Earlier this month David Tennant and Michael Sheen were announced as Crowley and Aziraphale, the demon and angel duo at the heart of the BBC/Amazon adaptation of the novel Good Omens. The six-part apocalyptic comedy has been scripted by Neil Gaiman who co-wrote the 1990 novel with the late Terry Pratchett. The production is due to start shooting this autumn with broadcast scheduled for 2019.
Neil Gaiman has been keeping fans, eager for news of the production, updated with preparations for the shoot via his Tumblr and Instagram accounts. Casting, he says, is still underway, and presently there are over 200 speaking roles in the series which he is trying to trim down. A few weeks ago, they were looking to fill one important, non-human role:
"Auditioning Bentleys. Must not mind being set on fire."
Neil has also revealed that:
- The series will also include scenes not in the novel that have come from conversations that he had with Terry Pratchett around Good Omens and its planned sequel and movie adaptation.
- There are scenes that are extensions of existing events in the book, including what happened to Aziraphale following his encounter with Shadwell in the bookshop.
- He and Terry had always planned to make a small cameo appearance when the novel eventually made it to screen. "Terry and I would joke about how I had to write a scene where Aziraphale eats sushi for the TV series, and then we would sit in the background as extras as our cameo, and we would eat sushi, " he said. "The scene is in the script, but I don’t think I could ever be an extra in it."
- Episode 3 reveals what the J in Anthony J. Crowley stands for.
No further cast has been announced yet, but Neil says, "We’re still casting (there are about 170 parts to fill, lots of them major) and are going out to actors and actresses. Some of them say yes and some of them say no, and if they say no you move on to your next choice. So there are a number of roles where even at this point I don’t know who will be playing them...It’s already a diverse cast and we are working hard to maintain that as it grows. And there are going to be a few parts that, I hope, surprise people."
However, he has been quick to reassure people that they will remain true to the novel that has been beloved by so many readers around the world for almost 30 years since its publication. "Remember we are making this with love," he said.
Good Omens will be co-produced by BBC Studios with Narrativia, the production company of Terry Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna, and the Blank Corporation, in association with BBC Worldwide for Amazon Prime Video and the BBC.
Before starting work on Good Omens, David Tennant has been shooting the new UK film, Mary, Queen Of Scots. He joined the production last week as Mary's co-conspirator Anthony Babington, and was back on set to shoot scenes in Gloucester Cathedral yesterday.
Follow Neil Gaiman on Tumblr here.
Photos: Neil Gaiman
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