His Dark Materials coming to BBC

[Jubal]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediacentre/latestnews/2015/his-dark-materials

BBC One today announces the commission of a new drama series based on Philip Pullman’s epic fantasy trilogy of novels, His Dark Materials.

Commissioned by Charlotte Moore, Controller BBC One and Polly Hill, Controller BBC Drama Commissioning, His Dark Materials is produced by Bad Wolf and New Line Cinema which will be made in Wales for BBC One.

Polly Hill, Controller BBC Drama Commissioning, says: "It is an honour to be bringing Philip Pullman's extraordinary novels to BBC One. His Dark Materials is a stunning trilogy, and a drama event for young and old - a real family treat that shows our commitment to original and ambitious storytelling."

His Dark Materials is one of the supreme works of imaginative fiction for both children and adults published in the 20th century. Northern Lights introduces Lyra, an orphan, who lives in a parallel universe in which science, theology and magic are entwined. Lyra's search for a kidnapped friend uncovers a sinister plot involving stolen children, and turns into a quest to understand a mysterious phenomenon called Dust. In The Subtle Knife she is joined on her journey by Will, a boy who possesses a knife that can cut windows between worlds. As Lyra learns the truth about her parents and her prophesied destiny, the two young people are caught up in a war against celestial powers that ranges across many worlds and leads to a thrilling conclusion in The Amber Spyglass.

MUCH EXCITEMENT. And it won't be "cleansed" of meaning for American fundamentalists this time...

[Glaurung]

Best of luck to the BBC - I suspect that His Dark Materials will not be easy to adapt for any visual format. It will be great if they do it well.

[Jubal]

True - at least they can't do worse than the previous attempt. I can't think of anyone I'd rather have attempting this than the BBC, put it that way.

[Flamekebab]

I only recently listened to the series so I suppose I might watch it. Admittedly I've already forgotten much of the plot but if an adaptation can be done well then it could be fun. I imagine the UK stands a better chance of doing it right!

[Jubal]

Yes, given it's a fairly militantly atheist piece of work the whitewash by the US film-makers was horrendous.

[comrade_general]

Yes we get it, death to America, and all that jazz. Moving on.

[Pentagathus]

Allahu Akbar cowman.

[Flamekebab]

Yes we get it, death to America, and all that jazz. Moving on.

The US has been doing a lot of impressive TV stuff in recent years - it just confuses us how frightened media producers seem to be of a subset of their potential audience. It's always alienating for those of us from more secular societies to see religious beliefs affecting things that we couldn't imagine in our own society.

[Jubal]

Yeah, indeed - I certainly didn't mean that as a slight on US TV and film-making generally, at which it still very much leads the world and produces fantastic stuff (especially in SF/F). But the tendency to avoid treading on Christian toes in a film is something that feels quite alien to Europeans I think.

[comrade_general]

You could just say "whitewash by the previous filmmaker". Another US person might have easily made it the way you want. You should watch more Family Guy. Treading on toes thankfully isn't alien to everyone around here.

[Flamekebab]

You should watch more Family Guy.

All the more reason for us to be baffled!

[comrade_general]

No one or thing is safe from being made fun of on the Family Man.

[Clockwork]

One show that definitely is all like: imma be what I want. I can't recommend it enough. Unless you don't like gays in which case, skip it, not for you

It's about how people connect with each other through the same sort of emotions in different circumstance. And yeah the situations they get into are a little contrived sometimes but hey, it's tv.

[Pentagathus]

Looks interesting, don't have Netflix though.
Has anyone else been watching the last kingdom? It's less historically accurate than the books (which might not be saying much) but it's pretty entertaining.

[comrade_general]

Intended to, but have missed every episode since it started.