HBO Deserves Kudos For Successfully Adapting A 3-Book "Anti-Narnia" Fantasy Saga

Published Oct 18, 2026, 5:30 PM EDT Angel Shaw is a Lead Writer and Critic on ScreenRant's TV team, covering new-release and classic TV shows across all major streaming platforms. She has been a writer with ScreenRant since 2022 and specializes in Harry Potter, The Lord of the Rings, and fantasy. Angel holds a bachelor's degree in language interpreting and is passionate about all things culture and communication—especially in how it relates to popular media throughout history (from Shakespeare to Friends to Game of Thrones). Some fantasy stories prove more difficult to adapt than others, which is precisely why HBO deserves real props for successfully bringing to the screen a book series that directly challenges The Chronicles of Narnia. Of course, the existence of such a project by no means confirms that C.W. Lewis' work is bad or wrong. Rather, in a world full of drastically differing perspectives, various works must reflect those alternative views. That's precisely what was achieved by Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. Lewis' Chronicles of Narnia is an overt religious allegory. The character of Aslan is a Christ-like figure with benevolent, unquestionable authority. Pullman's His Dark Materials challenges this idea through a broad critique of organized religion. The central villainous force, the Magisterium, is an oppressive institution that demands blind faith and suppresses free thought. The story is all about awakening, maturity, and freedom, and these explorations naturally made His Dark Materials rather controversial. That didn't stop the TV show from becoming a success, however. HBO and BBC One kicked off their His Dark Materials TV series in 2019 and brought it to a rare, satisfying close in 2022. With a full season dedicated to each installment in Pullman's trilogy, there was plenty of room here to dive fully into canon, and each season performed better with critics than the last. His Dark Materials holds an overall Rotten Tomatoes score of 83%, which is truly no small thing, especially in the world of fantasy adaptations. There's a bit of a curse in this industry that makes it rather difficult for fantasy TV shows to avoid cancellation or a forced conclusion. The Wheel of Time is a prime example. However, screenwriter Jack Thorne managed really spectacularly with His Dark Materials. Book faithfulness was a clear priority, and this is precisely what allowed the show to defy the odds. Far too many adaptations fail thanks to frustrating creative liberties that alienate book fans, but His Dark Materials resisted the temptation to make excessive changes. The same can't be said for previous adaptations. HBO & BBC One Weren't The First To Attempt A His Dark Materials Adaptation What makes HBO and BBC One's success with His Dark Materials so admirable is that this series was the entertainment industry's second attempt to bring Pullman's works to the screen. Back in the 2000s, fantasy film adaptations were all the rage. The Lord of the Rings and Harry Potter were massive successes, and even The Chronicles of Narnia films performed fairly overall. These inspired the world of film to look at all the popular fantasy book series of the age, including His Dark Materials. New Line Cinema's The Golden Compass arrived in 2007, but it was a pretty definitive flop. The movie holds an abysmal 43% critic score on Rotten Tomatoes, and made only about $70 million at the domestic box office. The issues here come down to a variety of reasons, the most significant being poor book faithfulness. Unlike HBO's His Dark Materials, The Golden Compass took a unique approach to Pullman's story. New Line Cinema feared backlash over the series' themes, and it wasn't necessarily wrong to do so. Several religious organizations, including the Catholic League, had previously launched boycotts and protests against Pullman's books, and the movie The Golden Compass faced the same obstacles. In an effort to go down a bit more smoothly, His Dark Materials' criticisms of organized religion were shifted and adjusted. By the time the film finally hit theaters, the story was almost unrecognizable. Given the fate of The Golden Compass and the rather overt reasons that things fell apart, it wouldn't have been surprising if the entertainment industry decided to steer clear of His Dark Materials entirely. This is precisely why HBO and BBC One deserve some real credit. Not only did they dive into this second attempt to bring Pullman's works to the screen, but they didn't shy away from the themes and concepts that New Line Cinema had been so afraid of. The result is a series that respectfully presents different ideas, and that's precisely what art is all about. Release Date 2019 - 2022-00-00 Network BBC One Directors William McGregor, Amit Gupta, Leanne Welham, Charles Martin, Otto Bathurst, Euros Lyn, Dawn Shadforth, Harry Wootliff, Jamie Childs Writers Jack Thorne, Francesca Gardiner, Amelia Spencer, Sarah Quintrell Creator(s) Jack Thorne