Filming is underway for the Amazon and BBC 2 adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s fantasy fiction comedy Good Omens with David Tennant and Michael Sheen leading the cast. The first image from the set was Tweeted by Neil Gaiman yesterday and you can see the two in-character in the shot above.
It follows on from the success of the BBC Radio 4 adaptation of the book back in December 2014 and the critical acclaim of Gaiman’s American Gods, which was one of Amazon Videos’ big successes of 2017. The author will be taking a big step up as the showrunner for the 6-part series, so the pressure is on. Although, he served as producer for Stardust and executive producer for How To Talk To Girls At Parties and American Gods, so he isn’t entirely fresh-faced behind the scenes.
When will Good Omens be coming to BBC 2?
The series doesn’t have an official air date as of yet, but it will be arriving on Amazon Video first in 2019, so you should brace yourself for a fairly long wait. It will then be getting its transmission on BBC 2 later that year. It’ll be the first screen adaptation of the story, putting earlier rumblings about a movie well and truly to rest for a little while yet.
If you haven’t read the book yet, there’s clearly plenty of time to tick it of your list before the TV adaptation comes to BBC 2.
Cast
David Tennant (Doctor Who) will play the demon Crowley and Michael Sheen (Passengers) takes on the role as his buddy and heavenly counterpart, the angel Aziraphale. Jack Whitehall (Decline And Fall) has also been cast as Newton Pulsifer, the last member of the Witchfinder Army, alongside Adria Arjona as Anathema Device, Nina Sosanya as Sister Mary Loquacious, Michael McKean as Shadwell, Miranda Richardson as Madame Tracy, Ned Dennehy as Hastur and Ariyon Bakare as Ligur.
Neil Giaman has also confirmed that Josie Lawrence will be reprising her role as Agnes Nutter, following her performance in the Radio 4 adaptation of Good Omens. He also Tweeted that Reece Shearmith will be playing Shakespeare.
Other additions to the cast include Anna Maxwell Martin (Motherland) as Beelzebub and Lourdes Faberes, Yusuf Gatewood and Mireille Enos as the horsemen of the apocalypse; Jon Hamm (Keeping Up With The Joneses) as archangel Gabriel, Sam Taylor Buck as Adam Young, Amma Ris as Pepper, Ilan Galkoff as Brian and Alfie Taylor as Wensleydale. Daniel Mays (Dad’s Army) will play Arthur Young and Sian Brooke (Sherlock) will play Deidre Young, the antichrist’s parents.
About Good Omens
The story will focus on angel Aziraphale (Sheen) and demon Crowley (Tennant) as they attempt to thwart the coming of the anti-christ and the end of times. The two have been enjoying the comforts of Earth since the fall of Eden and they’re not about to give up on their lives here.
A slight error at the hospital has led everyone to suspect the wrong kid, which leaves the real anti-christ to come to terms with his newfound powers in a bizarre way. The world start to turn to chaos, leaving the representatives of heaven and hell on earth with no option, but to try to step in and calm things down.
Production
Showrunner, Neil Gaiman is teaming up with director Douglas Mackinnon (Sherlock: The Abominable Bride) for the production, with filming having begun on the 18th September 2017. It’s going to be a six month filming schedule in locations in London, Oxfordshire and South Africa, which kind of adds to reasons it’s going to be so long before transmission. You can keep up with more on the production via Neil Gaiman’s Twitter page.
First impressions
The pic above doesn’t really instill us with all that much confidence, but it’s a pre-production set photo, so we’re expecting them to look a whole lot more impressive when Good Omens finally lands on BBC 2 and Amazon. The cast is pretty impressive and while Jack Whitehall might sound like an odd selection, he’s proven himself pretty competent in character roles following his performance as Paul Pennyfeather in the BBC adaptation of Decline And Fall.
The book itself is a classic and both Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett have a lot of devoted fans of their work, so it’s got a lot of viewers straight of the bat. With such a long lead time for the transmission in 2019, it would appear as though the production is getting a lot of attention and if it can land anywhere near as impressively as Small Gods or Sherlock: The Abominable Bride then it should be an instant success.
