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BBC One’s lavish adaptation of Philip Pullman’s bestselling novel trilogy returns for a third and final series, covering the events of the book The Amber Spyglass. The world stands on the brink of a devastating war taking place across several planes of existence, while young Lyra (Dafne Keen) tries to fulfil her destiny and save humanity with help from Will (Amir Wilson) and his supernatural knife. 

This series will bring together the various strands of the complex story (and very hefty final novel), including the witches, the adventures of Lord Asriel (James McAvoy, Split) and the sinister Magisterium – and follows Lyra and Will as they take an unprecedented journey.

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“Something changed. Everything was in balance. But now, the world is dying.”

Those ominous words come from the trailer for this series of His Dark Materials. It’s sure to be one of the biggest TV events in the lead-up to Christmas – and there’s no doubt it’s going to bring some HIGH DRAMA to the festive season.

Spine-tingling stuff! Fans have been waiting patiently for the return of this epic drama for almost two years, because the pandemic delayed the filming of the third series. So here we’ll catch you up on the previous series and look ahead to what these climactic episodes could bring…

What happened in the previous series?

Lyra’s adventures have taken her from Oxford to Svalbard in the frozen north and the in-between world of Cittàgazze, first in search of her missing friend Roger, but eventually on a quest to discover the true nature of the mysterious Dust and prevent inter-dimensional catastrophe. In Cittàgazze she met Will, who was fleeing nefarious pursuers who could slip between worlds. He came into possession of the Subtle Knife, or Æsahættr, and Lyra agreed to join him as he hunted for his missing father.

Where did we leave things at the end of series 2?

Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson, See How They Run), determined to stop Lyra from fulfilling her destiny as a new Eve who frees humanity from shame and sin, captured Lyra and spirited her away. One of the most wonderfully ambiguous characters in literature, Mrs Coulter always seems to be walking a fine line between good and evil, between sanity and madness, but it now appears that her love for her daughter trumps all else. Or possibly she’s afraid of the consequences of Lyra’s actions.

Meanwhile Will found his missing father John Parry (Andrew Scott, Sherlock), now known as the shaman Jopari, but their reunion was brief as John was killed by a Magisterium soldier – despite the best efforts of aeronaut Lee Scoresby (Lin-Manuel Miranda, Mary Poppins Returns), who also perished. We also saw Asriel recruiting angels to his cause, as he vowed to wreak fury on “the Authority and those doling out cruelties in his name”.

Are all the surviving characters returning for series 3?

They sure are. Asriel was almost entirely absent from series 2 but he’s going to be front and centre this time, as he leads his troops – angelic, human and other – into battle against the Magisterium and its would-be dominion over all the worlds. “I am gathering the greatest from every world to help me wage war,” he intones, like an absolute legend in a sexy jumper.

The other main protagonists – Lyra, Will, Mrs Coulter and their daemons, as well as the witch-queen Serafina Pekkala (Ruta Gedmintas) and armoured bear Iorek Byrnison (Joe Tandberg) – are all present and correct. But there’s a twist: even some of the characters who haven’t survived may be making a return as well. At the end of series 2 we heard Lyra’s deceased friend Roger (Lewin Lloyd) calling out to her, an appeal that will lead to Lyra’s most dangerous journey yet. Cryptic press announcements have suggested that Lee and Jopari will reappear too.  

Helen McCrory (Peaky Blinders), who voiced Asriel’s daemon Stelmaria, sadly died before she could reprise her role. Stelmaria will now be voiced by Victoria Hamilton (The Crown).

Are there any new characters?

Yep. The trailer has introduced Commander Ogunwe, who leads Asriel’s troops in the war, played by Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje (Lost, The Bourne Identity). There’s also a new, goes-without-saying-he’s-super-sinister Magisterium agent, Father Gomez (played by The Durrells’ Jamie Ward), tasked with tracking down Lyra.

Two of the most memorable characters in The Amber Spyglass are Agent Salmakia and Commander Roke, tiny Gallivespians who work as spies for Asriel’s forces. They’ll be played by Fleabag’s Sian Clifford and Jonathan Aris, who’s known for small roles in everything from The Night Manager to The End Of The F***ing World. But this is a different kind of small role…

Other newcomers are the mulefa. These gentle creatures are encountered by scientist Mary Malone (Simone Kirby, The One) as she makes her way through the worlds, guided by Dust. Creating these fantastic animals was too much of a challenge for the stage adaptation of the books, which left them (and poor Mary) out entirely, but they’re included here and the images released are frankly mind-boggling. And those don’t even show the bizarre way they travel around.

So what can we expect from this series?

Wilson says this series is “the most ambitious” yet. Executive producer Jane Tranter says it’s “an epic adventure and a story about love and truth”. McAvoy says it “gets pretty down and dirty, and there’s gonna be a lot of fisticuffs and a lot of explosions”. Action, romance and far-reaching vision – what more could you want? A majestic host of celestial beings descending to Earth? Well, it’s got that too!

If this is the final book in the trilogy, is this the last we’ll see of this world?

The sort-of-good news is that that’s unclear. Philip Pullman has followed the original trilogy with the prequel La Belle Sauvage (2017) and sequel The Secret Commonwealth (2019), with a third book to come, and Tranter says the team behind His Dark Materials would jump at the chance to adapt the later novels. “It’s an extraordinary piece… so huge and ambitious,” she told radiotimes.com. “But if anyone ever gave us the opportunity to do it, we’d be there.”

When is BBC One’s His Dark Materials series 3 on TV?

The third series of His Dark Materials begins on Sunday 18 December at 7pm on BBC One HD (CH 101) and in Apps & Games > BBC iPlayer.