Production of the BBC's HIS DARK MATERIALS series begins

Production is now formally underway on the BBC's His Dark Materials TV series, a planned five-season adaptation of Philip Pullman's fantasy trilogy.

The BBC, Bad Wolf Productions and New Line Cinema are collaborating on the series,which will air on the BBC in the UK and on a still-to-be-decided American network (reportedly, Netflix and HBO are both in the running to secure the first-run rights). The plan is to adapt the three novels - Northern Lights (aka The Golden Compass in some territories), The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass - across five eight-episode seasons. Of course, if the show is a massive hit then we may see interest in also adapting Pullman's in-progress sequel/prequel trilogy, The Book of Dust (consisting of the published La Belle Sauvage, the completed-but-still-unpublished The Secret Commonwealth and a forthcoming third book).

James McAvoy stars as Lord Asriel, with Ruth Wilson as Ms. Coulter, Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua, Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby and Clarke Peters as the Master of Jordan College. The series is expected to start airing in late 2019.