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T10 WHATS UP! November 3 - 9, 2019 "Suddenly they're six inches taller, and they're a different shape and their voices are dif- ferent," Tranter said. "Our feeling was we really couldn't leave more than a very small gap between the end of when Dafne Keen finished filming, which was December 2018, and when she started again, July 2019. That was basically the biggest gap that we could possibly do and still have her come back and convincingly look like it was moments, hours later." Given the challenge of keeping the series convinc- ing, Tranter explained: "The BBC and HBO very kindly said, 'Let's make 16 episodes across the two books and go for it.'" As the series opens, Lyra is living at Oxford's Jordan Col- lege under the tutelage of her uncle, explorer Lord Asriel (James McAvoy, "Split," 2016). When her friend Roger (Lewin Lloyd, "Judy," 2019) goes missing, Lyra stumbles upon a kidnapping plot involv- ing other missing children. The unruly young girl also en- counters a mysterious woman named Mrs. Coulter (Ruth Wilson, "The Affair"), who, according to Wilson in an in- terview with the Times, was described as "the mother of all evil and the cesspit of moral filth." While there are a few hei- nous villains in "His Dark Ma- terials," there are plenty of he- roes as well. Lin-Manuel Mi- randa, best known for creating and starring in the Broadway smash hit "Hamilton," portrays balloon pilot and adventurer Lee Scoresby, who befriends Lyra on her mission to save kidnapped children and un- cover the truth about the sub- stance known as Dust, the sub- ject of her Uncle Asriel's re- search. They're aided by pow- erful witch queen Serafina Pe- kkala (Ruta Gedmintas, "The Strain"). As she journeys through alternate worlds, Lyra also befriends a courageous boy named Will (Amir Wilson, "The Kid Who Would Be King," 2019). Other notable castings in- clude James Cosmo ("Bravehe- art," 1995) as gyptian Farder Coram, and Anne-Marie Duff ("From Darkness") as Ma Cos- ta, the gyptian mother of a boy who was kidnapped by the dreaded "Gobblers." Theater actor Will Keen portrays Fa- ther McPhail, a high-ranking Church official. Ariyon Bakare ("Good Omens") appears as Lord Boreal, an acquaintance of Coulter's. Clarke Peters ("The Wire") stars as the Mas- ter of Jordan College, Dr. Carne. As in Pullman's novels, the show is set in an alternate uni- verse where people's souls live outside their bodies as talking animal companions known as daemons. Lyra's daemon is a shape-shifting companion known as Panta- laimon (Pan) in the novels, voiced by Kit Connor ("Get Santa," 2014) in the HBO/BBC production. All children's dae- mons have the ability to take the shape of different animals, unlike those of adults. Asriel's daemon is a snow leopard known as Stelmaria (Helen McCrory, "The Queen," 2006), while Scoresby's daemon is an Arctic hare named Hester (Cristela Alonzo, "Cristela"). Famed British actor David Suchet ("Agatha Christie's Poirot") lends his voice to Kai- sa, the gyrfalcon daemon linked to the witch Pekkala. Coulter's Golden Monkey dae- mon doesn't speak, but lead puppeteer and CFX coordina- tors Brian Fisher ("Florence Foster Jenkins," 2016) pro- vides animal noises for the character. Joe Tandberg ("The Inno- cents") voices the buzzed- about armored polar bear fea- tured in the show's official trailer, aka Iorek Byrnison. The creature hails from a race of bear-like creatures with hu- man-level intelligence and op- posable thumbs. Unlike hu- mans, they have no daemons. He, too, becomes a companion of Lyra's as she journeys through worlds. With an ensemble of rich characters and stunning spe- cial effects, "His Dark Materi- als" could be yet another hit for HBO and BBC. Interesting- ly, the original novel series was marketed to young adults, an audience not typically target- ed by HBO. It remains to be seen whether the new series will stay true to the books or change things up to appeal to a more grown-up audience. Ei- ther way, fans of fantasy won't want to miss the premiere of "His Dark Materials," airing Monday, Nov. 4, on HBO. Lin-Manuel Miranda in "His Dark Materials" continued from page T2 Navigating the multiverse: 'His Dark Materials' follows a girl's adventure through worlds TV FEATURE