What do you get when you combine the producers who brought us Doctor Who and the writer of the play that tells the next instalment in Harry Potter’s story?


BBC1’s adaptation of Philip Pullman’s His Dark Materials, that’s what.

The BBC has confirmed that Harry Potter and The Cursed Child playwright Jack Thorne (who’s previously written episodes of This is England, Skins, Shameless, Glue and The Last Panthers, to name but a few) has been charged with taking Pullman’s classic trilogy and adapting it for the small screen.

And he’ll team up with former Doctor Who producers Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner, who recently founded their own production company, Bad Wolf.

It’s a massive production, with Toby Emmerich and Carolyn Blackwood of New Line Cinema, Bethan Jones of BBC One and Deborah Forte of Scholastic all on the production team too.

“It is such an honour and a privilege to be given this opportunity to delve into Philip Pullman’s world,” said Thorne. “What I always loved about Bad Wolf’s intentions with this project was the notion of sounding every note. The His Dark Materials trilogy are vast and glorious books full of beautiful characters and I’m going to work as hard as I can to try and do justice to them.”

And as for Pullman? Well, the author seems as comfortable handing his characters over to Thorne as JK Rowling did.

“I’m delighted to welcome Jack Thorne as writer on the TV dramatisation of His Dark Materials. Jack is a writer of formidable energy and range, and I’ve greatly enjoyed talking to him and learning about his plans for bringing His Dark Materials to the screen,” said Pullman.

“I’m certain he’ll do a superb job, and I look forward to seeing the whole project develop as he shapes the story.”


So do we PP. So do we. Even if we have to wait until some time after 2017 – when filming is set to begin – to see it.