Good Omens, a collaborative novel written by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett, is heading to the small screen. Six episodes of the adaptation are eyeing a 2018 premiere, first on Amazon and then later on the BBC.
Masters Of Sex star Michael Sheen and former Time Lord David Tenannt have landed the lead roles in the series, Variety now reports. Sheen will be playing Aziraphale, “a somewhat fussy angel” and Tennant will play demon Crowley.
“I first read Good Omens as a teenager and it’s been one of my favourite stories ever since,” Sheen remarked in a statement. “To be part of the team entrusted with bringing it alive on screen is a bit of a dream come true to be honest. To work alongside Neil, who I think is one of the greatest storytellers of all time, is incredibly exciting. And, just like the rest of the world, I’m a huge fan of David’s so I relish trying to save it with him.”
Good Omens tells the story of the approaching end times and follows characters who are either bent on avoiding the apocalypse or actively seek to bring about Armageddon. From the unlikely partnership between Aziraphale and Crowley, to a hospital mix-up with the birth of the antichrist, this tale is both dark and hilarious. Touches of both Pratchett (the end is predicted by The Nice And Accurate Prophecies Of Agnes Nutter, Witch) and Gaiman (the harbingers of doom are the very modern Four Horsepeople of the Apocalypse) abound.
“Almost 30 years ago,” explained Gaiman when the project was first announced, “Terry Pratchett and I wrote the funniest novel we could about the end of the world, populated with angels and demons, not to mention an 11-year-old Antichrist… It became many people’s favorite book. Three decades later, it’s going to make it to the screen. I can’t think of anyone we’d rather make it with than BBC Studios, and I just wish Sir Terry were alive to see it.”
Gaiman wrote the scripts and will serve as showrunner, as well as producing the series alongside Caroline Skinner (Doctor Who) and Chris Sussman (Fleabag).
More as we have it.