Matt James

I was mesmerised by the book when it first emerged yet I found myself disappointed by this dramatisation. The depiction of Lyra's world lacked the archaicness imagined in the books. The only concession to this being airships. Note: Asriel's arrival in a 2-person helicopter (somewhat crowded when your companion is a full sized snow leopard) confused me as to which world we were being introduced to as a starting point. The daemons, as well, imagined through CGI, compared poorly against the CGI we, as viewers have become accustomed to with other large budget productions. For me, it just didn't have the wow factor that you need to suspend your sense of disbelief and nourish your inner child. The protracted trailer at the end of the programme merely seemed to communicate, 'hey stick with us, it does get really good'. Given though the peculiar casting choice for some of the characters - yes Lee Scoresby, I'm looking at you - I'm not really feeling compelled to continue to tune in. C-. Not the version of His Dark Materials this could have been.