Fans of Sir Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy are in for a treat as season 2 of the TV series returns to the BBC on Sunday.

This time the series will focus on the Oxford author's book The Subtle Knife, the sequel to Northern Lights.

Season one was praised by the critics and Dafne Keen continues in her role as Lyra Belacqua.

In an abandoned city called Cittàgazze, Lyra meets Will Parry (Amir Wilson) and the youngsters work together to investigate the mysterious Dust phenomenon.

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It's not long before Lyra and Will discover their destinies are intertwined in the mission to reunite Will with his father, a quest which is further complicated when a war breaks out around them.

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The cast has included Ruth Wilson as Mrs Coulter, Lin-Manuel Miranda, Anne-Marie Duff and Clarke Peters, and the TV adaptation follows the movie starring Nicole Kidman and Daniel Craig in 2007.

New cast members include Andrew Scott, Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Terence Stamp.

Season 2 of His Dark Materials coincides with the publication of a new Philip Pullman short story, Serpentine, which is set after the events of His Dark Materials.

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In 2017 the first part of a new trilogy by Philip Pullman was published by Oxford-based David Fickling and Random House.

Oxford Mail:

La Belle Sauvage, the first instalment of The Book of Dust trilogy, came out in 2017 and was followed by The Secret Commonwealth.

The author said: "When I wrote Serpentine, I had no idea that I was going on to write another trilogy, showing Lyra as an adult but she and her world wouldn't leave me alone."

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Season 2 of His Dark Materials starts on BBC1 on Sunday at 8pm.