Bad Wolf’s co-founders tell Robin Parker why Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials trilogy embodies their mission statement - and what their adaptation will mean for Wales

When BBC drama boss Polly Hill revealed that a writer was yet to be attached to the planned adaptation of Philip Pull- man’s His Dark Materials trilogy, images of another iconic children’s book came to mind. Like Willy Wonka sending children to the sweet shop desperate to rip open chocolate bar wrappers, Hill was offering the ultimate golden ticket. Bad Wolf Productions might need to upgrade its server to cope with the deluge flooding into its inbox.

“We knew it would be big news but we didn’t anticipate just how huge,” says co-founder Jane Tranter. “We’ve had massive interest from all aspects of the TV community, and Philip [who is exec producing] has had a huge response too.”

Of course, anything that the combined forces behind Doctor Who, Torchwood and Da Vinci’s Demons would develop is bound to generate a buzz. But as a first commission, “it couldn’t be a bigger statement of intent”, says the other half of the team, Julie Gardner. “It asks questions, it creates an extraordinary world and is entertaining. We wouldn’t do anything that didn’t have an original point of view or a story that we didn’t want to tell.”

Journey to screen

Tranter describes its journey to the screen as “a classic producer’s tale”. She fell in love with the first book, Northern Lights, on its publication 20 years ago and was chomping at the bit to secure the rights, eventually teaming up with the New Line Cinema team of Toby Emmerich and Carolyn Blackwood, whose 2007 film of the first book, retitled The Golden Compass, failed to ignite studio interest in sequels.

“Toby and Carol can see that TV has matured and it’s ready to take on these books,” she says. “The stories embody what TV can do best: transport audiences to other worlds and hold up a mirror to ourselves, in a multi-character, multi-level way.

“With the appetite for serialised stories and advances in special effects and design, TV has finally caught up with Philip’s vision.”

It is envisaged as a multi-series project. The first series, likely to be eight parts and to air in 2018, will cover most of the first book plus some elements of the second, but the remaining two novels could be spread across four series to accommodate the scope of the narrative.

As with Harry Potter, Bad Wolf expects to attract the cream of Britain’s actors to the project. “Inside the cacophony of the story, every character, huge or small, is fully formed,” says Gardner.

The series promises to galvanise the Welsh production sector, more than a decade since the pair brought Doctor Who to Cardiff. What do they make of it after their five years in LA?

“Welsh drama is thriving,” marvels Tranter.

“So many productions are choosing to come here, which is an enormous credit to the BBC, and to the Welsh government. The range of locations and the infrastructure are very appealing – the landscape will be brilliant for His Dark Materials.”

Bad Wolf itself is funded by a repayable Welsh Government loan, which has given the pair the freedom to choose where they fi lm and to occupy a temporary office as they play a role in the potential creation of a South Wales studio facility to make their home. Tranter will run things in Wales, while Gardner will be primarily based in LA, eyeing big US-led projects and offering the pair up as producers for hire, but both will be clocking up the air miles.

HBO partnership

They’re also extending their HBO relationship, which goes back as far as Tranter’s commission of BBC2 co-pros Rome and Band Of Brothers and, more recently, the cable network’s remake of BBC4 comedy Getting On. What this means in practice is that they can be HBO’s eyes and ears in the UK, bringing writers, directors, actors and producers to their attention.

The network could come on board Bad Wolf ’s other major development, an adaptation of The Warlord Chronicles, a trilogy based on the King Arthur legend by The Last Kingdom author Bernard Cornwell, but it’s early days.

Having gone public with these projects, the duo say they’ll go off-radar for a bit. “We’re always looking for great projects and writers, so we’ll never close the door, but over the next year, it’s all about these two shows,” says Tranter. Once they’ve cleared the inbox, of course.