His Dark Materials returns to production for its third series.
The BBC and HBO co-production based on Philip Pullman’s final novel in the trilogy, The Amber Spyglass, will see Will (Amir Wilson), the bearer of The Subtle Knife, and Lyra (Dafne Keen), the prophesied child, travel through multiple worlds to find and protect each other.
“Philip Pullman’s extraordinary trilogy of novels reaches new heights in The Amber Spyglass, and this incredible creative team have risen to the challenge every step of the way. Audiences on BBC One and BBC iPlayer will need to prepare for another thrilling visual and emotional journey with Lyra and Will.”
-Ben Irving, Commissioning Editor, BBC Drama
New cast for series three includes Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Commander Ogunwe and Jamie Ward as Father Gomez. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Simon Harrison, and Chipo Chung are the rebel angels Balthamos, Baruch and Xaphania; while Ama will be played by Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe. Returning cast also include Will Keen as Father President MacPhail, Jade Anouka as Ruta Skadi and Ruta Gedmintas as Serafina Pekkala.
At the end of series two we saw Lord Asriel call upon the angels to help him wage a war against the Kingdom of Heaven, as Mrs Coulter abducted her daughter Lyra to take her to ‘safety’ in their own world.
Series three opens with Lyra unconscious, having been given a sleeping draught by her mother, as Will, still carrying the Subtle Knife, continues his quest to find her. Will is tracked down by two angels – Balthamos and Baruch – who wish to take him to join Lord Asriel’s campaign against The Authority with Commander Ogunwe. But Will is not the only one after Lyra, with Father President MacPhail continuing his mission to destroy the child of the prophecy, employing the help of his most committed follower, Father Gomez.
Meanwhile Oxford physicist Mary Malone reaches another parallel world – that of the Mulefa, a strange animal-like species. They tell her of a cataclysmic phenomenon in their world. With multiple new worlds, including the Land Of The Dead, returning characters and featuring strange new creatures the Mulefa and Gallivespians, the third series will bring Philip Pullman’s masterpiece to a dramatic conclusion.
Production will once again take place in the sound stages at Wolf Studios Wales and on location throughout Wales and England. His Dark Materials series two averaged over six million viewers on BBC One. Series one and two are streaming now on BBC iPlayer.
“The moment we started series one of His Dark Materials we had mapped out all three novels to know the direction in which we were heading. Every detail and character within this incredible work of fiction has been analysed and discussed for four years now, and to finally arrive in the many worlds of The Amber Spyglass is thrilling.”
-Executive Producer Dan McCulloch
