Philip Pullman and the watershed

The BBC adaptation of His Dark Materials provokes debate over its suitability for children, while the National Gallery scores a memorable own goalJust how dark is His Dark Materials? The BBC, which has made a splendid adaptation (14-year-old Dafne Keen as Lyra is outstanding) of Philip Pullman’s bestselling trilogy, pondered long and hard about its tone, content and when to show the eight-parter. In the end it plumped for 8pm rather than 9pm, the traditional slot for its Sunday-night drama