Both Lyra and Will find themselves in a strange new place, and unsure of who exactly to trust. Mrs Coulter interrogates a suspected heretic witch as the Magisterium squabble about what to do with regards to the new hole in the sky.

I made no secret of the fact I struggled with season 1 of His Dark Materials because I’d never read the books and it felt like the show had been made more for fans than newcomers. In the interim between seasons 1 and 2 I am sorry to say this isn’t something I have found time to remedy, and that means that I remain pretty much as lost as ever, as the show displays no signs of changing its direction any time soon.

So we have Will and Lyra both arriving separately at a mysterious new city in the other world they’ve stumbled into. Each is still very leery of trusting anyone or anything, thanks to their prior experiences – Will with the goings on in his world, Lyra with the death of her friend  – but must learn to trust one another as they are stranded in a world and a city foreign and strange to both of them.

Meanwhile the Magisterium is somewhat at a loss as to what exactly to do about the big hole in the sky which leads to another world. Acknowledging its existence early is considered by some to be heresy, by others to be simply inevitable. There’ll be a power struggle, and you can guarantee that Mrs Coulter will be involved somehow.

Speaking of Lyra’s mother, she’s after answers of her own, and with a witch in her custody, she’s got the means and the complete lack of scruples to get them. The scenes here are a little uncomfortable to watch, not lease because Ruth Wilson plays cold, emotionally detached characters very well.

It’s all… very interesting in its way. Much like the first series, strong performances are on hand from all concerned – Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson have a great chemistry together as the slightly awkward relationship develops between them. Wilson is of course on form as ever and Lin Manuel Miranda is reliably chirpy as Lee Scoresby. It’s just hard not to feel slightly at arms-length of it all, having not read the novels. It may be an absolutely amazing adaptation of the source material, but for someone who hasn’t already done all that reading, it can still just feel bewildering quite often.

Verdict: Same stunning visuals and strong performances, same insularity keeping non-readers slightly out of synch with it all. 6/10

Greg D. Smith

Click here to read Greg’s reviews of the first season