Good Omens TV series review

I bought the Good Omens book when it first came out in 1990. I’d been a fan of Terry Pratchet since "Strata", and I was aware of Neil Gaiman because he’d written the companion book for "The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy".

The plot of "Good Omens" was concerned with Armageddon and religion, neither of which really appealed, but I liked the authors, and i thought "What the heck". The story involved a demon and an angel getting together to stop the antichrist and the four bikers of the apocalypse destroying the world. It also featured witches, witch-finders, and a satanic order of chattering nuns. It was silly, whimsical, and laugh out loud funny in places, and it immediately became one of my favourite reads. Sure it had flaws. The plot meandered around, pausing to enjoy the local scenery and smell the flowers, and that was huge fun at times, but occasionally, when the diversions became extreme, I’d find myself feeling like a small child in a car, asking plaintively "are we there yet?". I never feel bored, but I’d want the plot to move forwards, rather than sideways.

I’d read the book every few years, enjoy the ride, and wish it could be a little shorter. And I’d go on to become a major Neil Gaiman fan because of "Neverwhere", "American Gods", "Stardust", and "The Doctor’s wife".

When "Good Omens" was dramatised on the radio, i loved the story even more. The radio version wasn’t quite as funny as the book, because most of the jokes in the book involved wordplay and ideas rather than action, but it was well made and it captured the spirit of the original perfectly. It also included some neat cameos from Terry Pratchet and Neil Gaiman.

After Terry Pratchett died, Neil Gaiman moved heaven and earth to get the book televised. They’d been trying to make "Good omens" made into a film for years, and it was Terry Pratchett’s last request of his long time friend. It had to be done, and it had to be done right, so Neil Gaiman had no alternative other that to take the role of show-runner and do it himself.

The casting started to leak out, with the revelation that the demon would be played by David Tennant, and the angel would be played by Micheal Sheen, which hugely excited me. And as the trailers emerged, my enthusiasm increased. The initial run was always going to be on Amazon Prime, so I joined up especially to watch the new show.

Thankfully, i wasn't disappointed. Any TV version of "Good Omens" had to do three basic things.

It had to be true enough to the spirit of the novel to appeal to existing fans like myself.

It had to be good enough in its own right to attract new fans, and hopefully get them joined up to Amazon Prime.

It had to have enough story to fit into a mini-series consisting of six hour-long episodes.

It was never going to succeed in satisfying all of these aims, but i think it came pretty damn close. The result was whimsical, silly, and genuinely funny at times, and it for me, it was classic feel-good TV. It might not have felt fresh or new, but it did feel worthwhile, and it was even better on my second viewing.

The casting turned out to have been inspired, with David Tennant and Micheal Sheen creating a great double act. Some people have commented that the relationship they portray between the angel and the demon is more like love than friendship. Thats not the reading i take myself, but i can understand why people might believe that, as the characters are a lot closer in the TV series than they are in the book or the audio version. The other actors were terrific as well, particularly Sam Tailor Buck who played Adam the anti-christ, a role that needed to span lightness and darkness, and one that the production had to get perfect.

The music was written by David Arnold, famous for the Sherlock theme, and included a lovely song by Tori Amos. Its good enough to buy and listen to separately, as indeed, I will.

The flaws? Well, you have to be in the mood to enjoy a long journey, as it lasts a total of over five and a half hours, more than an hour longer than the radio version. Its less funny than either the book or the radio dramatisation because some of the visual jokes have had to be removed, presumably for reasons of cost. They've been replaced with new scenes featuring Tennant and Sheen, and although these scenes are amusing enough, they never raised more than a smile from me. They may have added some useful background to the angel and the demons relationship, but they didn't advance the plot at all, and they delayed the opening credits of episode three by an astonishing thirty minutes.

I can understand why the TV version needed to so long, and I accept that removing more material would have seemed like heresy to the fans, but i can’t help wondering whether the story would have been more accessible to new viewers if they'd chopped out most of the sub plots and cut the thing down to three hours. In an age where everything needs to be provided in bite-sized chunks, its easy to understand why some viewers seem to have found it too slow.

Another issue, at least for me, is that the angels in the TV series, such as Gabriel and Michael, came across as mean-spirited, unpleasant, and even a bit naff. This may have been consistent with the references to them in the book, but it didn't work for me, as Id have expected them to seem a lot nicer, at least superficially.

But as a fan, all of these complaints feel like niggles. It was an imperfect adaptation of an imperfect book, and I still found myself loving. It would probably have been even better if Terry Pratchett had been around to contribute, but then again, so would the world.

"Good Omens" was co-produced by the BBC, and should be broadcast in the UK some time towards the end of the year. If you haven't seen it, and you’re a fan of Terry Pratchett, Neil Gaiman, Douglas Adams or Robert Rankin, it’s well worth checking out.