The third and final season of His Dark Materials arrives on BBC One and BBC iPlayer this weekend – and if producer Jane Tranter has her way, it won’t be the last we see of Philip Pullman’s world on the small screen.
Speaking at a Q&A event ahead of the launch of the final season, Tranter revealed that the team behind the show would love to adapt Pullman’s Book of Dust trilogy, which consists of La Belle Sauvage, The Secret Commonwealth, and an as yet unpublished third novel.
“As Philip Pullman calls it, there is an ‘equal’ which is La Belle Sauvage and then there’s a sequel, which is The Secret Commonwealth,” Tranter said of the novels. “And I have made absolutely no secret of the fact that I am really very keen to do The Book of Dust and Philip has already said that he would love us to do it. But he needs to finish the third book.”
She added: “We would love to do that, but you need to go out and ring the bell very loudly for that as well, so we can get the combined might of HBO and the BBC to say it’s an absolute done deal.
“They are very keen on this third season and the overall benefit that His Dark Materials has given them – it has done very well for the BBC on iPlayer… and the same for HBO Max as well.”
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Tranter previously revealed that her initial desire had been to make as many as nine runs of His Dark Materials, which would have allowed the series to delve deeper into specific aspects of the books.
But she explained that this might have ended up putting off audiences, given that TV tends to move at a faster pace than literature.
“Honestly, I would have told it across nine seasons if I could have done,” she said at a panel at this year’s Edinburgh International TV Festival. “There are so many stories that we weren’t able to do.
“I would have slowed this down even more. But unfortunately, that’s probably the wrong thing for an audience – some would have liked it, but it’s expensive and it’s a season-a-book and that’s that and now it’s finishing.”
Additional reporting by Morgan Jeffery
Read more:
- His Dark Materials stars reveal “pressure” of getting final scenes right
- His Dark Materials season 3 will expand role of James McAvoy’s Asriel from book
- His Dark Materials team on ending the series: “It’s sad to say goodbye”
His Dark Materials season 3 will air weekly on BBC One and be available as a full series boxset on BBC iPlayer from Sunday 18th December.
For more, check out our dedicated Fantasy page or our full TV Guide and Streaming Guide.
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