Considering the lukewarm response to the adaptation of Phillip Pullman’s The Golden Compass in 2007, it looks like the BBC is ensuring that its television adaptation of His Dark Materials has the best possible pedigree. Deadline reports that Jack Thorne, whose recent credits include co-writing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child with J.K. Rowling, will adapt the trilogy for the small screen. Furthermore, he’ll be working under producers Jane Trantner and Julie Gardner, who helped relaunch Doctor Who in 2005.
Pullman gave his blessing:
I’m delighted to welcome Jack Thorne as writer on the TV dramatisation of His Dark Materials. Jack is a writer of formidable energy and range, and I’ve greatly enjoyed talking to him and learning about his plans for bringing His Dark Materials to the screen. I’m certain he’ll do a superb job, and I look forward to seeing the whole project develop as he shapes the story.
Thorne, who got his start writing for Skins and who was just nominated for a BAFTA for the crime series The Last Panthers, said:
It is such an honor and a privilege to be given this opportunity to delve into Philip Pullman’s world. The His Dark Materials trilogy are vast and glorious books full of beautiful characters and I’m going to work as hard as I can to try and do justice to them.
