Only Pullman fans will still be watching this middling drama
Some drama serials are welcoming to new viewers. Didn’t see the last series? No problem, we’ll ease you in. It is quite possible, for example, to watch a series of Line of Duty without having watched any of the others, and to understand perfectly what is going on. But the makers of His Dark Materials (BBC One) have made no such concessions. Season two picks up where season one left off, with just a “previously on…” catch-up note about cities in the sky and a knife in a tower surrounded by angels and a child who is destined to bring the end of destiny. Got that? Good.
So if you are a newcomer looking for lockdown solace in an autumn drama, give this one a miss. It is aimed squarely at those who are familiar with the story from Philip Pullman’s bestselling books, and who remember well the details of series one.
Lyra (Dafne Keene, looking somehow much older than last time even though the two series were filmed back-to-back) is now in a different world, in the strange city of Cittàgazze. She teams up with Will (Amir Wilson), a boy from modern-day Oxford who has also found himself there. Cue some amusing back-andforth as they get to grips with each other’s existence: he is freaked out that
Lyra has a talking daemon; she has no idea what an omelette is.
The creation of Cittàgazze – an old-fashioned built set, rather than a CGI imagining – is impressive. It is populated by creepy little girls, and zombified adults who have had their souls stolen by Spectres. Back in the other world, unpleasant scenes of torture are being perpetrated by the malevolent Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson).
For avid Pullman fans, the series might be a treat. The problem for the rest of us is that it lacks both the novelty of series one and the exciting narrative – it now feels very dense, which works well in a novel but less so in a TV series. The lack of big action sequences was a disappointment, although there will surely be some of those to come, and left more time to ponder the small things, such as why the voice of Lyra’s daemon sounds so wrong.
Perhaps it will pick up in future episodes. It is a fine children’s drama, albeit one in a prime-time Sunday night slot and with scenes too frightening for younger kids. But what was once event TV is now a middling fantasy.
In the small drawer at Channel 4 HQ labelled “something for the oldies” lies Great Canal Journeys, a programme that delighted over 10 series with the actors Timothy West and Prunella Scales at the tiller. It was ostensibly a travel show but really it was the touching study of a marriage, and their mutual devotion in the face of Scales’s advancing dementia.
Now the couple have bowed out, but Channel 4 don’t want to lose a hit. So the broadcaster has kept the format but swapped in Gyles Brandreth and Sheila Hancock. It is not an entirely random choice – the pair are long-time friends of Tim and Pru. But they are absolute novices when it comes to the waterways so the focus in this first of two episodes was mainly comic, as they crashed into the banks, struggled with locks and broke the loo.
“You know nothing and I know even less,” said Brandreth, cheerily. Good cheer is Brandreth’s stock-intrade, which made him an excellent travelling companion. He and Hancock have been pals for 40 years and clearly have a hoot together, particularly when they play Scrabble. It is a nice dynamic, although without the extra layers of the previous series it is no more than a jolly travelogue.
Still, in this youth-obsessed age, it was pleasant to see older people allowed on TV. Brandreth is 72 and Hancock is 87, the latter suffering from rheumatoid arthritis but determined not to let it get in the way of new adventures.
After a rudimentary lesson from West – with Scales sending in a recorded message from home, a reassuring sight for anyone worried about her condition – they set off up the Thames, meeting English eccentrics (a chap in the world’s only amphibious electric bath chair) and environmental campaigners, historians and rowers.
The Thames is a well-worn subject and there was nothing very exciting to see here – can there be anyone unaware of the history of Cliveden, and its links to the Profumo Affair? Next week’s episode on the Lee Navigation should be more interesting. But as a gentle celebration of friendship and the delights of messing about in boats, it was a pleasant way to pass the time.
His Dark Materials ★★ Great Canal Journeys ★★★