Good Omens: Everything you need to know about season 1

Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s apocalyptic satire, Good Omens, is coming to Amazon Video in May. Here’s what we know so far.

Fans of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s bestselling novel Good Omens were delighted to find out that the book is being adapted into a television series by Amazon Studios and BBC Studios. The apocalyptic satire about an angel and a demon teaming up to prevent both Heaven and Hell from unleashing Armageddon will be the second of Gaiman’s novels to be turned into a television show, following the release of American Gods in 2017.

And as Gaiman so adeptly put it, now is the perfect time for an adaptation of Good Omens. The author believes the state of the world now aligns far more with Aziraphale and Crowley’s story than it did when he and Pratchett first wrote the book, pointing out during an interview with iNews that “global idiocy is at an all-time high.”

Since the adaptation was announced, an official teaser trailer and the opening sequence of the show have been released. And based on what we’ve seen so far, the miniseries looks every bit as clever and comical as its novel counterpart. Watch the official teaser here:

When does Good Omens come out? How can you watch it?

Neil Gaiman revealed during a press tour last week that Good Omens is scheduled to premiere on May 31, meaning that the series will be perfect for binge-watching over the summer. It will debut on Amazon Prime Video. All six episodes of the show will be released at once on Amazon, so viewers don’t have to worry about waiting week to week to find out what happens next. 

Good Omens will also purportedly air on BBC2 in the United Kingdom about six months after its Amazon release date, allowing fans without Prime subscriptions to catch up on the show.

Who’s been cast in the leading roles?

The angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, the two leading roles of Good Omens, are set to be played by Michael Sheen and David Tennant, respectively. Tennant has just the right personality to capture Crowley’s sassy nature, and his banter with Sheen during the teaser trailer already hints that the two have the perfect chemistry to replicate their bizarre friendship.

But David Tennant and Michael Sheen aren’t the only big names to become associated with Good Omens. It was announced just last week that Benedict Cumberbatch will be taking on the role of Satan, because as Gaiman puts it, Cumberbatch is one of the only people who could give Frances McDormand a “run for her money.” McDormand will be playing God, though Derek Jacobi will do the voice acting for the character.

While Cumberbatch only appears in the final episode, and is mainly tackling Satan through his voice acting, Gaiman did mention that the showrunners wanted to give the animated Satan the face of Cumberbatch. Fans will have to judge whether or not that endeavor works when the show airs in May.

Mad Men‘s Jon Hamm signed on to play the archangel Gabriel in Good Omens, rival to Sheen’s Aziraphale. Other well-known actors that will appear throughout the series include Sian Brooke, Daniel Mays, Michael McKean, Miranda Richardson, Jack Whitehall, and Adria Arjona. Douglas Mackinnon, best known for Sherlock and Line of Duty, directed the series.

How many episodes will there be?

The miniseries will be comprised of six episodes, all of which will be written by Gaiman himself. And not only did Gaiman write all of the episodes for Good Omens, but he took on the role of showrunner, a move that suggests a promising and accurate interpretation of the source material.

Episode titles and descriptions have yet to be revealed, but it’s only a matter of time before we learn more about what’s to come. Filming for the show wrapped early last year, and the show was in post-production last summer, so there isn’t much left to do before the show premieres in May.