One part of HBO’s Harry Potter remake is already proving divisive – but that’s not a bad thing. Filming on the TV show is now underway, which has provided an official first look at the new Harry Potter himself (now played by Dominic McLaughlin), as well as Nick Frost’s Rubeus Hagrid. Also key in these early stages are Vernon, Petunia, and Dudley Dursley, who will be played in the series by Daniel Rigby, Bel Powley, and Amos Kitson, respectively.
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Though no official image of them has been released, Harry Potter set photos have revealed the new-look Dursleys filming the book’s London Zoo scene. That’s an important part of Harry’s journey, where he first displays his ability to talk to snakes, but the images are more important for what they reveal about the Dursleys. This version of the characters looks quite different from what we saw in the Harry Potter movies, which has proved a divisive change, facing some criticism for not suiting the characters. However, rather than being a negative, it’s good for the TV show – and fits the family rather well.
How The Dursleys Are Already Different In The Harry Potter TV Show
The Dursleys in the Harry Potter TV show have a couple of notable differences in appearance. Uncle Vernon is seen wearing a rather simple gray polo shirt, Aunt Petunia has blonde hair, and Dudley is pictured in a shell suit. It’s a far cry from the defining images of them from the movie, where they were often dressed in much more traditional formal attire. The remake’s clothing choices have been a point of contention since the set photos surfaced, but are in keeping with the characters.
In truth, some of the clothing of the Dursleys in the movies – which, it’s worth noting, wasn’t always the most formal wear anyway – felt a little anachronistic. Although the big screen adaptations didn’t often make it clear this story was taking place in the 1990s, it was not only out of place, but came across more like how an American would view a stereotypical posh British family, rather than the reality of what they’d be wearing. Vernon would likely wear a suit for work, sure, but the color and style he was depicted in probably wouldn’t have been his choice.
Comparing the London Zoo scene like-for-like and, again, the movies come across rather dated. The polo shirt is more like what you’d expect Vernon to wear on a casual day out at the zoo than the shirt and tie (plus flatcap) combination of The Philosopher’s Stone. Petunia’s coat was similarly a little too formal, and Dudley’s argyle sweater, while not entirely out of place for the era, isn’t the kind of thing a ’90s kid would want to be wearing (and Dudley always gets what he wants).
Vernon and Petunia are not upper-class, but very much middle-class strivers and snobs. Their house is nice, and they can send their son to an expensive school, yet the characters are more elitist in nature and worldview than they are über-rich. Similarly, Dudley is extremely spoiled, and you’d expect both he and his mother to be characters who – in different ways – keep up with the fashions of the time. Season 1 takes place in 1991, where Dudley’s shell jacket and Petunia’s hairstyle and sunglasses (her outfit hasn’t been fully seen) would make sense for the family.
Harry Potter’s TV Remake Needs To Be Different From The Movies
The changes to the Dursleys are an exciting sign for Harry Potter‘s remake, for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it gives the series a much clearer sense of time and place than the movies ever had. There’s a timeless quality to things like Hogwarts, but when it comes to the Muggle world, it should be adhering closer to the time and making this feel more like a period piece.
That goes hand-in-hand with the other reason it’s good to be different: there is absolutely no point in simply repeating what the movies did. This has long been the quandary around the remake, and still exists despite the Dursleys. So much of the iconography of Harry Potter is defined by the films, and HBO has already looked like it won’t move too far away from that in its branding, nor in what it’s shown so far of Harry and Hagrid.
The TV show shouldn’t just change the books for no good reason, of course, and that inevitably means some overlap with the movies. But where there’s a chance to make it feel fresh, they should take it. The appearance of the Dursleys very much fits with that. Petunia’s blonde hair is book-accurate; the actors portraying her and Vernon are younger by around a decade than their movie counterparts, which feels more realistic too (and makes the outfit changes even more understandable); and the costumes better speak to the time and their social status.
The more Harry Potter‘s TV remake can change the movies, the better it’ll be in the long run. In some cases, that will lead to greater book accuracy. In others, it’ll allow it to stand apart as something distinct, forging its own path rather than just following what’s been done before. In either case, there’s real magic in actually delivering something new.
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