His Dark Materials Season 1 (2019) Review

So tonight sees the start of the second season of His Dark Materials on BBC and I hadn't watched the first season all the way through, but the last few days I have done that and here is my review for the first season of the show. The premise of the season sees a young girl go on a journey to attempt to rescue children which have been stolen by a shady organisation. 

Main Character

Dafne Keen who made her name in Logan plays Lyra here and she is fantastic, this is such a talented young actress and one that could be around for a long time to come. Lyra is just a likeable person, but also a strong character that carries her own throughout the show. She isn't a damsel in distress or a young scared girl, she has a depth to her and intrigue that makes you want to learn more and care about her journey. 

Supporting Characters 

Ruth Wilson plays Mrs Coulter here and she is really good, she is better then your average antagonist and actually has some real depth to her. She has a really interesting dynamic with Lyra and her motivations and aspirations are something different and she is a good character. Now if like me you were excited to see James McAvoy as Lord Asriel then just calm down a bit, he is great here in this pretty small role, he is gone for most of the season but when he is on screen he is a great character but yeah he doesn't have too much time on the screen. Lin Manuel Miranda plays a role here and does a good job too though it is funny that I pretty much just saw Hamilton when I looked at him but he added plenty of life and energy to the show when it needed it. The rest of the cast all also do great jobs and the cast are the real highlight of the show. 

Story

The story is good, the show has to go through plenty of worldbuilding and does a really good job of it and creates a really interesting world for you to get invested in. Lyra's journey is a great watch and the different people she comes across add plenty to the story and there own interesting takes. But there is one element of the story I just really didn't like, I won't go into it much because it is a huge spoiler that I didn't know going into the show but it really took me out of the story and made me sigh every time it came onto the screen. 

Script 

The script is really good, there is a great blend of humour and drama to make these fascinating characters and a more interesting narrative. It adds to the building of this world and these characters to make you care and get you invested into what you are watching. 

Style 

The show looks amazing visually, it clearly has a huge budget and it shows, it looks brilliant. The CGI for the creatures is top notch and the action scenes and backgrounds look great too making this show feel more epic in nature and larger stakes then other shows. But this show does have a bit of a pacing issue and I am not sure how to explain it, as it does feel a bit slow but so much happens this season that maybe things aren't fully developed. I'm not sure the exact answer to that but I think that becomes an issue as the show progresses as it tries to focus on different character arcs. 

Overall

Overall, this is a great first season of a fantasy show. It has so much intrigue and excitement that it is worth a watch, hopefully the second season is just as good and hopefully even better. 

Rating - 8/10