Orphan Lyra Belacqua is destined from birth to wage a battle of good against evil. When her best friend, Roger, is abducted by the ruling church-like body in its quest to eradicate original sin, Lyra goes in search of him

Step aside Harry Potter. There’s a new magical world that’s about to capture the nation’s imagination.

This Sunday sees the start of a spectacular eight-part adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials novels.

The fantasy books, which have sold 18 million copies, are on such a vast scale that the BBC has teamed up with American TV giant HBO to spend a rumoured joint £50 million — the most expensive series the corporation has ever screened — to bring them to the screen.

But it’s a risk. The novels, which begin with the story of 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua as she tries to rescue her best friend from child-snatchers, boast such epic settings and fantastical happenings that they were widely considered unfilmable, particularly after a previous Hollywood version flopped.

Here, Tanith Carey tells you all you need to know to know about the BBC’s most ambitious production to date . . .

Hogwarts magic brings Lyra to life

Oxford-based Philip Pullman’s trilogy explores notoriously tricky subjects such as religious authority and original sin — with the theory of multiple universes thrown in for good measure.

Indeed, the books were so complicated it’s taken more than five years for this adaptation to reach fruition and the script went through more than 40 rewrites.

Writer Jack Thorne, who adapted Harry Potter for the stage with The Cursed Child, says he had to carry out a ‘PhD in Philip Pullman’ to get his head around every nuance of the plot.

The fantasy books, which have sold 18 million copies, are on such a vast scale that the BBC has teamed up with American TV giant HBO to spend a rumoured joint £50 million — the most expensive series the corporation has ever screened — to bring them to the screen. But it’s a risk

Orphan Lyra Belacqua is destined from birth to wage a battle of good against evil. When her best friend, Roger, is abducted by the ruling church-like body in its quest to eradicate original sin, Lyra goes in search of him.

From there, it gets even more complicated. But critics say the fact that the series makers have the luxury of spreading the first book, The Northern Lights, over eight one-hour episodes means they’ve managed to nail it.

Lyra is also a heroine for a modern age, with Thorne comparing her to the teenage environmental activist Greta Thunberg. ‘There are quite a lot of similarities,’ he says.

‘So much of what we’re going through now can be drawn on from these amazing books.’

Shining stars and vampish villains

The series looks set to send the career of 14-year-old Dafne Keen, who plays Lyra, soaring.

Having never read the books, she sent in an audition tape for the part after playing a child mutant in the 2017 X-Men film Logan, for which she won rave reviews.

Dafne had to film a second audition clip with a swollen face just after she was stung by a jellyfish on holiday. She has spent more than a year on set, getting three hours of tutoring a day.

Theatrics run in the family for the bilingual teen, who lives in Madrid. Her Spanish mother, Maria, is an acting coach, while her actor father Will also has a starring role in the series as a leading light of the terrifying ruling body, the Magisterium.

Ms Coulter, played by Ruth Wilson, is pictured left, while Lord Asriel played by James McAvoy is pictured right. This Sunday sees the start of a spectacular eight-part adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials novels

Another key character is Lyra’s uncle Lord Asriel (Atonement star James McAvoy). Although James admits he was a last-minute casting after the producers were let down by their original choice, he knew the books so well he didn’t need to do any research to play the swashbuckling scientist.

The 40-year-old appears in the series alongside ex-wife Anne-Marie Duff, 49. The pair have remained on good terms since their divorce three years ago.

Mary Poppins Returns star Lin-Manuel Miranda, creator of the hit musical Hamilton, takes on the role of aeronaut Lee Scoresby, with other cast members including Peaky Blinders actress Helen McCrory and David Suchet.

Villain of the piece is Mrs Coulter, (Luther actress Ruth Wilson). One of the most evil characters in children’s literature, she heads the Magisterium’s kidnapping efforts and tries to lure Lyra to the dark side.

Her dangerously seductive glamour is aided by gorgeous costumes from Downton Abbey designer Caroline McCall.

The novels, which begin with the story of 12-year-old Lyra Belacqua as she tries to rescue her best friend from child-snatchers, boast such epic settings and fantastical happenings that they were widely considered unfilmable, particularly after a previous Hollywood version flopped

The magical compass that's even smarter than Alexa In Lyra's world, science has evolved in a different way to our own, with the technology looking more pre-war than sci-fi. One of the most important gadgets is the alethiometer, a kind of compass that can give you a truthful answer to any question — rather like a magical Alexa. For the series, designers made it the shape of a smartphone so younger fans would connect with it. ‘I didn’t want a round pocket-watch design that felt too Victorian because the younger generation would wonder what it was,’ says design head Joel Collins. The design was tweaked hundreds of times before they landed on the final version. Four different models were made, first on a 3D printer and then crafted out of solid metal — each taking 1,600 hours to make. In Lyra's world, science has evolved in a different way to our own, with the technology looking more pre-war than sci-fi Advertisement

The cost? £6.25m for each episode!

