Neil Gaiman Hints That We Could See More Good Omens in the Future
Everyone’s favorite angel/demon dynamic duo could be headed back for further adventures. Author Neil Gaiman has given the strongest indication yet that we haven’t seen the end of Good Omens on our TV screens.
The six-episode adaptation of Good Omens was a triumph across the board, earning mostly positive reviews and launching the book’s 30-year-old fandom into the stratosphere. Genre fan-favorite actor David Tennant became even more beloved as the acerbic demon Crowley, and as the fussy angel Aziraphale, Michael Sheen’s incredible performance and community engagement turned him into fandom’s new boyfriend. Amazon Studios must’ve also liked the viewing metrics the series received, because they floated wanting more Good Omens since the show’s debut in May of 2019.
Gaiman, who co-authored Good Omens with the late, great Terry Pratchett and wrote the episodes’ screenplays, has long been carefully ambiguous about whether the show might go on. The Good Omens series adapted the entirety of the book, and many fans wondered how and if the property could proceed without Pratchett’s involvement. But in a recent discussion with Digital Spy, Gaiman implied in the most positive language to date that he and the cast are game for more if the right chips fall into place.
“I think the probability [of making more Good Omens] is pretty good. It’s not like anybody doesn’t want to make more Good Omens. We just need to figure out how and when and all of the various ifs, and sort everything out. Plus, we’re in COVID world right now where nobody even knows how to shoot big drama. There are problems that none of us quite know how to solve.
“But we’d all love to do it, so it’s really just a matter of seeing if we can actually make that happen in the world, if we can make the time happen, if we can work it with everybody’s schedule. I know I’m not the only person who wants to see more Crowley and Aziraphale.”
It helps that Sheen and Tennant, who had fabulous chemistry, so seemed to enjoy working with each other that they recently starred in a “lockdown drama” from their respective homes, Staged. (They also voiced the characters for a special lockdown Good Omens audio drama to celebrate the book’s 30th anniversary.) Having lead actors who are eager to reunite, and who are wildly popular with the fanbase, is another big boost to Good Omens’ chances of return.
Now, the obvious hurdle here beyond the logistics coming together is what stories this Good Omens could entail. The book has been adapted, and Crowley and Aziraphale basically waltz off into the sunset together. But Gaiman and Pratchett had also been at work on an unpublished sequel, and elements of that made it into the Good Omens that we saw, possibly setting up the stage to explore those ideas.
Gaiman has said that Jon Hamm’s character, the obnoxious archangel Gabriel, was added for a potentially larger role in later seasons. So, we could be seeing Gabriel and the forces of Heaven meddling again—maybe even teaming up with Hell to go after the dissenters? Gaiman and Pratchett also stated that Crowley and Aziraphale retire together to a cottage in the South Downs of England. Could the show resume there, with that retirement interrupted?
Popular characters like Anathema Device and her new boyfriend Newt, Adam the young antichrist and his gang of clever kids “the Them,” and Miranda Richardson’s wonderful Madame Tracy also surely have more tales to tell.
The series’ third episode, which opens with a magnificent 30-minute cold open that tracks Aziraphale and Crowley’s growing relationship throughout history—from the Garden to the Crucifixion to Shakespearean days to the French Revolution and beyond—was applauded by many fans and critics. Could we get more of Crowley and Azirapahale’s adventures in time? This would be my dream for an ongoing series. I also think Good Omens would particularly lend itself to “specials” in the Doctor Who model. If circumstances conspire to make shooting a whole new season difficult, why not create one-off holiday episodes that drop us into the characters’ past or present?
Do you want to see more Good Omens—or do you think we should stop at the averted the Apocalypse?
(via Digital Spy, image: Amazon Studios)
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