His Dark Materials: BBC Radio Drama Collection: Northern Lights; The Subtle Knife; The Amber Spyglass

With a cast including Terence Stamp, Bill Paterson and Kenneth Cranham, these BBC Radio 4 full-cast adaptations of the award-winning His Dark Materials trilogy span a multitude of worlds. The opening instalment Northern Lights is set in a parallel world like, yet very unlike, our own. Twelve-year-old Lyra, whose daemon Pantalaimon is part of her very self, is growing up in an ancient, ritual-haunted Oxford. She becomes involved in a quest to find her father and rescue her friend Roger from evil kidnappers, aided by armoured bears, Gyptians and a witch-queen. The second instalment, The Subtle Knife, introduces us to Will Parry - a young boy with a dangerous mission to fulfil. When he and Lyra cross paths, they decide to help each other, but the world of CittBgazze is a strange and unsettling place, where deadly soul-eating Spectres roam... The concluding instalment, The Amber Spyglass, brings the saga to a thrilling close. Lyra and Will are aided by friends old and new as they continue their perilous journey. As childhood slips away, they face further dangers - including a terrifying voyage to the world of the dead. Mixing science, theology and magic to fantastic and exciting effect, Pullman's gripping trilogy was an international bestseller, and these thrilling full-cast dramatisations bring Philip Pullman's masterpiece to vivid life. 6 CDs. 7 hrs 30 mins approx.