In recent years, BBC dramas have been dwarfed by big budget U.S. productions, such as Netflix’s The Crown, which costs £5.6 million per episode.

But the Corporation has teamed up with powerhouse HBO, the creator of Game Of Thrones.

In the hope that His Dark Materials will fill the void left by that epic fantasy series, a record £50 million (£6.25 million an episode) is rumoured to have been splurged by the BBC and HBO to make it happen.

A 2007 movie adaptation of the first book, called The Golden Compass, starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig, bombed after the film-makers struggled to compress the subject matter into less than two hours and infuriated fans by toning down the deeper theological messages.

This time, TV chiefs are so certain it will be a hit they have already filmed the second series. The BBC’s controller of drama, Piers Wenger, said: ‘It’s a leap of faith, but a leap of faith that we all felt very sure about.’

One of the creatures Lyra meets is lorek. He is the exiled king of the Panserbjorn — huge armour-wearing bears. Although Iorek is animated, Lyra rides on his back. This was achieved by creating a life-sized model on a bucking bronco-style rig

Altitude sickness on soaring sets

The books are set in a parallel universe to ours, with similarities — and noticeable differences. The action starts off at Lyra’s home in an Oxford College, called Jordan College, but stretches to the frozen wastes of the Arctic.

Much of it was filmed in a 250,000 sq ft former factory near Cardiff. The high ceilings meant the 500-strong team could recreate sets including a fake 40ft pine forest and a palace for giant armoured bears. One mountain was so high that, when Pullman paid a visit, he joked he had to come down because it made him feel queasy.

But even the studio was not big enough for a recreation of a Lapland port. That was built in an old quarry in the Brecon Beacons.

Head of design Joel Collins says: ‘We had to build an entire town and hide it from everyone! It had to feel real and not like CGI.’

A truly majestic armoured bear

One of the creatures Lyra meets is lorek. He is the exiled king of the Panserbjorn — huge armour-wearing bears.

Special effects supervisor Russell Dodgson said: ‘We looked at thousands of images until we said: “That bear is our bear — it has a look of majesty that we want.” ’

Although Iorek is animated, Lyra rides on his back. This was achieved by creating a life-sized model on a bucking bronco-style rig.

Religiously avoiding a row

The books’ depiction of the Magisterium was seen as a criticism of religion, particularly Catholicism. In the past, Pullman has spoken out on some of the damage that he believes aspects of religion can cause.

The film-makers have been keen to shift the conversation onto how the Magisterium represents any type of overbearing ruling authority.

Producer Jane Tranter, who previously rebooted Doctor Who, says: ‘Philip Pullman is not attacking belief, faith, religion or the church per se.

‘He is attacking a particular form of control, where there is a very deliberate attempt to withhold information, keep people in the dark and not allow ideas and thinking to be free.’

Delightful daemons that just might steal the show Sure to wow viewers are the characters’ ‘daemons’ — a spirit animal serving as a representation of what kind of person they are. These range from a white ermine called Pantalaimon for Lyra, inspired by the Leonardo da Vinci painting of a woman holding one, to Lord Asriel’s snow leopard Stelmaria, voiced by Helen McCrory of Peaky Blinders. Mrs Coulter’s daemon is an unnamed golden monkey with a vicious streak. The daemons were computer-generated. However, because the characters and their soul creatures are so intertwined, the team gave the actors something more ‘real’ to work with. Puppets were used while filming scenes and replaced by animation later. Advertisement

Hero’s surprise karaoke in wales

Hollywood hot property Lin-Manuel Miranda accepted a part in His Dark Materials without even asking what the role was — saying he would have been happy to ‘sharpen pencils’ if it meant being involved.

The Hamilton creator, who also played lamplighter Jack in Mary Poppins Returns, has a particular soft spot for the books because he and his wife, Vanessa, read them together when they were dating, with Miranda saying ‘they are part of our falling-in-love story’.

Far from sharpening pencils however, Miranda plays Texan aeronaut Lee Scoresby, who criss-crosses the drama in a hot air balloon accompanied by his daemon, an Arctic hare called Hester.

Fresh from filming Mary Poppins Returns, working on the BBC drama meant that he moved to Cardiff for six months with Vanessa and their two young sons.

During his stay, he surprised locals by turning up at pubs to do karaoke, singing songs from musicals he’s performed in such as Les Miserables.

The family have also been spotted exploring local castles, taking coastal walks and enjoying treats like Welsh Cakes. Miranda’s love of the region has led to a rise in the number of American tourists.

His Dark Materials starts on BBC1 this Sunday at 8pm.