Have been enjoying this series (as I did the previous) and can't remember all the details of the books as it's been some years since I read them.
Two things jump out at me; one is the presence of daemons in the background, and the other is pacing. This season seems a little ... not faster exactly, but ... tighter, more compelling, where season had a lot of moments that started to drag quite badly imo.
I think also they have found their voice a bit more. It seems to me that S1 didn't fully know what it wanted to be (a situation probably caused by quite a generationally diverse fanbase, including younger viewers, older viewers, fantasy audience, non-fantasy audience, new viewers to the series, old hands, and so on - a curse that Star Wars also massively battled with, tmm). Pullman is, as I understand it, primarily a children's author but the take up of HDM by older readers probably caused a bit of a direction wobble. Whereas now, they seem to have settled into a "yes, we are for younger viewers too but we have a weird Dr Who-ish sheen and we can make the two work together" sort of vibe, for me. Kid-friendly TV used to be like that anyway - some of the stuff in the UK in the 70s and 80s was downright freakish as I recall, and probably long overdue an homage or threeAll of which is good. It's a reasonably bold course to go, I would say.
Psst! (But there are 3 more books after The Amber Spyglass. Personally, I think they should have begun with La Belle Sauvage.)
However, renewal has not yet been confirmed.
And much slower than M. Robert Gibson it seems, over 2 months later I've finished! I'm a little disappointed, as I just went to the iPlayer wondering where episode 8 was, thinking 7 was setting up for a big finale. Oh well, I enjoyed those 7 episodes very much.
I'm not sure how likely that was given the second series starting filming before the first aired, though I imagine feedback could have been taken into account to an extent.What I like about this series is that they've clearly listened to viewers' concerns re: season 1 and actively addressed them in season 2. It makes me feel like I'm in safe, considerate hands, hands that care about what they're making. Far too often, I see serieses (!!) start with a big budget bang and then slowly, slowly start to meander into the floodlands of turgid and tired writing until you're at the point where you're desperate to quit it but it's become such part of your life that you daren't, just out of fear of change.
I swear, it's the same psychology that makes people struggle to quit bad situations. I bet the producers know it too. I bet it's part of their strategy. God, I'm cynical. They probably have a name for that point too. Yeah. Gah.
While I hadn't heard that, except for right here, it is entirely possible given that the effects would have been added post-production, and so after filming took place.
