S1 of 'His Dark Materials' is enjoyable viewing. First and foremost, the special effects for this show are incredible. The animals and dæmons look insane, especially by television standards. That is the thing that I love most about this. The cinematography is also top notch.
Cast-wise it's good. It's easy to see that Dafne Keen (Lyra) has serious talent, she is impressive for the majority here - at a few moments her performance isn't perfect, e.g. when finding out something in episode two, but I wouldn't expect her to be, definitely the best actor on display and she'll only improve. You may think I'm forgetting or ignoring James McAvoy (Asriel). Of course he is 'the' star but he hardly features, he's just barely in three episodes. For when we do see him, he is - obviously - terrific.
Away from Keen and McAvoy, you also have Ruth Wilson (Marisa) and Anne-Marie Duff (Ma) involved - I've only recently become aware of those two, from 'Luther' and 'The Salisbury Poisonings' respectively, they are both good here. Elsewhere, James Cosmo (Farder), Lucian Msamati (John) and Lin-Manuel Miranda (Lee) are enjoyable in their roles. Helen McCrory (Stelmaria) is in there too, but I didn't notice her until typing this review to be honest.
I did find some of the pacing across the first four episodes rather off, there was a fair amount of times when I felt like it was dragging its heels. Thankfully, the second part of this eight-episode series is much better. The opening theme is superb, also. I look forward to catching season two.
