Sayak Basu
‘Good Omens’ is a fantasy novel written by world-renowned authors Neil Gaiman and the late Sir Terry Pratchett. In 2019, the book’s screen adaptation in the form of a series will hit our screens on Amazon Prime and later on BBC. Gaiman will be writing the teleplay of the series which shall be divided into six episodes. Reports suggest the principal photography for the series is over. Unfortunately, Pratchett passed way in 2015 and will not be able to see the work being reproduced for television. The book is a comedic take on Satan’s son being born and aiding the apocalypse. Mark Gatiss of ‘Sherlock’ (2010-2017) fame is also set to appear as a part of the cast in the series.
‘Good Omens’ is set in 2018 which is a time when humanity is fearing the end of the world. At this very moment, steps in an angel and a demon played by David Tennant and Michael Sheen respectively. The duo wants to stop the apocalypse in any way possible. John Hamm has been roped in to play the role of Archangel Gabriel. Another Sherlock star, Sian Brooke is also a part of the cast and will be playing the role of the Antichrist’s mother. The Antichrist is the one who will be bringing an end to the Earth as we know it. Two-time Academy Award winner Frances McDormand will be playing the role of God as Benedict Cumberbatch voices the Devil himself. The official synopsis of the story goes- ” Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming war. And… someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.”
The combination of Gaiman and Pratchett’s writings will surely be interesting for fans of both writers. While Pratchett’s unique sense of humor and his use of cultural references in his writings is very unique, Gaiman has his own style of allusions with which he refers to earlier works of literature while weaving his own story. Both men write with heavy references to other fictional works or characters, and this will be interesting to discover as the show progresses. The uniqueness of this particular book is that it is a fairy tale based in serious times. It is a story of magic and the supernatural while also been deeply rooted in social and political realities of our times. And with Gaiman himself writing the teleplay for the series, we can expect that the literary quality in the novel will be reflected in the dialogue as well.
It has also been revealed by Gaiman himself in a tweet that Reece Shearsmith will be playing the role of William Shakespeare in the series. This means while the story unfolds in the present day, there will also be things happening in the past simultaneously, which would again lead to affect how things turn out in the present world. Speaking on the series to the Herald, David Tennant said, “It’s quite hard tonally to get a grip on what Good Omens is, because it’s this very unique world that comes from Terry and Neil’s novel and from the scripts, which Neil has adapted pretty faithfully from that novel. I think it’s quite unlike anything I’ve ever been in before and possibly anything many people have seen before.”
The series is set to debut on Amazon on May 31. After six months pass, it will then be telecast on BBC in a weekly episodic manner as this will be a co-production between the two. Take a look at the sensational trailer of the series and prepare to get transported to the wonderful world created by Gaiman and Pratchett:
