MORE star names have been cast in the new TV adaptation of Philip Pullman’s fantasy tale His Dark Materials.

Cardiff-based production company Bad Wolf announced earlier this year it was adapting the Oxford author’s much-loved fantasy trilogy.

Logan star Dafne Keen has already been revealed as the young actress who will play the leading role of Lyra Belacqua.

Now Scottish actor James McAvoy – star of movies including Split and Atonement – has been cast as polar explorer Lord Asriel, the character played by Daniel Craig in the 2007 movie adaptation The Golden Compass.

Clarke Peters will play Dr Carne, the Jordan College Master who raises Lyra to keep her safe.

Mr Pullman, whose latest novel in the series, La Belle Sauvage, was published in October, said earlier: “It’s been a constant source of pleasure to me to see this story adapted to different forms and presented in different media.

“It’s been a radio play, a stage play, a film, an audiobook, a graphic novel – and now comes this version for television."

He added: “The sheer talent now working in the world of long-form television is formidable.

“For all those reasons I’m delighted at the prospect of a television version of His Dark Materials.”

His Dark Materials is made up of novels Northern Lights, The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass.

Northern Lights was adapted for the big screen starring Daniel Craig and Nicole Kidman, with Lyra played by Dakota Blue Richards, but it was not a critical success and fans are hoping the trilogy will be better served by TV instalments written by Jack Thorne.

The eight-part series will be filmed partly in Oxford and could be shown on the BBC next year,

Mr Thorne said earlier: “It is such an honour and a privilege to be given this opportunity to delve into Philip Pullman’s world.”

It has also been reported that The Affair star Ruth Wilson has been signed up to play Marisa Coulter, the role played by Nicole Kidman in the movie.

Dafne Keen is best known for her role in last year’s X-Men film, Logan, where she played X-23, a cloned version of Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine. The series is being overseen by Tom Hooper.