His Dark Materials

[AllGoodDogs]

New BBC adaptation, looks so good, can't wait trailer here -

m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10162256439035553&id=683285552&sfnsn=mo

maybe things seem different to those who haven't read the books.

I watched it with someone who hasn't read the books last night.

She wanted to know why some people have the animals Daemons and others don't.

She didn't understand the portals.

She had no idea why the Daemon being able to be far away from Mrs Coulter was so important.

Yeah my DH couldn't understand why the kidnapped kids didn't just send one of their daemons to get help.

Watching second episode now. I am enjoying it for the most part, but the daemons feel like an afterthought, rather than an integral part of the story.

Also, although the film was generally crap, the casting was (mostly) excellent and I don't think the casting of the TV series is quite as good really. Particularly Ma Costa, Farder Coram, John Far, Lyra... I do like McAvoy as Asriel though, and Mrs Coulter is brilliant.

I think the daemon-distance thing could so easily have been slotted into the first episode, showing Lyra and Roger messing about, seeing how far they can get apart.

Then when Mrs Coulter does it differently, we can observe that she's breaking the rules on daemons, rather than have it spelled out to us after the fact by Lyra.

I don't mind that Asriel seems like a hero now - he is to Lyra, and at this stage in the books, whilst not a loving character, a hero is exactly what he appears to be. He's a bold explorer, a rich man stripped of his privilege for saving his daughter, and persecuted by the church for heresy. Lyra sees him as parallel to Iorek.

I'm afraid I'm not a fan of Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter. She lacks the glowy, soft, charming angle of her which is what is supposed to captivate everyone she meets. (she does the steely stuff very well - so perhaps she's just lacking direction)

The journalist thing reminds me, it looked like the butterfly was still there when he opened his hand, but they are supposed to vanish when their person dies. Didn't like that. And yes to Lyra being weepy. Lyra is full of grit, she isn't weepy at all. It is odd to see her reeling at revelations.

Mes Coulter and her deamon dont speak, do they? They dont have a loving relationship- she hit him a clout in frustration in ep2.

I agree @WaterSheep. I've not read the books and there's certainly lots of unanswered questions in my mind!

Yeah I had to explain to my DS that Mrs coulter being so far away from her daemon almost makes people feel ill or disgust. Like she is an unnatural thing. And that it hurts when you are too far away from your daemon.

There is one part in the book and I can’t remember when, where Lyra and Pan practise how far they can go, and when they take it too far they come back and hold each other and comfort each other that they will never go that far again. That is one thing that absolutely needs to be made clear because otherwise, who will care about the reveal! They aren’t just talking pets, and that’s not made clear for the non readers.

I do agree, the daemons are the heart of the emotional storytelling in the novels, absolutely central in every way, and they are not being properly represented or used to do that here.

He wrote them in such a way that you know the daemon is a representation of how a character is feeling - the children's daemons give a lot away to the adults when they change from one thing to another, the separation game as somebody mentioned (god, that scene's an absolute gift of an exposition from the book, can't believe they haven't used it), how another person can't touch your daemon as it's so taboo etc etc. The only time I think they got it right was when Mrs Coulter hits her daemon because she's angry with herself, and when she uses her daemon to attack Pan in order to show Lyra what she's capable of.

Mrs Coulter though, I think Ruth Wilson is brilliantly terrifying (I never liked Kidman's involvement with the film full stop). And who is making her dresses? SWOON

I might have missed it entirely, but I didn't get the impression in the books that Mrs Coulter and her daemon were often that far apart (or at least not as much as they're hammering us over the head with it in this). Yes, he searches the room, and Lyra notices Mrs Coulter is much more relaxed when he gets back, but I don't remember her being particularly shocked by it.

I just presumed that as adults you could be slightly further apart if necessary — it wouldn't be pleasant, but it would be doable (especially if you're as strong-minded as she is, and it's just through a wall). I definitely don't remember thinking that she'd done anything drastic with her daemon.

Actually the more I think about it, the more I think the writers have made a terrible mistake not focusing on the daemons much more. And why does Pan as an ermine have a cartoonish face? Gah.

I actually really love the cgi Pan because as much as I love Lyra, I hate ferrets/stoats/weasels, so I am enjoying that is he quite cute

I didn’t mind the addition of the reporter to demonstrate that a person dies if their daemon dies. I did mind her telling Lyra about Asriel because she should be with the gyptians by that point and I want that part to hurry up. I had such a mental image of her and Ma Costa, Farder Coram leading hundreds of boats to the North. We live by canals and I think of it whenever I see the narrow boats. Bit underwhelming really but I am still enjoying it tbh.

god, that scene's an absolute gift of an exposition from the book, can't believe they haven't used it

It's not until she meets Iorek. But it would have been SO easy to include in the play scenes in Oxford.

(I accidentally read the books two weeks ago, forgetting this was due on tv!)

Oops it is years since I read the books - my mistake! I agree though, and it would have helped set up the viewers for Mrs Coulter and her devious daemon being apart, plus clarify things for people who haven't read the books.

Ha, I'm just extra invested, as I'm submitting a book to publishers, so I'm always a bit fixated on how adaptations display information that you have the luxury of explaining in a book!

Ah I get you -all the best with the new book!

The whole concept and nuance of the daemon relationship is lost imo.

I'm also cross about switching worlds already.

Basically grumpy.

I'm enjoying this so far and I've haven't read the books or seen the films. Some good acting and I'm intrigued by the magnet clock thing and what the dust is.

They were written a few years before the Potter books and I can't believe how similar some of the plots and ideas are. I'm not accusing J K Rowling of stealing any ideas at all , but a few things feel the same ( going back and forth to our world and the use of animals) I know it's fantasy, but I don't often read si fi or fantasy novels ( apart from the Potter books) so shocked at how so many things seem a bit the same at the moment.
The girl is very good in it. I felt sorry for her having to wear a dress!
The Gobblers seem very gypsy or nomadic people ; is this what we're meant to think?

I think you are mixing up the Gyptians, who seem to be analogous to Gypsies in our world - the Gobblers are the General Oblation Board who are the ones kidnapping the children

The80sweregreat basically every fantasy book takes inspiration from Tolkien anyway. JK Rowling started writing Harry Potter in 1990 and finished the first one the year Northern Lights was released. Most fantasy books have similarities.

The gobblers are the General Oblation Board. Headed by one Mrs Coulter. Who wouldn’t cry or get emotional at bath time.

nibdedibble, like you I don’t think it’s that necessary that the daemon separation game scene needs to be in the same time line as the book. It doesn’t advance the story as such, it just adds flavour and information. So it could have happened at any time. They might still put it in. I’m still enjoying it regardless though ❤️

Just watched ep 2.

Poor Lyra’s couture frocks were far too tight!

One thing made me laugh - the zipping speed of the traffic in ‘our’ Oxford. As. If. Traffic crawls along the High Street.

Lord Boreal still just too beautiful. It’s a mystery to me why he wasn’t even a millionth so ... watchable in Doctors (?) or whatever else I’ve seen him in. He really, really suits his HDM wardrobe.

Sorry to say the abducted children scenes were straight out of Oliver the musical. Surely they could have portrayed their imprisonment differently?

I've never been a fan of fantasy or si fi but I did enjoy the Potter books ( the films not so much!)
I really should give these books a go ( and Tolkien)
Yes, Lyra's dress was very tight.

Animal familiars and portals between worlds have been a thing for hundreds of years. It would have been odder for JKR not to have used them.