His Dark Materials boss teases season 3 details and "a lot more" James McAvoy
The team behind the fantasy show have been teasing details on Twitter.
His Dark Materials writer Jack Thorne has given some insight into what a potential third season of the show could look like, as its future awaits confirmation from the BBC and HBO.
Based on the novels by author Philip Pullman, the story follows young Lyra Belacqua (Dafne Keen) as she travels across parallel worlds searching for answers about a mysterious substance called dust.
The latest episodes of His Dark Materials saw her team up with a teenage boy named Will Parry (Amir Wilson), who she met while stranded in the abandoned city of Cittàgazze.
The second season concluded on BBC One last night with an action-packed finale that impressed critics, but according to Thorne, a third outing for the fantasy drama is yet to be ordered.
"We've had no word on series 3 yet," he said in a tweet. "We've only just submitted them our scripts – six written, two outlines and a lot of other information beside. We hope to hear soon. They're incredibly supportive broadcasters. We're dead lucky."
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If it goes ahead, season three would be based on the third and final entry in Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy, titled The Amber Spyglass.
One fan asked whether the story could be spread across two seasons, as fellow young adult adaptations including Harry Potter, Twilight and The Hunger Games split their final chapters in the jump to the screen.
However, Thorne revealed that his adaptation has so far "fitted very nicely" into eight episodes, which would put it at the same length as the first season.
Season two was originally intended to be eight episodes too but one instalment had to be scrapped due to production delays caused by the coronavirus pandemic.
That particular episode was to focus specifically on James McAvoy's His Dark Materials character Lord Asriel, who consequently had to take on a significantly reduced role in season two.
However, Thorne promised fans that if His Dark Materials is renewed, the prolific actor would return in a more prominent capacity.
"Obviously, we wanted a lot more of him in series 2," he said. "We wrote an entire episode (with Philip's help) telling the story of his first movements through the worlds. But COVID squashed us flat. Most of that last speech was taken from that ep. So yes, a LOT more in s3!"
For now, fans will just have to cross their fingers that the planned trilogy-closer goes ahead, but expect to hear official word soon one way or the other.
His Dark Materials is available to stream on BBC iPlayer. Looking for something else to watch? Check out our TV Guide to see what's on tonight.
Authors
David Craig is the Senior Drama Writer for Radio Times, covering the latest and greatest scripted drama and comedy across television and streaming. Previously, he worked at Starburst Magazine, presented The Winter King Podcast for ITVX and studied Journalism at the University of Sheffield.
