David Tennant promises some sneaky Doctor Who references in Good Omens
The former Tenth Doctor says you’ll have to watch closely to see these particular Easter Eggs…
It’s fair to say that the new adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s end-of-the-world novel Good Omens will be of interest to Doctor Who fans, with former Time Lord David Tennant standing out in in a leading role – but he’s not the only person on the team with some ties to the Tardis.
After all, co-star Michael Sheen (who plays an angel to Tennant’s demon) actually voiced a character in a Who episode written by Good Omens showrunner Neil Gaiman, while director Douglas Mackinnon worked with Tennant on a double episode during his time as the Tenth Doctor.
Really, it’s a veritable reWhonion.
- 11 sneaky Good Omens Easter Eggs hidden in the opening credits
- Everything you need to know about Good Omens
“We've all worked on Who!” Michael Sheen told Radio Times.
“The episode that Neil wrote, I am the voice of House in The Doctor's Wife.”
With such a pedigree, Tennant explained, the team couldn’t resist sneaking in a reference or two to the BBC sci-fi series.
“There is a Doctor Who reference that you can catch on screen,” Tennant said. “You might need to use your pause button but it's definitely in there.
“It was something that I think Douglas MacKinnon got on set. It's in Crowley's apartment. There's a little reference.
“Oh and there's the numberplate on the car as well,” he added. “But no Daleks!”
Still, even without the presence of the tinpot terrors (who do actually make a cameo appearance in the 1990 novel among other aliens), Tennant and Sheen told us there are plenty of surprises waiting in Good Omens – even for mega-fans of the original text.
“I think if you don't know the book it'll all be a surprise. I think that's part of the joy of it,” Tennant said.
“It's not really like anything else. It's quite a unique world that Terry and Neil created that has made it from the book to the screen remarkably intact."
“But if you do know the book,” Sheen continued, “the beginning of episode three I think will be quite thrilling, because you get to see not only new stuff that wasn't in the book, but also stuff that's only been alluded to.
“We also have the very loved Jon Hamm in it, as the entirely new character of Gabriel. I think that’ll be great for people.”
“It's like an undiscovered album of your favourite band,” Tennant concluded.
And presumably, that rings especially true if you’re a big fan of the Who.
All six episodes of Good Omens are streaming on Amazon Prime from Friday 31st May
Authors
Huw Fullerton is a Commissioning Editor for Radio Times magazine, covering Entertainment, Comedy and Specialist Drama.
