His Dark Materials series 3 starts production of its eight-part adaptation of Philip Pullman’s The Amber Spyglass

This final series will see Will (Amir Wilson), the bearer of The Subtle Knife, and Lyra (Dafne Keen), the prophesied child, travel through multiple worlds to find and protect each other. Mrs Coulter (Ruth Wilson), Mary Malone (Simone Kirby) & Lord Asriel (James Mcavoy) [series 2 was curtailed due to the pandemic, meaning we had very little of Lord Asriel — this will change].

Returning also are Will Keen as Father President MacPhail, Jade Anouka as Ruta Skadi and Ruta Gedmintas as Serafina Pekkala. New this series are: Adewale Akinnuoye-Agbaje as Commander Ogunwe and Jamie Ward as Father Gomez. Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, Simon Harrison, and Chipo Chung are the rebel angels Balthamos, Baruch and Xaphania; while Ama will be played by Amber Fitzgerald-Woolfe.

The BBC announcement also gives a good guide to the plot:

Series three opens with Lyra unconscious, having been given a sleeping draught by her mother, as Will, still carrying the Subtle Knife, continues his quest to find her. Will is tracked down by two angels — Balthamos and Baruch — who wish to take him to join Lord Asriel’s campaign against The Authority with Commander Ogunwe. But Will is not the only one after Lyra, with Father President MacPhail continuing his mission to destroy the child of the prophecy, employing the help of his most committed follower, Father Gomez.

Meanwhile Oxford physicist Mary Malone reaches another parallel world — that of the Mulefa, a strange animal-like species. They tell her of a cataclysmic phenomenon in their world.

There’s plenty more in the press release, but no information on likely transmission dates. We don’t expect His Dark Materials series 3 until 2022, given the superb post-production of VFX. As ever we’ll keep you posted, and you can still re-watch the firs two series on iPlayer.