Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett series Good Omens will be an Amazon-BBC co-production
The apocalyptic cult comedy adaptation is coming next year
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman novel Good Omens is being adapted by Amazon and the BBC for a six-part series.
On-demand service Amazon Studios (who are currently adapting Gaiman's novel American Gods) and UK broadcaster the BBC will co-produce the fantasy comedy, which was adapted by BBC Radio 4 into an audio series in 2014, with the ever-busy Gaiman writing every episode and serving as showrunner (following the death of co-author Pratchett in 2015).
Plans for an upcoming Good Omens TV series were first revealed by Gaiman at a talk last year, but it’s only now that the full details of how exactly it’ll be made are emerging.
An official synopsis of the series reads:
Good Omens takes place in 2018 when the Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.
So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, and tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming war. And… someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist.
Episodes of the drama will air first on Amazon Prime Video for members to stream in 200 countries worldwide, with a separate BBC broadcast following afterwards in the UK in a similar model to previous coproduction Ripper Street (though that was originally a BBC series that Amazon took over).
BBC Studios is co-producing the series with production houses Narrativia and The Blank Corporation, in association with BBC Worldwide for Amazon Prime Video and the BBC.
Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman
“Almost thirty years ago, 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 eleven-year old Antichrist, witchfinders and the four horsepeople of the Apocalypse,” Gaiman said in a statement.
“It became many people's favourite 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.”
“Spanning not only the universe but also the entirety of time, Neil Gaiman has created a story that may be the largest ever told on television,” added Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy and Drama at Amazon Studios.
“We’re excited to be working with BBC Studios to bring Neil and Terry Pratchett’s incredible book to life and to Prime members everywhere.”
“Good Omens has always been one of my favourite books, and it’s hugely exciting not just to be able to bring it to life, but to do so with scripts from Neil Gaiman himself,” concluded BBC studios Head of Comedy Chris Sussman.
“It feels like a good time to be making a comedy about an impending global apocalypse.”
Good Omens will stream on Amazon Prime in 2018, and on the BBC at a later date
