On Friday, a six-part miniseries adapted from Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel Good Omens is dropping on Amazon Prime. Neil Gaiman — a celebrated English author and screenwriter whose novels (Coraline, Stardust, and American Gods) have been adapted for the screen — is the creative force behind the series. Terry Pratchett, the sharp-witted fantasy author who co-wrote the novel with Gaiman, passed away in 2015. Before Pratchett died of early-onset Alzheimer’s, Gaiman promised that he would bring Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch to television.
“We had agreed that we would never do anything with ‘Good Omens’ unless it was together,” said Gaiman. “But then he basically wrote me and said, ‘You have to do this because I want to see it.’ And then he died, so it turned into kind of a last request. I just couldn’t be an executive producer or writer who hands in scripts and then goes away. I was determined to make something Terry would love.”
Gaiman followed through on his promise with flying colors, becoming the showrunner for the series who supervised every creative decision for Good Omens. By sticking to the source material, Gaiman created a faithful adaptation of the novel that combines Pratchett’s absurdist comedy with Gaiman’s skillful worldbuilding.
Good Omens is a spiritual satire about an angel and a demon who attempt to thwart the apocalypse. Aziraphale, a fussy angel played by Michael Sheen, and Crowley, a demon played by David Tennant, are not looking forward to the upcoming cosmic war — and the antichrist is missing. Good Omens boasts an A-list cast that includes Frances McDormand as God, Jon Hamm as Archangel Gabriel, and Benedict Cumberbatch as Satan.
The series will debut this Friday, May 31 on Amazon Prime.