How Terry Pratchett's legacy lives on with Good Omens

Almost three decades later and, tragically, four years after Pratchett's death, season 1 of the TV adaptation starring David Tennant as demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as angel Aziraphale, premiered on Prime Video to widespread acclaim.

Fans pored over every scene and quickly noticed the many references and homages to Pratchett – from his hat and scarf taking pride of place in Aziraphale's bookshop to how his wishes were honoured in the scripts.

With the release of season 2, it's clear that Pratchett's presence is still felt, in some cases, quite literally.

Terry Pratchett's representative on Earth

While his close friend and collaborator Gaiman was kept very in the loop with Pratchett's wishes, he also has a representative in Rob Wilkins who worked first as the author's personal assistant and later as his business manager.

Nowadays, Wilkins has the title of Pratchett's "representative on Earth", making completely sure that the author's wishes are being honoured. Early on in production, he's sent every script and he's present on set to talk things through with Gaiman.

Speaking exclusively to RadioTimes.com, Wilkins explains: "If I said I was here to make sure Terry's voice was heard, that's wrong because Terry's voice is here, it's everywhere. My presence is Terry's presence and that's what I bring to the set."

He adds: "He would be most proud of the detail and the love that is compressed into this that everybody puts into it and it's lovely to see that everybody respects the written word and here we are turning the written word into this."

"Neil makes sure Terry's voice is heard every single day through the scripts, it's fantastic," Wilkins continues. "In the build-up [to production], in the script-writing process, I speak with Neil probably every other day and he wants to share what he's doing and tell you where the story's going and where the narrative is going.

"Neil and Terry, they plotted out in a hotel room in Seattle in the early 1990s, they shared a room together and they talked about what would happen next. There's definitely a story arc and Neil would actually kill me in my sleep if I was to let on too much but there's a definite story arc for Aziraphale and Crowley and we've got to see that to the end, we have to."

The homages on set

Taking us through the Dirty Donkey pub on set, which plays a key part in season 2, Wilkins also shows us one of his favourite details – a portrait of Pratchett which takes pride of place.

"Witchfinder General Pratchett!" he declares. "With a brandy in his hand, a hat on his head. That's how he should be. That was a surprise. I didn't know that was happening until it was there and it's really quite emotional, so Terry's not just here in spirit, he's actually here."

It's not just the portrait in the pub – Pratchett is everywhere on set if you look for him.

Fans are well aware of his hat and scarf, which are proudly displayed in Aziraphale's bookshop on a hat stand. Set designer Michael Ralph tells us: "This is Terry's hat and Terry's scarf. Everyday we film here it's left in the shop, and it's always put in a safe at night. But it's always there."

There are smaller references too. In the coffee shop, Give Me Coffee...Or Give Me Death, producer Sarah-Kate Fenelon points out, amid a sea of graffiti, the names Neil and Terry scrawled side-by-side.

"Season 2 was based on a sequel that Terry and Neil were meant to write, or planned on writing, and a character that is in the television series, in season 1, Gabriel played by Jon Hamm was not originally in the book ever," she pointed out.

"So already the seeds were being planted for following his storyline through. And I think that's a nice continuity to kind of see Terry's story is still being told in some way."

A word from the stars

David Tennant and Maggie Service, two of the stars of Good Omens, have also shared how Pratchett was honoured on the set of season 2.

Crowley actor David Tennant explained to The Radio Times Podcast: "Neil is a direct line to Terry. There are ideas in series 2 that Neil and Terry discussed way back as a potential way forward for these characters.

"There are more of those ideas that Neil has still got in his back pocket to potentially take the story even further. So it's not entirely adrift from the original source material and, indeed, we've got 50% of the original writing team as our writing team."

Speaking about how important it is that Pratchett's presence is felt, Service added to RadioTimes.com: "Yeah, he's always around. Again, the first day of filming around the monitors was his hat on his chair, so – it's giving me goosebumps! He was there and he is there.

"It's extraordinary. I never got the chance to meet him, but Rob Wilkins, who's his official representative on Earth – that is his classic, brilliant, perfect title – he's just really aware of making sure that Terry is a part of it."

She added: "It was Neil and Terry's universe in the beginning, they created it together and now we only have Neil, who is made of magic, so it's pretty good – there's no undersell here – but it's important that it's always both of their worlds because, just what a magnificent thing to put those two brains together. Aren't we all lucky?"

Good Omens season 2 is out now on Prime Video – try Amazon Prime Video for free for 30 days. Check out more of our Fantasy coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to find out what's on.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 12 issues for only £1 with delivery to your home – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.