Invited to a screening of the first two episodes of the new season with a Q&A session with creatives and cast afterward, Greg D Smith gives his thoughts on the first part of the conclusion to this epic adaptation of Philip Pullman’s acclaimed trilogy.

It’s been a recurrent theme for me of reviewing this show that it’s always felt as if it was made specifically for fans of the books, rather leaving those like me who didn’t missing out. I have to say that on the strength of these opening instalments of this third and final season, that impression hasn’t lessened any, but it does at least provide some good drama and some impressive visuals considering the relatively small budget.

After a long (apparently always planned, to let the principal cast members grow up a little) hiatus, you might be forgiven for assuming an extensive catchup montage might be involved. Instead, what we get instead lasts barely a few minutes before we’re pitched right back into things, and a lot has changed in the interim.

As far as I can gather (having avoided spoilering myself) this third book is the one where the scale of things somewhat alters, and rather than just being about some fairly mundane conflict between the magisterium and rather nebulously defined ‘free will’ we are now at a more literal stage of the conflict. Lord Asriel is gathering an army to literally march on the Kingdom of Heaven and depose the authority. Or at the very least, whoever it might be currently sitting on the throne in the authority’s place.

This inevitably means a significant uptick required in visual presentation – after all now as well as witches and daemons we have angels to present – and to their credit, the FX department don’t disappoint. Everything here is rendered very well, and could easily be mistaken for having a much larger budget than it does.

Performances too are excellent – Ruth Wilson and James McAvoy obviously own every scene in which they appear, but Amir Wilson and Daphne Keen as Will and Lyra also do some incredibly heavy lifting in a script that’s a lot darker and significantly more ‘adult’ than the show has been previously. New characters also add to the richness of the experience, and all told it’s difficult to argue against this as a sterling example of what British genre TV can be when it really pulls the stops out.

It’s clear from the Q&A afterward that this is a passion project for all involved, in every sense of the word. The way that Jane Tranter lights up as she discusses the challenges of getting the show made, and her desire to absolutely get the Book of Dust on film as well, speaks to the drive which got the project greenlit. The clearly reverent, even slightly awestruck way in which Jack Thorne still speaks about Pullman and the daunting challenges of adapting his work for screen indicate that at a fundamental level this is a show infused with love. And the way Amir Wilson talks about the various new elements to his character in this season suggests that the cast are every bit as invested in bringing this story to life as everyone else.

All that and more is evident in the final product on the screen. I’ve been open about struggling with the show in the past and after watching these opening instalments of the final chapter I begin to wonder if this isn’t an example of media which only really lands in the whole. Tranter specifically mentioned that the BBC intend to promote the show now as a complete ‘boxed set’ rather than just ‘the third season’ and as someone unfamiliar with the source material I am starting to wonder if a complete ‘binge watch’ of the whole thing once Season 3 launches might not be the best way for me to consume it.

All this to say, I enjoyed these two episodes a lot more than I had expected to, even feeling still slightly adrift from everything as I did. I think as the cast and creatives said, this is a show which will truly appeal to all ages, being an adult show with plenty for kids and the fact that it juxtaposes a subject as massive as war against the Creator with the story of a young girl and her friend trying to navigate a dangerous world, choosing to tell as much of it as possible from their perspective, assures that it won’t just be the flashy FX and little creatures which have the youngsters invested. Given how dark it gets, there’s an argument that it’s not the ideal family viewing for Christmas, but I suspect it’ll be the thing most families settle down to watch together once the turkey is consumed.

Verdict: Promises not only to be the best chapter in the adaptation yet but also to lift the show as a whole – colour me very intrigued.