HIS DARK MATERIALS Series Two
Where there’s a Will
UK BBC One, finished
US HBO, finished
Showrunner Jack Thorne
Cast Dafne Keen, Amir Wilson,
Ruth Wilson, Lin-manuel Miranda
The only bad thing you can say about the second run of the BBC’S adaptation of Philip Pullman’s trilogy is that it needs more polar bears. In the grand scheme of things, however, the lack of ursine action is forgiveable given just how bloody good everything else on screen is – and we do get Pan turning into a cute red panda, so that helps.
This version of The Subtle Knife combines three worlds: our Oxford, Lyra’s Oxford and a new world housing an astonishing city named Cittàgazze – bravo, designers. The bulk of the series takes place here, with Lyra (Dafne Keen, who we suspect is actually Lyra in real life, too) and Will (Amir Wilson, also great) bonding over their terrible parents, setting out on a quest and generally threatening the status quo across dimensions simply by being young and innocent.
They’re so watchable that it’s almost a nuisance when other characters keep popping up – but then the BBC captured lightning in a bottle when it cast this series, particularly when it comes to Ruth Wilson as Lyra’s menacing mum, Mrs Coulter; Ariyon Bakare as the scheming Boreal and, making her debut, the immediately likeable Simone Kirby as Mary Malone. The latter’s first, revealing interaction with the creatures behind Dust is one of the biggest highlights of a series that’s stuffed with ’em. A huge subplot with Lord Asriel was mostly canned thanks to Covid-19 – a noticeable omission – but otherwise this is extraordinary telly.
Cittàgazze was inspired by The Malacia Tapestry, a Brian Aldiss novel set in an alternative-history Renaissance Italy.
There’s an astonishing city named Cittàgazze