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

I imagined an old sleaze, with his pate as polished on top as his superficial manners, and arrogant enough to believe that Mrs Coulter is totally enthralled by him

It was the smell of him that Lyra recognises at some point.

I doubt the smells theme will translate to screen, but there are several points where smells of characters are alluded to.

Brilliant as he is as Lord Boreal, I’m wondering if the casting people aren’t kicking themselves for not giving Ariyon Bakare the role of Lord Asriel.

I guess it could never have happened because they needed an international star - but Bakare is so much closer to the essence of Lord Asriel than the eternally boyish James McAvoy could ever be. I’m just never going to believe the latter could build a fortress and raise an army to bring down God.

I expect they cast Lyra first and as she is white that meant they needed white actors for her parents.

If Lyra had been mixed race then Bakare could have made a cool Lord Asriel.

Oh yes, that’d be great!

Or indeed John Parry.

The revelation about Grumman being Parry and what means to Will is HUGE for me in the books. Such a big moment. To casually slip it in during this episode has ruined a big moment.

I think for the non-book-readers, the link needed to be drawn fairly early. So now we know who grumman really is, but Will still doesn't.. so if Lyra explains to Will who Grumman is in her world, how his work set all of this in motion etc, we'll still get to enjoy an excellent reveal when Will realises who he really is. I guess we'll have to wait and see.

Mrs Coulter gives off a metallic smell when she is angry.

Hard to portray on screen

Book fans are demanding viewers!

I can't remember the monkey being named... Asriel mentions Stelmaria by name very early on. There's a strong difference between their relationship and Mrs Coulter's with the monkey. Even when they're close, their moods often differ and they seem to struggle with their bond.

Does the monkey ever speak? I don’t think he has done so far in the series, and I can’t recall if he does in the books.

In the books he’s mentioned as muttering to Mrs Coulter but he never has any quoted speech.

I think that's part of what makes him so sinister. He watches silently...

Do you think, in light of the Secret Commonwealth, that maybe Mrs C and the monkey are .......

Oh!

Fascinating thought!

I thought it was an interesting touch that early on in this week's episode someone says "I have no idea why her dæmon is a monkey" but later on in the episode as Mrs Coulter begins to go a bit bonkers in desperation to find Lyra, Ruth Wilson is very clearly acting "Monkey" in her facial expressions and movements. She is a brilliant actor.

When attacking Benjamin she and the monkey mirrored each others actions.

Also...

Do you think, in light of the Secret Commonwealth, that maybe Mrs C and the monkey are ......

I've not read it yet, hoping to get it for Christmas, but this is definitely weakening my resolve. Argh!!!!

UrsulaPandress‘s suggestion (not spoilering here!) re Mrs Coulter is really interesting - but unless there’s some reference to the question in the book after The Secret Commonwealth we’ll never know the answer.

I didn't realise Belacqua was pronounced "Bellakwa". In my head, it was always "Bellacka Belacqua is a significant name. It’s a character (musician/lute/lyre maker) from Dante, famed for laziness.

Do we finally meet the bears tonight??? IS IT TIME FOR LIN?!?

Zelda according to my listings magazine, yes to both! And the Witch Consul too, I think.

I’ve just finished rereading the first book.

I’m still not sure how the serial is going to convey the absolute central issue of daemons.

You know, nothing in the original story makes sense if you think about it too hard! For instance, given the children all have daemons that morph to meet the situation why don’t all their daemons change into lions, crocodiles and hawks to defeat the Gobblers? Really children ought always to beat adults (with their fixed daemons) in any hand to hand fight.

Unless I missed a crucial explanation somewhere?

Gobblers have daemons too!

And there are more of them - so multiple men and daemons will easily be able to overpower a child and daemon, with the element of surprise, the physical superiority in strength of the men v child, and higher numbers. Plus remember that humans and daemons feel each other's pain so you only need to overpower one to disable them both.

Who is John Parry, referenced on these threads? its ages since I read the books and can’t remember this character

Gobblers have daemons too!

Obviously ...

My point was that as adult daemons can’t change they ought to be at a disadvantage, generally, where the adult’s daemon is, say, a mouse or small dog confronted by an angry or terrified child’s daemon changing to something powerful.

But clearly this doesn’t seem to have played a part in PP’s thinking/world building.