HIS Dark Materials was forced to sacrifice anatomical accuracy for the sake of the watershed. The BBC and HBO drama kicked off last night to a whopping audience of 7.9million. While viewers were divided about the pacing of the show, as well as the explanation of its complex daemon lore, everyone could agree that it […]
HIS Dark Materials was forced to sacrifice anatomical accuracy for the sake of the watershed.
The BBC and HBO drama kicked off last night to a whopping audience of 7.9million.
While viewers were divided about the pacing of the show, as well as the explanation of its complex daemon lore, everyone could agree that it looked beautiful.
Living up to its whopping budget, the show served up an array of beautifully rendered CGI animals who served as manifestations of their respective humans’ souls.
Visual FX supervisor Russel Dodgson explained that when it came to creating the plethora of animals, a hefty amount of research was involved to ensure authenticity.
“We even went to the point in the story that, in the books the dæmons are always the opposite sex to the character,” he said.
“So we actually got all of our dæmons’ gender correct in terms of their groom and stuff – with one exception,” he continued to Radio Times.
The critter in question? Mrs Coulter’s silent monkey – the only daemon unable to speak.
It turns out show bosses were forced to edit out the primate’s privates in keeping with the family friendly nature of the show.
“The golden monkey, we kind of hybridised [the gender] a little bit, for a number of reasons,” Russell added.
“Partially… male genitalia issues. That’s true. Not going to lie!”
Mrs Coulter actress Ruth Wilson previously explained why her monkey opted not to vocalise, which is why there’s no voice actor credited in the cast.
Wilson said the silence was a manifestation of Coulter “silencing herself in some way,” a living symbol of repression.
The monkey also has the uncanny ability to travel considerable distances from her side, while most daemons can stray just a few metres from their anchor before experiencing crippling pain.
“Why was she able to separate from her daemon? How does she do that? What does she really believe in? What does she really want? They are all massive questions open to interpretation,” Wilson concluded.
His Dark Materials airs Sundays on BBC One at 8pm and is available to stream on BBC iPlayer.
