I absolutely loved what was done with the first season of His Dark Materials, I reviewed every episode for LRM and I don’t recall going lower than a B+. There were even at least two A+ grades in there. However, having discussed this franchise a lot with editor-in-chief Joseph Jammer Medina (one of the few things we are both a fan of), we were both a bit worried that it might not quite have been the roaring success we’d hoped.

Viewing figures in both the US and the UK seemed to drop off a lot throughout the show and I anticipate this is because the story has quite a slow beginning. We know that Season 2 is already a go and that this will cover the events of the second book of author Phillip Pullman’s trilogy, The Subtle Knife. My worry is that the show has not done well enough (so far) to see the third book, The Amber Spyglass be adapted. For anyone who has read the books, you will probably be aware that effects-wise, the third book will be the biggest one in terms of budget for the show, though I won’t say any more about that here.

Hopefully, recent comments from HBO president of programming Casey Bloys indicate that the show has done well enough that they intend to push through and green light another Season, or maybe two?

“One of the things that I was hoping and the numbers we’re seeing bear this out, it is more of a co-viewing show than we’ve ever had. We don’t have many shows where kids and parents can watch together and that was the idea with this show and it has done really well. Season two is just coming in and I think once we get season two, we’ll talk about season three and what it would look like. We obviously have to talk to the BBC.”

Interestingly, in the same report from Deadline they also mentioned that production company Bad Wolf co-founder Jane Tranter had previously told them that if they do get the go-ahead, they’d like to split the final book into two seasons. This would mean an overall four seasons of the show if they get their wish. To be honest, having discussed this with many friends who have read the books, we all agreed that there was no way they could do The Amber Spyglass in an eight-episode Season. Not without it feeling rushed compared to what came before, anyway. The Amber Spyglass is the longest book of the trilogy by a significant margin, whereas The Subtle Knife, which is definitely up next, is the shortest.

They COULD, theoretically try to put some of the third book’s content into Season 2, however, I honestly feel the best approach would be to split it. There is even a great place in the second act of the book for them to stop and end Season 3. I don’t want to give too many details for non-book readers, but Lyra and her new companion Will journey somewhere that no one else has ever gone before. Here, they fundamentally shift the balance and have a major impact on the universe around them. It is a sort of finale, but not the overall finale, and that’s why it would be a good place to end Season 3.

RELATED: His Dark Materials Episode 8 ‘Betrayal’ Review – Saving The Best For Last In Season 1

At this point, all we can do is keep fingers crossed that Bloys is correct and the figures will encourage BBC, and HBO to keep going. What do you think, did you watch His Dark Materials, if not why was it not for you, and how can I convince you to watch it, so they keep making more? Share them below if you’ve got them.

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SOURCE: Deadline

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