His Dark Materials will premiere on BBC in the UK.
Dafne Keen as Lyra in His Dark Materials
Photo Credit: BBC/HBO
We finally have a release date for His Dark Materials, the BBC and HBO co-produced adaptation of Sir Philip Pullman's epic fantasy adventure novel trilogy of the same name. His Dark Materials will premiere Sunday, November 3 on BBC One and BBC iPlayer in the UK, followed by HBO bringing it to its properties on Monday, November 4. Given HBO shows usually air a few hours after on Hotstar, we'd expect His Dark Materials to premiere Tuesday, November 5 in India. Gadgets 360 has reached out to Hotstar for comment on the possibility of an earlier release date. His Dark Materials season 1 has a total of eight episodes, so it will run till just before Christmas if it airs weekly without interruptions.
Starring the likes of Dafne Keen as Lyra Belacqua, Ruth Wilson as Marisa Coulter, James McAvoy as Lord Asriel, Clarke Peters as The Master / Dr. Carne, and Lin-Manuel Miranda as Lee Scoresby, His Dark Materials is “the story of Lyra (Keen), the young protagonist who lives in Jordan College, Oxford. Placed there at the request of her Uncle, Lord Asriel (McAvoy), she lives a sheltered life amongst the scholars and college staff while under the watchful protection of The Master and Librarian Scholar Charles (Peters).”
“When the glamorous and mesmeric Mrs. Coulter (Wilson) enters Lyra's life, she embarks upon a dangerous journey of discovery from Oxford to London. Here she meets Father Macphail (Will Keen), Lord Boreal (Ariyon Bakare), and journalist Adele Starminster (Georgina Campbell) at a glittering society party where she first hears about the sinister General Oblation Board.
“Lyra is subsequently thrown into the nomadic world of the boat dwelling Gyptians — Ma Costa (Anne-Marie Duff), Farder Coram (James Cosmo), John Faa (Lucian Msamati), Raymond Van Geritt (Mat Fraser), Jack Verhoeven (Geoff Bell), and Benjamin de Ruyter (Simon Manyonda) who take her North in her quest. Once in the North, she meets charismatic aeronaut and adventurer Lee Scoresby (Miranda) who joins them on their epic journey and who becomes one of Lyra's closest allies.”
His Dark Materials will premiere November 3 on BBC in the UK, November 4 on HBO in the US and select other countries, and November 5 on Hotstar in India. Written by Jack Thorne (Harry Potter and the Cursed Child), His Dark Materials is a production of Bad Wolf and New Line Cinema.
Catch the latest from the Consumer Electronics Show on Gadgets 360, at our CES 2026 hub.