Ruth Wilson To Narrate New Audiobooks For Phillip Pullman’s ‘His Dark Materials’

EXCLUSIVE: After starring in the BBC and HBO TV adaptation, Ruth Wilson is set to narrate new audiobook editions of Phillip Pullman’s classic novels His Dark Materials.

Produced and published by Penguin Audio, the third installment in the trilogy (made up of Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass) will feature a conversation between Pullman and Wilson, recorded at the Bodleian Library in 2021.

The novels follow the coming of age of two children, Lyra Belacqua and Will Parry, as they adventure through a series of parallel universes, encountering armoured bears and witches, aeronauts, spectres and each other. Philip Pullman has won numerous awards: most notably The Amber Spyglass won the 2001 Whitbread Book of the Year prize, and Northern Lights won the Carnegie Medal for children’s fiction in 1995. 

The audio version of Northern Lights publishes on 5 September, with the next two books coming in early 2025.

On the new audio project, Luther and The Affair actress Wilson said: “I fell in love with Philip’s world of His Dark Materials when I first read the books: they’re so complex in their themes and playing Mrs. Coulter on screen allowed me to explore themes deeper than just her villainy: narcissism, freedom, motherhood, imagination. Having the opportunity to narrate this series of audiobooks and delve further into Philip’s profoundly intricate world was an honour and a pleasure.”

Pullman added: “I was delighted when I learned that Ruth Wilson was going to narrate the new audio edition of His Dark Materials. I enjoyed her TV performance so much, and I learned from that – and from talking to her separately – how much thought she puts into every characterisation. Her voice is naturally rich and attractive, and she can vary it with the tiniest possible intonation here or emphasis there and make the story live as vividly in the ear of the listener as I hoped it would have in the eye of the reader. I count myself very lucky that she was involved in both TV and audio.”

The original recordings of the novels, narrated by Philip Pullman and featuring a full cast, will continue to be available, alongside the new editions.