His Box of Dark Materials (Part 1)
The BBC/HBO series, His Dark Materials, Season 3.
The long, dark nights of winter lend themselves to storytelling as friends and families gather around hearths (or plasma screens) – hypnotised by the flickering lights and the enchantment it conjures. The darkness is kept at bay by a re-affirmation of societal and familial bonds, special feasts, gift-giving, prayers, carols, games, and good cheer. And the Christmas tradition of storytelling – cultivated in Britain chiefly by Charles Dickens and MR James, but part of a wider oral tradition in the northern hemisphere of Yuletide tales. Close to the Arctic Circle, when the sun would barely rise above the horizon throughout the winter months, and the winter night seemed endless, storytelling was one of the sure-fired ways of maintaining community and mental health. Nowadays, with the virtual ubiquity of digital streaming platforms we turn more to TV dramas than skalds.
One of the most popular wintry tales of recent years began in 1995 with the publication of Northern Lights (The Golden Compass in North America and elsewhere), by British author, Philip Pullman. Winning the Carnegie Medal for children’s literature (and later the ‘Carnegie of Carnegies’ by public vote), this YA novel with huge cross-over appeal was to be the first of a trilogy that became known as His Dark Materials, which has been made into a successful TV series by Bad Wolf (the production company behind the regeneration of Doctor Who). Unlike the aborted movie franchise – of which, only the first book was adapted – Bad Wolf have completed the trilogy with the broadcast of the much-anticipated third and final season over Christmas, 2022. Delayed by the pandemic, the deferred gratification helped to sharpen the appetite of the fans, who had grown to love the characters, thanks to some inspired casting choices (multi-talented Hamilton-writer Lin-Manuel Miranda, in particular, as the aeronaut Lee Scoresby). Ruth Wilson (Mrs Coulter), James McAvoy (Lord Asriel), and newcomers Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson (as Lyra and Will) are pitch-perfect, and the whole thing is done with big-screen panache.
The novels stood out for not dumbing down for younger readers, but raising them up with intertextual allusions to William Blake and Milton’s Paradise Lost; and by drawing upon cutting-edge research into the ‘many worlds’ hypothesis of quantum mechanics – which has proven that, at a subatomic level, multiple states of existence (for tiny particles) are all possible at the same time. And, pioneering for its time, although more common now, Pullman’s novels did not shy away from difficult material (dysfunctional families; mental illness; murder; authoritarian governments). They were notable for the dark, edgy tone, and for fearlessly addressing shibboleths such as organised religion, the conception of a Creator-God, Original Sin, homosexuality and angels.
And yet, however ground-breaking the novels were (which, throughout their initial release, seemed far more mature, sophisticated, and better written than the incredibly popular Harry Potter novels) Pullman’s trilogy is not without precedent. Two previous children’s series paved the way, and their influence can be discernible.
In the next blog I will discuss the first of these…
Copyright (c) Kevan Manwaring 2023
