32 | New Scientist | 28 November 2020
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SEASON two of His Dark Materials
begins exactly where we left off
in series one, with Lyra and her
daemon Pan washed up in a
strange new world. Here, in what
appears to be an abandoned city,
she will soon meet another young
hero, Will. Until now, he has been
following his own storyline in
a different version of reality to
Lyra’s. From now on, it seems, they
will fight the good fight against
the forces of darkness together.
Everything about the BBC’s
rendering of Philip Pullman’s
series of novels is gorgeously
done and elegant. The title
sequence – the music, the art – is
spine-chillingly excellent and the
visuals and effects throughout the
show are movie quality.
Not only is the writing tight, the
cast is also exceptional. The young
leads Lyra (Dafne Keen) and Will
(Amir Wilson) do a fantastic jobof holding the centre of the story.
Lord Asriel (James McAvoy), Lyra’s
father, is out for this season, but
instead we get Will’s father, played
by Andrew Scott, aka the priest
from Fleabag. Phoebe Waller-
Bridge voices his daemon, in a neat
little Easter egg for Fleabag fans.I watched the first series of
His Dark Materials with children,
and when I came to watch season 2,
alone, I wondered whether I would
enjoy it as much without it falling
under the welcome umbrella
of delightful viewing for the
whole family, of which, for us,
there is never enough.From Dust to dark matter An exceptional cast continues to make His Dark
Materials a spine-chillingly brilliant show. The introduction of a character
who studies the secrets of the cosmos is the cherry on top, says Emily Wilson“ Through the new
character Mary Malone,
we get a glimpse of the
‘science’ behind the
strange goings-on”TV
His Dark Materials
Jack Thorne
BBC One and HBOEmily also
recommends...TV
Fringe
J. J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman
and Roberto Orci
For five seasons, Fringe
told the story of a glossy
FBI special agent,
Olivia Dunham, and her
investigations into fringe
science/strange goings-on
with a “mad scientist”,
Walter Bishop, and his son
Peter. As the show goes on
and its backstory builds, a
parallel universe – featuring
the same characters, but
altered – becomes central.
Great stuff!In any event, there was no
reason to worry. The leads are
children, but there is enough
going on for any adult – plus,
of course, there is Mrs Coulter
(Ruth Wilson). For the first five
episodes of this season, at least,
Mrs Coulter dominates. Dressed
as some sort of 1940s femme
fatale, she is terrifying, and yet
heartbreakingly human.
Every time she enters a room,
one beautifully shod foot at a
time, it is Drama. For reasons that
cannot now be fathomed, I have
never read the books on which the
show is based, so I am fascinated
to find out more about Mrs Coulter,
especially her relationship with
her monkey daemon. It fights and
frightens on her behalf, and yet
can be separated from her, which
goes against daemon lore. Is that
by her dreadful will alone, or are
they not really a human and
daemon pairing at all?
A further joy of this latest
season comes with a new
character, Mary Malone, played
by Simone Kirby. Malone lives
in Oxford in Will’s world, which
is basically our version of it, and
she studies dark matter – or, as
Lyra knows it, Dust.
She seems to have spent her
career ploughing a fairly lonely
furrow in the pursuit of the
secrets of our cosmos. Now,
suddenly, she is someone at the
heart of an adventure story that
spans worlds. Through her, we
get a glimpse of the “science”
behind the strange goings-on
in this multiverse-set epic.
In these dog days of a long year,
thank you to Mr Pullman – and, of
course, the gods of the golden age
of television – for this delicious,
rather festive-feeling treat. ❚BB
C/BAD
W
OL
F^Lyra (Dafne Keen) and
Will (Amir Wilson) explore
a strange new worldThe TV column
Emily Wilson is the editor
of New Scientist. You
can follow her on Twitter
@emilyhwilson or email her
at [email protected]