Based on an epic trilogy of the same name by British fantasy writer Philip Pullman, 'His Dark Materials' explores an alternate world where humans are attached to their spirits in the form of a pet animal. These animals are called daemons and die along with the human. In this realm, animals speak to humans, humans marry witches and it almost seems like England in the 1900s, except there’s progress in science.
There are no computers but scholars and researchers have found a way into the other world through the Northern Lights. But the government referred to as the Magesterium in the show, comprising the church and an administrative body, isn’t too keen on the public discovering this pathway and is devising ways to keep it a secret. Like any other world, there are rebels who go against the authorities and forge new ways to discover what lies ahead and the first season depicts the fight of such revolutionaries. The series smartly deploys the use of physics, theology and philosophy as its protagonist Lyra Belacqua travels from Oxford to the Northern Lights in search of her father using a truth-depicting compass called ‘alethiometer’, alongside a motley group of people called the Gyptians and an armoured bear named Iorek.
In 2007, the books were adapted into a film titled The Golden Compass, which tanked at the box offices. The film went on to draw attention from various churches and was said to attack Christianity and promote atheism. However, unlike the film, the series does not dwell upon the question on religion. It smartly focuses on Lyra and her journey to rescue kidnapped Gyptian children. Unlike other fantasy shows, the CGI effects are tremendous and the make-belief world looks so real that it is hard to decipher what’s fiction for the common eye. The grandness of the effects evokes memories of television’s most epic show—Game of Thrones. But the storytelling falls flat at certain points such as scenes from earth about a troubled boy and his mother and how the Magesterium from this magical realm is harassing them.
The context of why they are pivotal to the story is missing and creates unnecessary confusion. But what the show lacks in storytelling, makes up with gorgeous montages of Iorek and Lyra running in the snow, the Northern Lights and a fight sequence between two bears. The original series comprises three books and perhaps the show will also have three seasons but the build up in the first season has been intriguing enough even for those who haven’t read the book to tune in again.
