Northern Lights

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View books by Philip Pullman.

Immensely Disappointing - Rated
I embarked upon the BBC Radio 4 dramatisation as an avid reader and admirer of Philip Pullman's works. My daughter introduced me to The Northern Lights three years ago and I remember her expressing jealousy that I was entering this wonderful series of books for the first time. I have since read the series twice and listened to the original audio book set three or four times. So maybe I came to this BBC dramatisation with some pre-conceived notions - I certainly came to it with a deep love of Pullman's writing.
What I found in the BBC Radio production was sadly pathetic. The script itself was good, relying very largely as it does upon Pullman's actual text, and the choice of an angel as narrator made real sense, but who chose the cast? In general one is left with the impression that they did not read the script in advance and if they did then they did not understand it. The pace is rushed and speeches are garbled in the manner of the worst of amateur dramatics. There is no attempt (or ability?) to impart the rich, deep characterisation of the original - where is the sardonic Asriel or the mischievous but determined and complex Lyra or the proud Will? Has Lee Scoresby or his daemon ever listened to an American accent?
A sad waste of resource on this wonderful set of books. So dont throw away your money on this. Instead buy the dramatisation with Pullman as narrator or just read the books - all are truly inspiring.
Shame on you BBC!

everso slightly disappointing dramatisation - Rated
It's great to hear it after reading, but give yourself the pleasure of reading it in full first, to get the best out of the fantastic, mindblowing story.

The only problem is Lyra. In the book Pullman goes to a lot of trouble to get her accent - she's definitely supposed to be a bit rough. On the CD she sounds straight out of stage school.