Sally Lockhart on DVD

I walked into W H Smiths this morning and almost collided with the display of empty DVD boxes of the two Sally Lockhart 'mysteries' which have been released today in a box set. I imagine that explains why neither episode has been repeated (strange for the BBC...**).

Amazon.co.uk and Play.com have the set for a shade under £13. DVD details from amazon:

DVD Description
This DVD includes two BBC adaptations - Ruby in the Smoke and Shadow in the North - from a series of novels by the award-winning author, Philip Pullman. The stories follow the courageous and vibrant young heroine, Sally Lockhart, played here by award-winning actress, Billie Piper, who is a 16-year-old sleuth in the Victorian era.

The first dramatization, was transmitted in December 2006 (to over 7 million viewers); the second, The Shadow in the North, aired on 30 December 2007.

The Ruby in the Smoke
Sally, recently orphaned, is alone and being hunted by an assassin. With her new friends - young photographer Frederick and quick-witted street child Jim - she must discover her father's killer. Facing them is an unseen, murderous opponent and at the heart of it all, the deadly, blood-drenched secret of the ruby in the smoke.

The Shadow in the North
Once again Pullman's much-loved and fearless heroine Sally Lockhart embarks on a mission – this time to find out why her elderly client's investment crashed and what links the clairvoyant's murderous vision to the rich industrialist, Bellmann.

**The Shadow in the North can be watched on the BBC iPlayer site for 3 more days only.

The Shadow in the North (Sally Lockhart #2)

The TV guides are now hinting at what's on over Christmas and one of the highlights is the second Sally Lockhart adventure following on from last year's Ruby in the Smoke. From the BBC press release:

Billie Piper heads an all-star cast, including Julian Rhind-Tutt, JJ Feild, Jared Harris, Matt Smith, John Standing and Hayley Atwell, in The Shadow In The North. This second book in a quartet by novelist Philip Pullman charts the adventures of Sally Lockhart, a feisty, young Victorian heroine (Piper).

Bafta Award-winning Adrian Hodges (Charles II, Rome, The Lost World and Pullman's first novel in the series, The Ruby In The Smoke), has adapted Pullman's intricate and cleverly woven plot and set it in the heart of Victorian London.

An elderly lady loses her money on an investment; a conjuror is pursued by thugs; and a clairvoyant sees a brutal murder in a forest and a glass coffin, then whispers the name of the richest man in Europe. These seemingly unconnected events set Sally Lockhart on the trail of an evil far more awful than she could ever imagine: the Hopkinson Self-Regulator, a super-weapon in the hands of Scandinavian madman Axel Bellmann.

Once again, Pullman's much-loved and fearless heroine embarks on a mission – this time to find out why her elderly client's investment crashed and what links the clairvoyant's murderous vision to the rich industrialist, Bellmann. As Sally closes in on the truth, it becomes devastatingly clear that her life will never be the same again.