BBC's His Dark Materials: Characters and plot - Everything we know

The His Dark Materials trilogy is getting a TV series

A new TV series based on Phillip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy is coming.

BBC and HBO are teaming up to turn Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass into a TV series.

The books were first released in 1995. Since then, they've sold 17.5 million copies around the world and been translated into 40 languages.

The story centres on a girl called Lyra who goes on an epic adventure to uncover the mystery behind something called Dust, meeting giant polar bears, witches and evil villains along the way.

There is no official release date yet, but some people think it might be later this year.

Here's our lowdown on what we know so far about the show.

Who's in it?

Lyra meets Will on her adventure

The two main characters in the story - Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry - will be played by Dafne Keen and Amir Wilson.

However, Will won't appear in the show until the second series.

Lyra is a bit of a rebel and is very smart and brave, but can be a bit reckless. Will, on the other hand, is a bit quiet, more serious and very kind.

In Lyra's world, everyone has a daemon, which is a physical version of their 'true inner-self' and they take on the form of an animal.

Lord Asriel will be played by James Mcavoy and the mysterious Ms Coulter by Ruth Wilson

Lord Asriel and Ms Coulter are two other prominent characters in the series.

They will be played by James Mcavoy (who starred in X-Men) and Ruth Wilson.

Lord Asriel is an explorer who has a snow leopard for a daemon and Ms Coulter has a golden monkey.

Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ruta Gedmintas will play hot air balloonist Lee Scorseby and witch Serafina Pekkala

Some of the other characters Lyra meets on her journey are hot air balloonist Lee Scorseby and witch Serafina Pekkala.

They will be played by Lin-Manuel Miranda and Ruta Gedmintas.

Lee Scorsby is an eccentric man who helps Lyra on her journey. He has a hare daemon and Serafina has a magical goose daemon.

What's it about?

Author Phillip Pullman wrote the series, and said he is excited for the TV show

The story follows the epic adventures of Lyra Belacqua as she tries to find her friend Roger and discover more about what the mysterious 'dust' is.

Along with her daemon Pantalaimon, Lyra meets giant armoured polar bears, witches and evil villains.

Her adventure begins when she overhears a secret and discovers a mysterious rare device called the alethiometer, which only she can use.

Author Phillip Pullman has now started writing a series of prequel books, which follow the story before The Northern Lights begins.