Writer and Executive producer Jack Thorne revealed some key details in a post-show Q&A
His Dark Materials season two just finished with an action-packed final episode, but fans are already clamouring for more info about the Phillip Pullman adaptation.
Writer and executive producer Jack Thorne hosted a Q&A session on Twitter via the official His Dark Materials account immediately after the episode. Alongside responding to fan queries about his favourite moments on the show, Thorne also teased some info about series three.
Here is everything we learned about the potential third series of His Dark Materials...
1. Series three has not officially been put into production
One of the biggest things viewers wanted to know was when they could expect the third series of His Dark Materials.
Thorned responded with the news that there’s "no word on series 3 yet". This does not mean the show is cancelled, though. Thorne explained that the team behind His Dark Materials have only just submitted the scripts to the BBC and HBO.
However, Thorne did say that they "hope to hear soon" whether the third series will be greenlit. Given how well the final episode went down with viewers and critics alike, it seems highly unlikely that the show won’t be renewed for a third time.
2. Series three will be eight episodes long
One fan asked whether His Dark Materials would follow in the footsteps of other young adult mega-hits like Harry Potter and The Hunger Games and split the adaptation of the final book into two series. They asked because "a hell of a lot happens" in The Amber Spyglass.
Thorne responded simply saying that this adaptation has "fitted very nicely into 8 episodes".
3. We can expect a lot more from James McAvoy’s Lord Asriel
The second series of His Dark Materials was meant to show us Lord Asriel in a more meaningful capacity. There was supposed to be an episode that would delve much more into his character’s backstory.
Sadly, production on this episode was severely hampered by COVID-19, leading the studios to scrap this episode from the second series. Thorne pretty much confirmed that we won’t see this episode in response to a fan.
Nevertheless, Thorne did say that we can expect "a LOT more" of Asriel in the third series, so hopefully we’ll see some of the lost episode in the next series.
4. The Golden Monkey will play a greater role in series three
Fans of Phillip Pullman’s novels will already know that lead antagonist Mrs Coulter’s daemon, the golden monkey, plays a key role in the overall narrative of His Dark Materials, and starts speaking in The Amber Spyglass, the third His Dark Materials novel.
When asked whether we would see the Golden Monkey speak, Thorne responded: "I've tried for The Golden Monkey. But only once. And in the scripts for series 3."
In an effort to thwart any potential spoilers for season three, Thorne also said: "The Golden Monkey is called the Golden Monkey in every single script" and crucially, the monkey has not been called Ozymandias.
5. The production team have already discussed potential spin-offs
Finally, Jack Thorne also teased a potential spin-off with Lin-Manuel Miranda’s spritely aeronaut, Lee Scoresby.
Once Upon a Time in the North is a prequel novella to the original His Dark Materials trilogy, and follows the meeting of Lee Scoresby and the armoured bear Iorek Byrnison, one of Lyra’s companions.
Thorne revealed that the production team behind His Dark Materials had discussed this extra book "a lot" whilst working on Miranda’s character. He said "we’d love to do it given the chance, but we want to do Amber [Spyglass] first!"
These are the biggest reveals of Jack Thorne’s post-show Q&A, but he also revealed many other insights into the show that would take too long to cover here. You can read the whole Q&A via the official His Dark Materials Twitter account here.
We don’t yet know when series three of His Dark Materials will air, but we’ll hopefully get more details soon!
You can watch the first two series on BBC iPlayer now.
