Harry Potter TV series to air special giving fans exclusive glimpse of show

Paapa Essiedu has said seeing part of the set for the new Harry Potter TV series made him feel like “a kid at Hogwarts”, in a trailer for a behind-the-scenes look at the show.

The actor, who plays Professor Severus Snape in the new adaptation, is among the cast members seen discussing how it felt to enter the magical wizarding world in Finding Harry: The Craft Behind The Magic.

The one-off special, which will air on HBO on Sunday, will give fans an insight into the making of the much-anticipated show.

The upcoming series is based on the best-selling books by JK Rowling, and will be a faithful adaptation of her novels, while providing a wider insight into the magical wizarding world beyond that depicted in the hit film franchise.

American actor John Lithgow, 80, plays Professor Albus Dumbledore, the wise and powerful headmaster of Hogwarts, and describes the franchise as an “extraordinary phenomenon”.

He says: “To reimagine the Harry Potter canon, to let it breathe… We get to enact all the things that you know are going on in the wings but you don’t see them.”

The trailer features clips of the set of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry and Platform 9 and 3/4, and also gives fans a glimpse of young actor Dominic McLaughlin in the role that made Daniel Radcliffe a household name as Harry Potter.

Clips show the large, extravagant sets for the magical series being built, and production designer Mara LePere-Schloop hails her role as a “designer’s dream”.

McLaughlin is then seen on the Hogwarts Express alongside Alastair Stout, who stars as Harry’s best friend Ron Weasley.

The two are then seen playing a game of rock paper scissors with the final member of the trio, Arabella Stanton, who stars as Hermione Granger.

Meanwhile, LePere-Schloop says: “We’re trying to get in the joy and the playfulness of what it means to be a magical kid.”

Clips then show Janet McTeer, 64, as Professor Minerva McGonagall, walking through Hogwarts’ great hall.

She says: “Walking into the great hall that first time, you go ‘Wow’.”

The trailer gives a glimpse of the Hogwarts Express train, which is renowned for taking the magical wizarding students to Hogwarts every term.

Essiedu says: “Just walking in and seeing the real train… You imagine yourself being a kid at Hogwarts.”

There are clips of the child actors playing Hogwarts students on various sets across the series, and an animatronic of an owl, while LePere-Schloop says: “We’re adding a level of world-building beyond what the audience is familiar with.”

McTeer hails the upcoming series as “so beautiful” as further views of different sets are shown including shops on the fictional shopping street Diagon Alley.

The trailer closes with Lithgow, as he says: “You wait forever to do something that means that much to people.”

The special will include interviews with Essiedu, McTeer and Lithgow, and will be narrated by Nick Frost, who plays friendly groundskeeper Rubeus Hagrid, as it gives an exclusive insight into the making of the show.

It will also look at the detail of the artists, craftspeople and technicians who have helped to bring the magical wizarding world to life, along with the process behind the casting of the young stars.

The three children were cast in the starring roles after about 32,000 auditioned, and the team reviewed up to 1,000 tapes a day.

The first season of the HBO show will launch this Christmas, and has been adapted from Rowling’s first novel, Harry Potter And The Philosopher’s Stone.

Further seasons will feature her other novels, and she is an executive producer.