HIS DARK MATERIALS - Episode 1 Mini Preview and Teasers

This weekend sees the start of His Dark Materials, the highly anticipated adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy novels. The BBC have been kind enough to share the first four episodes with us, and there's a lot of great stuff in store. What theories do you have based off the dialogue teases below?

I have not read the books and did not know a great deal about them before watching these and I found that some things were difficult to follow at times. Fans of the books may well get a very different experience from the show to any casual viewers who tune in, especially if they only give it this one episode a shot before deciding to continue or drop the series altogether. It is by far the slowest of the four, with little change in setting and some repetitive exposition to get through the hour.

As expected, however, it looks sumptuous. From the gorgeous scenery filling every frame, to the CGI dæmons scampering, flying, or slithering across each of them, there is much to see in a second, or even third time, of viewing that you may have missed before. Ruth Wilson is also a delight as Mrs Coulter, arriving in a burst of colour and intrigue to Jordan College she immediately casts an impression on the young heroine, Lyra Belacqua (Logan's Dafne Keen).

Here are this week’s teasers:

“Bit of an accident I’m afraid. Such a shame, only three dozen bottles left apparently”
“Wait, leave here? No, no, Ma would never agree to that. Billy’s lost, he’s not been taken”
“I have waited for over a year to see you. And nothing. You’re infuriating!”
“The Master cannot be so naive to imagine that scholastic sanctuary protects him from the accusation of heresy”
“Lyra, look at me. I won’t just help, I won’t just try. I’ll succeed”
“I know you care for her, and you’ve truly taught her as well as you could Charles, but all we can be is scared for her”
“Pan thinks he’ll be a lion...I think he’ll settle as a sloth. Or a guinea pig”
“They’ve taken sixteen of our children so far, and that number keeps growing. Searching for him here when we know he is lost of foolishness and you know it”
“The north is no place for a child”
“We are here to give thanks and tribute. My son’s dæmon has settled as a hawk”