Director: Chris Weitz (About a Boy, Antz)

Writer: Philip Pullman (novel), Chris Weitz (screenplay)

Kent Locations: The Historic Dockyard, Chatham

Adapted from the best-selling novel Northern Lights, The Golden Compass is the first in Philip Pullmann's best-selling His Dark Materials trilogy and it comes to the big screen in December.

Orphaned tomboy Lyra (Dakota Blue Richards) lives in a parallel universe with her uncle Lord Asriel (Daniel Craig) in a world where people’s souls live with them as animal companions called daemons. When Lyra’s friend, Roger is kidnapped by Gobblers, she vows to rescue him. Help comes in the shape of an offer from the enigmatic Mrs Coulter (Nicole Kidman) and the priceless gift of an alethiometer, a golden Compass. This device answers truthfully to any question it is asked, but first Lyra must learn how to decipher its mysterious symbols.

Through her adventure in fantasy worlds, Lyra learns who she truly is and the importance of love, family loyalty and friendships.

The part of Lyra was cast after New Line Cinema launched a nationwide search auditioning over 10,000 hopefuls in key cities around the UK, before announcing they had found their Lyra in Dakota Blue Richards at the Cambridge auditions.

The film promises to be a worthy challenger to its rival: the Harry Potter series. Philip Pullman’s trilogy was first published in 1995 and won critical acclaim in the form of the coveted Carnegie Medal for Children’s fiction. The novels draw their inspiration from Milton’s Paradise Lost and like Harry Potter, have attracted their fair share of controversy.

The books have already been successfully adapted for both the radio and the stage. The theatre version played to sell-out audiences at the Royal National Theatre in London and sets a promising precedence for the films. 

Nicole Kidman stars as “Mrs. Coulter” © 2007 Laurie Sparham/New Line Cinema

The Golden Compass is the latest in a long line of film and television programmes to choose The Historic Dockyard at Chatham as a location. Over the past year, the dockyard has been used in Amazing Grace, life of William Wilberforce and Children of Men, starring Clive Owen as well as numerous television programmes including the latest BBC adaptation of Oliver Twist.

The location is in the care of the Chatham Historic Dockyard Trust, an independent charity whose task is to restore and preserve this important part of Britain’s national heritage. 

The Dockyards boast a variety of buildings with period features ranging from Georgian to Victorian right up to modern day.

The film is on general release from the 5th December 2007.

[Siobhan Marshall & Pascale Blackburn]

Links

• For more information about The Golden Compass visit www.goldencompassmovie.com
• For information about filming at The Historic Dockyard, Chatham visit www.Historicfilmlocation.com
• For visitor information about the Dockyards visit http://www.chdt.org.uk/