His Dark Materials (BBC serial)

[Dave]

I also don't want to spoil, but I think that in the talk given by Lord Asriel to the college, he raised the possibility of there being "many" worlds. But you are getting too far ahead (several books ahead.)

The daemons probably weren't explained very well. Children's daemons are not fixed. They are not permanent and can change shape. They become permanent when the child becomes an adult. This is important to the story so it isn't good that it wasn't made more clear.

 

[Ursa major]

the lead character familiar keeps changing shape all of the time? Nobody else does it.

In the first episode, we were shown when Billy's brother's daemon took on its final form (in a rites of passage ceremony).

Lyra (and Billy and Roger) are not old enough for their daemons to have chosen they're final forms, so that's why they keep changing (and adults' daemons don't).

 

[BAYLOR]

After book 3, I just can't reef anything else by him.

 

[williamjm]

I've liked the first two episodes a lot. It's not perfect, the Gyptian scenes so far haven't been as compelling as the rest of the story and there's some unwieldy exposition, but I think the main cast has been great and the scenes between Mrs Coulter and Lyra have been a real highlight - Ruth Wilson was born to play this role.

As an adaptation I feel it's fairly faithful overall even if they are making some changes - I wasn't expecting to see 'our' Oxford this early in the story.

Outcasts was pretty dire, Not helped by the smug creators who boasted about hating sci-fi, as if their writing would therefore be superior by default.
Que a cliché ridden soap, uninspired dialogue, an evil corporation, a secretly evil priest, etc. etc.

That's a show I'd almost forgotten about. I think I watched all of it except for the last episode, it's probably significant that I didn't care enough about it to find out how the season ended.

Also, once I'd noticed it, the fact that most people lacked the CGI daemons became a bit jarring.

I saw a quote from Pullman saying that they decided to do that because it got a bit distracting otherwise in crowds with all the daemons being visible. However, they're such an integral part of the setting that the lack of them does seem a bit disconcerting.

Am I assuming correctly when I think there's magic in this world? Not just talking familiars.

There are also the witches, who I think we should probably see in the next couple of episodes if they're following the books.

The daemons probably weren't explained very well. Children's daemons are not fixed. They are not permanent and can change shape. They become permanent when the child becomes an adult. This is important to the story so it isn't good that it wasn't made more clear.

There was some clunky exposition in the first exposition where Roger and Lyra discuss this.

 

[Ursa major]

After book 3, I just can't reef anything else by him.

Do you corral his novels, keeping them away from your other books?

 

[Mouse]

I keep looking for the daemons in the crowds too and ended up musing to myself that there might be flea daemons. Also, jarred a bit when the butterfly daemon was crushed and it didn't disappear (unless it wasn't quite dead at that point!)

 

[HareBrain]

there might be flea daemons.

Can you imagine how disappointing that would be, to find that the visible form of your soul is best represented by a tiny biting insect?

It's just occurred to me to wonder how daemons would affect democracy. Would you trust anyone with a tapeworm daemon to be PM? (Though that might be the best on offer, come to think of it.) Would a devious politician hide his own giveaway daemon and train something noble-looking like a a stag to hang around with him, and then train himself in ventriloquism to get it to speak?

 

[AlexH]

Given I've only read Northern Lights and that was a while ago, I was confused by the lack of daemons. Even just one or two extras in some scenes would have helped, as not all would be visible anyway.

 

[BAYLOR]

Do you corral his novels, keeping them away from your other books?

Sorry, Typo . I have no real interesting in anything else by him.

 

[Phyrebrat]

Can you imagine how disappointing that would be, to find that the visible form of you

I always thought that whilst reading the books. It’s a trigger for me as my Chinese influence is a water rat when I was hoping for a dragon/velociraptor. Mind you if I lived in Lyra’s Oxford, I’d most likely be restricted to the River Ox because my Matt Daemon would be, undoubtedly, a pike.

pH

 

[ctg]

Also, jarred a bit when the butterfly daemon was crushed and it didn't disappear (unless it wasn't quite dead at that point!)

Yeah, I couldn't understand how you could kill a daemon and the owner doesn't go with it?

 

[Mouse]

Yeah, I couldn't understand how you could kill a daemon and the owner doesn't go with it?

She did die. It's just that dead daemons are meant to poof out of existence not stay as a corpse.

 

[Dave]

That guy had a snake hidden up his vest. I think lots of mice, hamsters and gerbils could be in coat pockets. Or, a weasel up a trouser leg. But I do agree that if I was voting for someone for PM then they would need to have a Red Deer Stag or an African Lion.

 

[Stephen Palmer]

She did die. It's just that dead daemons are meant to poof out of existence not stay as a corpse.

I found this a slightly disappointing bit, as we hardly knew the character and then she was killed.
They hadn't really had the chance to establish things about the daemons though - such as Mrs Coulter's physical distance from the golden monkey.
But it an adaption of such complexity there's bound to be cuts and shortcuts.
I have to admit, I found myself watching episode 2 as an "author," seeing how they established things and created the narrative. You can learn a lot about story telling from a really good tv series.

 

[AlexH]

I have to admit, I found myself watching episode 2 as an "author," seeing how they established things and created the narrative. You can learn a lot about story telling from a really good tv series.

A great YouTube channel on such things: Just Write: All Episodes - YouTube

The most recent I watched compared Westworld to Game of Thrones to illustrate the problems that can occur with ensemble casts.

 

[williamjm]

It's just occurred to me to wonder how daemons would affect democracy. Would you trust anyone with a tapeworm daemon to be PM? (Though that might be the best on offer, come to think of it.)

That's a good point, I wonder whether they have a big problem with daemonism - people suffering from prejudice because of the form of their daemon?

Would a devious politician hide his own giveaway daemon and train something noble-looking like a a stag to hang around with him, and then train himself in ventriloquism to get it to speak?

In the latest book, The Secret Commonwealth there is a suggestion that daemon adoption is possible, although it would require an actual daemon since people can apparently instinctively tell the difference between a daemon and an animal.

 

[REBerg]

Can you imagine how disappointing that would be, to find that the visible form of your soul is best represented by a tiny biting insect?

Seems like the final form taken by each daemon reflects the nature of the soul linked to it. Something like reincarnation. No surprise that the baddies are represented by nasty insects and serpents.
Must be limits for daemons which can still shapeshift, or Lyra's daemon would have changed into something that could better handle its attacker.

That guy had a snake hidden up his vest.

Thank goodness it wasn't a trouser snake!

 

[AlexH]

I thought I recognised Dafne Keen (Lyra). She was excellent in Logan and I hoped at the time she'd have her own X-Men film. There's plenty of time for that.

 

[ctg]

I thought I recognised Dafne Keen (Lyra). She was excellent in Logan and I hoped at the time she'd have her own X-Men film.

Oh man, is that her? I could have never guessed. She looked so familiar. I wonder if she'll show the angry face at any point in the series?

 

[HareBrain]

the scenes between Mrs Coulter and Lyra have been a real highlight

Just caught up with Ep2, and those two outclass everyone else to the point that they seem to almost be in a different, better series, even with better scriptwriters (I wonder if they were given leave to improvise). I'm hoping the thing as a whole will pick up as we get near the meat of it.