Entertainment

Viewers say BBC ‘nailed it’ with His Dark Materials adaptation

James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda are among the stars of the series.
James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda are among the stars of the series. James McAvoy and Lin-Manuel Miranda are among the stars of the series.

Television viewers have said the BBC “nailed it” with its adaptation of Sir Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy.

The series starring Dafne Keen, James McAvoy, Ruth Wilson and Lin-Manuel Miranda started on BBC One on Sunday.

Fans said it was “leagues better” than the film adaptation, which was released in 2007.

“This is already loads better than the film version, hard to beat BBC adaptions! #HisDarkMaterials,” said one person on Twitter.

Another said: “@darkmaterials – episode 1 of #HisDarkMaterials was brilliant! The film was a disappointment, an epic story can’t be rushed – TV is the better format for this.”

“Well the first episode of #HisDarkMaterials was absolutely first rate,” tweeted another viewer.

“Nailed it, knocked it out of the park, select your own cliche. It was, in short, good. Very, very good.”

“Well #HisDarkMaterials was epic – already soooooo much better than the film version. Characters so much more like how I imagine them to be from the books,” said another.

“i love all the world building so far i love how much they’re fleshing out this universe it’s already leagues better than the film,” said another.

Sir Philip’s His Dark Materials series was published between 1995 and 2000 and introduced Lyra Silvertongue as a spirited 12-year-old and her daemon, the fictional beings in the fantasy series.

A film adaptation called The Golden Compass was released in 2007, starring Dakota Blue Richards, Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig.