His Dark Materials trailer: First look at BBC fantasy adaptation starring James McAvoy and Ruth Wilson

Set in a parallel universe, the story follows a girl named Lyra Belacqua, as she journeys to the Arctic in search of her missing friend

A first look at the BBC‘s adaptation of His Dark Materials has been released.

Based on Philip Pullman‘s trilogy of fantasy books, the first series will feature eight episodes, based on the plot of the first book, Northern Lights.

Set in a parallel universe, the story follows a girl named Lyra Belacqua, as she journeys to the Arctic in search of her missing friend, Roger Parslow, and her imprisoned uncle, Lord Asriel, who has been conducting experiments using a mysterious substance known as “Dust”.

Lyra will be played by Logan‘s Dafne Keen, with James McAvoy starring as Lord Asriel, Hamilton‘s Lin Manuel-Miranda as Lee Scoresby, The Wire‘s Clarke Peters as Dr Carne, Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter, and Anne-Marie Duff as Ma Costa.

Les Miserables‘s Tom Hooper will direct, with Jack Thorne as the series’s screenwriter. Furthermore, the project is produced by New Line Cinema and Jane Tranter and Julie Gardner of Bad Wolf.

Northern Lights was previously adapted into the 2007 film The Golden Compass, starring Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman, and Eva Green.

A second series has already been commissioned. It will air on BBC One in the UK and HBO in the US.