Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
Cast: Dafne Keen, Ruth Wilson, Lucian Msamti, James Cosmo, Ariyon Bakare, Daniel Frogson, Anne-Marie Duff, Clarke Peters, Will Keen, Gary Lewis, Lewin Lloyd, James McAvoy, Georgina Campbell, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Ruta Gedmintas, Lia Williams, Amir Wilson, Nina Sosanya, Simon Manyonda, Geoff Ball, Mat Fraser, David Langham, Robert Emms, Morfydd Clark, Frank Bourke, Jamie Wilkes, Joe Tandberg, Kit Connor, Harry Melling, Omid Djalali, Andrew Scott.
If anything can be learned about adapting a much-loved novel, it should be that, where absolutely possible, the original author should at least be consulted, if not given a position of responsibility, if the creative team want to have any success with their vision. Whilst many adaptations have been bold to refuse to go anywhere near the source material or the author in question, instead preferring to tame down the legacy created and leaving their own stamp of modern thought upon the viewer, what they undo is the actual text, the spirit that perhaps guided the hand to bring a new world into existence.
The startling difference between film and television is perhaps best shown in the example of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, a book that asks the reader to understand, even if they don’t agree, that the power of certain religious bodies, if remained unchecked, can do more damage than good in the world. The force against religious zealotry was obviously toned down, almost eradicated in its cinematic form of The Golden Compass, but in the superb television series, not only were the characters addressed with the idea of free will, but they are drawn with questioning fervour, of understanding and perhaps ultimately rejecting the notion of Gods and Theism.
Where the television adaptation also rises up above the dust of the wholly unforgettable The Golden Compass is in its delivery, its style and particular accent which sees Ruth Wilson continue in her assent as one of the great actors of her generation, Dafne Keen bloom into the role of Lyra Belacqua, James Cosmo’s reassuring presence as Farder Coram and Lin-Manuel Miranda take on the role originally captured, as some would argue being the true bright spot in the film by Sam Elliott, of Lee Scoresby.
If you are going to adapt a modern classic, one in which the author is still alive, then surely it makes sense to utilise the expertise provided, and in this case the television adaption by Jack Thorne has all the hall marks of paying homage and respect to the ideas and thoughts raised by Philip Pullman.
A wonderfully crafted series, His Dark Materials is television of substance and delivery.
Ian D. Hall