Material Witness

I've watched the first three episodes of His Dark Materials, an eight-episode miniseries playing on HBO.  It's based on the series of young adult novels by Philip Pullman of the same name (based on a quote from Milton). These books were very popular in Europe but didn't get a lot of attention in America.  Perhaps that's why the mega-budget movie version, The Golden Compass (2007), had no sequel.

So now there's a TV series produced in part by the BBC.  The setting is an alternative Earth where things look pretty much like early to mid-twentieth century Britain, though with a lot more airships.  The biggest difference is everyone has a daemon--a sort of spirit animal (that is physical and can talk) representing their soul.

The show, as so many YA books offer, has a special child, Lyra.  As a baby she was handed over to a fancy old school near London known as Jordan College, where she could be raised and protected.  She needs protection because everything is run by the Magesterium, that declares certain ideas heresy, and has an uneasy truce with universities.

Lyra has an explorer uncle, Lord Asriel, who is doing research in the polar regions.  He's actually discovering magical things, particular that there are other worlds.  The Magesterium is trying to keep a lid on this, of course. (Some top people have crossed over into a world very much like our own.) Meanwhile, Lyra, around 12 or 13, is starting to notice the wider world.  She's taken from Jordan College by Mrs. Coulter, a well-connected adventurer.

Before she leaves, Lyra's given an alethiometer--a powerful and not perfectly understood contraption banned by the Magisterium. (It's the Golden Compass in the movie title.)

As the action moves forward, we see that people and things are not what they seem.  It's clear Lyra will go on a huge adventure, with plenty of friends and enemies watching her closely, knowing she's special.

I'm not quite sure what to make of the show.  The actors are fine. (The only ones I know are Ruth Wilson, James McAvoy and Clarke Peters--the last my favorite cast member from The Wire).  But the story, though it's moving forward, seem to go in stops and starts.  I suppose I'll keep on watching--there's nothing else on Mondays--but if it doesn't really grab me soon, I probably won't make it to the end.