Lyra must use her powers of persuasion to save her own life, and the lives of those she loves. Lord Boreal thinks he sees the opening to get the vital clue he is pursuing from the Parrys, but will he overplay his hand?

I must admit it wasn’t too much of a shock to see that Lyra was alive and well as the episode opened, having seen her fall from Lee’s balloon at the end of last week’s instalment, but the show does at least have some fun with how she gets out of her latest predicament. Found by an Armoured Bear and taken prisoner, Lyra hatches an audacious plan to try to fool the bad king Iofur Raknison into challenging Iorek Byrnison to single combat, which she gambles Iorek will win. It’s certainly different the way she goes about it, although if I’m honest that and the charisma of Dafne Keen are being eroded week by week by the factor of her having a magic compass that tells her any answer she needs and which she’s becoming increasingly adept at using for no apparent reason at all.

Meanwhile, back in ‘our’ world, Boreal finally cottons on to exactly what it is he should be looking for at the Parry house, but his eagerness to get things done leads him to be a little bit reckless. This is another thread where the show is losing me somewhat. Mrs Parry is – as far as the world at large is concerned – an unwell woman who can’t tell reality from fiction. Why Boreal approaches her the way he does, and allows events to play out as they do, is a mystery to me, as is he method in which his henchmen then also follow through on things. There’s a large element here of characters behaving in ways that are narratively convenient – a feeling that the cogs of the narrative which drive them to be in a certain place or behave in a certain way are too much on display, robbing them of any organic feel.

There’s also Mrs Coulter, sitting in the ruins of Bolvangar, considering what she should do next. Her interactions with one of the nurses there leave me as a viewer a little perplexed as to exactly what I’m supposed to feel about her as a character. Her further interactions with members of the Magisterium who turn up to (again) demand she go back and explain herself to the man in charge, again end up allowing her to change their minds in what feels almost like a perfunctory fashion. It’s that issue again that the narrative arc clearly needs her to be present with them, which then allows the far too easy and out of character override of their concerns as characters.

I know I haven’t read the books, and therefore maybe I’m missing some part of the magic, but increasingly this is feeling like a very expensive, very pretty production which lacks substance and makes some incredibly odd narrative choices. The cast do their best, and it all looks very pretty, but week by week it’s starting to feel a little more contrived and lifeless. It should be brilliant. Instead it just feels slightly below average, especially given the obvious investment on display.

Verdict: By turns odd, contrived and unsatisfying. After a brief spark of hope mid-season, this is looking like it’s going to disappoint by the finish. 5/10

Greg D. Smith