Although THE GOLDEN COMPASS failed to launch a feature-film franchise based upon Philip Pullman's "His Dark Materials" trilogy, the story got a second chance at life when HBO/BBC transformed the novels into a TV series. His Dark Materials takes place in a world parallel to our own, where a human's soul exists outside one's body in the form of a talking animal. Dafne Keen (LOGAN) stars as Lyra, a young orphan who lives at Jordan College in Oxford along with her daemon Pantalaimon.
The first season of His Dark Materials came to a close when Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) opened a bridge to a new world, where he was followed by Lyra, who was distraught over the death of her best friend. The new season finds Lyra encountering Will (Amir Wilson), a boy from our world who is also running from a troubled past, in a strange and mysterious abandoned city. There are several new additions to the cast this season, including Andrew Scott as Colonel John Parry, and, in a little wink to his days on Fleabag, Parry's osprey dæmon Sayan Kötör will be voiced by Phoebe Waller-Bridge. "What’s beautiful to me about the books is the relationship with the dæmons and, I think this is the first time we are revealing this, but my dæmon is going to be played by someone who is very close to me in my real life: a young performer and writer called Phoebe Waller-Bridge," Scott explained. "The relationship is all about companionship, friendship, and loyalty and that’s what I feel about Phoebe in my real life so it’s wonderful that this is happening."
The official synopsis for the second season of His Dark Materials:
In the second season of HIS DARK MATERIALS, Lord Asriel (James McAvoy) has opened a bridge to a new world, and, distraught over the death of her best friend, Lyra (Dafne Keen) follows Asriel into the unknown. In a strange and mysterious abandoned city she meets Will (Amir Wilson), a boy from our world who is also running from a troubled past. Lyra and Will learn their destinies are tied to reuniting Will with his father but find their path is constantly thwarted as a war begins to brew around them. Meanwhile, Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson) searches for Lyra, determined to bring her home by any means necessary.
The second season of His Dark Materials will debut on HBO later this fall.