Philip Pullman: Everything you need to know about his books, TV series and films
You've probably heard of Philip Pullman thanks to his much beloved series of fantasy books, His Dark Materials. The books have been turned into a Hollywood movie as well as a BBC adaptation, boasting some impressive star power both behind and in front of the camera.
But there are plenty of other gems to discover in the British author's body of work, which spans everything from children's books to historical thrillers set in the Victorian era.
Keep reading for an overview of Philip Pullman's books, BBC adaptations, films and more.
His Dark Materials
His Dark Materials is made up of a core trilogy starting with the award-winning Northern Lights, followed by The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass. It follows a young girl, Lyra Belacqua, as she journeys to the North and beyond on the trail of Dust, a mysterious type of elemental particle associated with human consciousness and matter.
There are many fantastical elements woven into His Dark Materials, but perhaps one of the most memorable is the 'daemon' - the human soul embodied in physical form as an animal. In Pullman's world, every human has their own daemon, who they're bonded with for life. There are also witches, armoured polar bears, and plenty of other magical elements that will delight fantasy fans.
The books have been adapted into a 2007 film called The Golden Compass, which starred Daniel Craig, Nicole Kidman and Dakota Blue Richards as Lyra. In 2019, the BBC also brought it to the small screen with an 8-episode series called His Dark Materials. It starred Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter, James McAvoy as Lord Asriel and Dafne Keen as Lyra and was well received by critics and fans alike.
Lyra's adventures take place over the main trilogy, but Pullman has also written other stories and companion books that take place in the same universe. These include Once Upon A Time In The North, a prequel covering the first meeting of Lee Scoresby and Iorek Byrnisson (characters we meet in the main trilogy), the e-book The Collectors: A His Dark Materials Story, and Lyra's Oxford, a one-off adventure set two years after the end of The Amber Spyglass.
The Sally Lockhart Quartet
Another cracking read with a feisty heroine at its heart, this series of Victorian-era thrillers includes the books The Ruby in the Smoke, The Shadow in the North, The Tiger in the Well and The Tin Princess.
It centres around Sally Lockhart, a determined young woman who sets out to uncover a tangled web of mysteries - starting with the death of her father at sea. Fun fact: Pullman initially wrote The Ruby in the Smoke as a play to be performed at a secondary school! He eventually rewrote it as a book, which turned into the quartet of novels that were published in the 1980s.
The first two books in the series were turned into TV movies by the BBC, with The Ruby in the Smoke released in 2006 and The Shadow in the North released in 2007. Billie Piper starred as Sally, with a supporting cast including Julie Walters and David Harewood. To date, the BBC have announced no further plans to adapt the remaining novels.
The Book of Dust
Excitingly for fans of Lyra and the world of His Dark Materials, Pullman has expanded on his original books with a new trilogy.
The Book of Dust takes a closer look at the question of Dust and how it works, as well as the history of key characters and events that later take place in Northern Lights and its sequels. La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One, is the first book and was published in 2017. It takes place 12 years before Northern Lights and is about a young boy named Malcolm, who fights to keep a baby Lyra safe against a mysterious enemy.
The second volume, The Secret Commonwealth, was published in 2019 and jumps forward to a 20-year-old Lyra studying at Oxford. After she and her daemon Pantalaimon witness a murder, they must undertake a dangerous journey to find a lost city haunted by daemons.
The third volume in the series is yet to be published, as Pullman is still currently working on the story. Speaking at an event to celebrate the launch of The Secret Commonwealth, the author revealed "we can see where the story is going in this book. It’s going towards central Asia, it involves roses and it involves Dust. That’s all I can tell you—I don’t even have a title for it yet!"
Other books
Pullman has also written The New Cut Gang series, a mystery-crime caper centred on a group of urchins running riot around Lambeth Walk and the New Cut in the 1890s. These stories include The Gas-Fitters Ball, Thunderbolt's Waxworks and The Adventures of the New Cut Gang.
Other notable standalone stories written for children include Grimm Tales: For Young and Old, a retelling of classic Brothers Grimm fairytales, as well as Clockwork, an illustrated children's book.
On the non-fiction side of things, he's also written a collection of essays on storytelling called Daemon Voices, which touches on themes of folk tales and fairytales, faith, philosophy and society.
You can find a more extensive list of titles Pullman has published over his long career on his official website.
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