Posted by: @coracle

David's previous filming was Lord of the Flies, and the series is now showing on BBC. 
Here is a sneak preview showing the first 4 minutes. 

In this fragment Piggy seemed to have stepped out of the pages of a book.

I've found I was able to watch the first episode locally tonight, so I have watched it. 

This episode is named for his character, and it shows him trying to be responsible and sensible. I found the character likeable, believable for that period, and vulnerable. David is capable of showing a genuinely sensitive and anxious boy, with a sense of humour as well as a strong sense of responsibility and being sensible. He is now two years older than when this was filmed, and I look forward to seeing him on video.

I’ve found the writing of the first episode to be a bit shaggy, but David is quite competent and charismatic. I enjoyed his accent and physicality. Hopefully with a stronger and tighter script and more performance sensitive direction, from an actors’ director like Greta he will do a great job in The Magicians Nephew.

Considering, David is Irish and will likely keep his accent in the film, I am more than convinced Saoirse will be in the film

Agreed, @oathkeeper! Apart from McKenna's involvement, the first episode didn't do much to draw me in. But he's very good, so I'll likely stick around to see his acting chops! 

David's Northern Irish accent seems to have loosened a bit since filming Lord of the Flies (based on that BBC interview), so I assume most audiences won't be able to distinguish the two during The Magician's Nephew. 

In an article in the English newspaper, The Telegraph, this is written about David:

'David McKenna: "I'm very like Piggy".

Advertising for a character who is teased because of his spectacles, weight and asthma created a sensitivity dilemma for the team, Ware* noted.  But they struck gold with the now-13-year-old David McKenna from Northern Ireland, who was a "last-minute find", Gold* told the Telegraph.
He announced in his social media-submitted video that he'd like to be stuck on an island with the West End cast of Les Miserables.**

McKenna has said he's responsible like Piggy though "not as much as he is."  To help capture the character, Munden set him the homework of listening to Groucho Marx comedy songs. 

The Belfast schoolboy had a kidney transplant aged four, with dad Jim donating the organ. He attended a local drama school and made appearances on Belfast radio, but he's in the big leagues now: after Lord of the Flies, he stars in Greta Gerwig's CSLewis film adaptation Narnia: The Magician's Nephew.' 

[*The article quotes casting directors Martin Ware and Nina Gold.] 
[**the initial casting call asked interested children to submit a 30-second video talking about what they would take to a desert island]

New David article from Deadline 

https://deadline.com/2026/03/lord-of-the-flies-david-mckenna-piggy-jack-thorne-west-end-1236743811/

Deadline doesn't confirm he's been filming MN, just that it's rumoured. But we'd confirmed it months ago. Perhaps they aren't allowed to be as definite, so their sources will still give them info.