Attending the His Dark Materials global premiere in London at the BFI Southbank

Wow is the main word that comes to mind when I start to describe my day’s events on Tuesday 15th October. I was lucky enough to be invited to attend the premiere for His Dark Materials, an adaptation by the BBC and HBO of Philip Pullman’s beloved trilogy.

A few weeks before the event, the BBC casually slid into my Instagram DMs and gave me a heart attack. They invited me along with a plus one to the BFI Southbank to watch an early screening of the first episode of His Dark Materials and to join other invitees and the cast for drinks and nibbles before and after. Just your casual, average Tuesday right?

I brought my mum along with me as we both love this series and a good trip to London! This was an evening event hosted at the British Film Institue which is just off of the River Thames and that is as far as my geography lesson goes. We arrived at a room plentifully adorned with the symbol of the magisterium and decorated in black and gold. There was a very cool mist wall that we, of course, took photos behind and walked under a few times. There were drinks and tiny nibbles that were yummy too. We were very impressed with how this event was organised and thrilled to be involved.

We walked right past the man himself, Philip Pullman as well as stars of the show Daphne Keen and Ruth Wilson, who were both fantastic to watch in the first episode. It was so weird to be in a room with so many amazing actors and be socialising and mingling with the people who created this show. I did my degree in Film Production so this is very much a world I wanted to go in to at one point, so I loved being able to be part of it just for the night.

We were ushered into a screening room after an hour and listened to Philip Pullman talk about creating this amazing story that originated as an idea from a friend. He stated that he wasn’t used to fantasy, but as readers of the series can attest to, he soon got the hang of it!

Being able to see an early screening of the first episode was such a privilege and it was superb. You can see how much it mirrors the books and how to true to them I hope it will be. I was excited to see how the daemons were portrayed, I love Pan and Lyra’s relationship and I think Daphne Keen plays an excellent Lyra. I think my favourite daemon was a tiny little squirrel which was just the cutest thing! The cinematography and colouring were just stunning, I felt immersed in this Oxford world and thought it looked beautiful. Every detail was thought of and there was a golden hue around the scenes that made it even more perfect.

I don’t want to spoil the episode at all, but know that it is the perfect set up for this story. Season two has already started filming and I am so excited to see this trilogy become adapted into the TV Series it deserves.

After the screening, we listened to a  Q&A between some of the cast and crew. Hearing Ruth Wilson talk about her acting methods and Jack Thorne discuss his process on writing for this show made me feel so inspired to create. You can really see the heart that has gone into this production and what fans of the books those involved are. I adored hearing them all talk about their passions and I’m honoured to have been able to be a part of this event.

After we left the cinema room there were more nibbles and bears sculpted from ice, which was pretty impressive! Overall I think my jaw was hanging open for most of this night and I am so thankful to BBC One for inviting me and my mum along. We loved our time at the BFI so much and cannot wait to watch the rest of Season One of His Dark Materials which airs on BBC One Sunday 3rd November.