of his life walk back into his life.” "That is when all the wheels fall off.”
His-Dark-Materials_092122_2.jpg
His-Dark-Materials_092122_1.jpg

Helen McCrory, the actor that voiced Asriel's daemon, Stelmaria, has died and Victoria Hamilton has assumed the role for Season 3.
His-Dark-Materials_092122_3.jpg

Will has just experienced the joy of meeting his dad and the loss of his dad, and now has lost Lyra. So, he’s in a whole heap of trouble. Will is going to be feeling a lot of pressure to fulfill his father’s dying wish. “It drives him throughout the whole series, but he ends up getting sidetracked, getting pulled to the Land of the Dead. It’s a crazy journey for him.” Will has grown up a lot and his knife skills are much improved. 

Mary Malone is going on the journey of a lifetime, slicing through multiple worlds.

Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby is returning.

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Bill1978

Bill1978

I am so excited for the final season. I remember going to the cinema and watching The Golden Compass and being disappointed that cinematically I would never see the rest of the story. And while I purchased all 3 books and could have technically read the story (I find it easier to ready fantasy stories after watching them), it's been so great to watch the story unfold these past two seasons. Looking forward to the conclusion. Is it December yet?

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DanaK

DanaK

It feels to me like HBO is trying to get rid of the show as fast as possible in its final season by showing 2 episodes a week for 4 weeks in December. Am I the only one that feels that way?

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Megras

Megras

That is a release format that the BBC uses fairly often, on some of its Drama shows. Given this is s joint production maybe its to stop HBO viewers getting too far behind the BBC release for spoilers rather than an indication of interest in the show.

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WearyTraveler

WearyTraveler

On 11/27/2022 at 2:39 PM, Megras said:

That is a release format that the BBC uses fairly often, on some of its Drama shows. Given this is s joint production maybe its to stop HBO viewers getting too far behind the BBC release for spoilers rather than an indication of interest in the show.

Makes sense

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DanaK

DanaK

(edited)
On 11/27/2022 at 9:39 AM, Megras said:

That is a release format that the BBC uses fairly often, on some of its Drama shows. Given this is s joint production maybe its to stop HBO viewers getting too far behind the BBC release for spoilers rather than an indication of interest in the show.

For once, the US is ahead of the UK. The BBC will premiere it on December 18, though I don’t know its release schedule

Edited by DanaK
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Cranberry

Cranberry

The release schedule is a little weird:

HBO is airing two back-to-back episodes a week starting December 5 (HBO Max will have them too).

All eight episodes are dropping on iPlayer December 18.

BBC will air one episode a week starting December 18.

So by the 18th, HBO will have aired four episodes before anyone else has aired any. But then on the 18th, all eight episodes will be out for people with access to iPlayer before HBO has aired the final four.

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