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It took a long time for "Good Omen: Agnes Nutter's Subtle Prophecies, Witch," Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's 1990 fantasy novel, to come to the screen. Long enough for Gaiman, then a promising comic writer and Duran Duran biographer, to become an industry: the Amazon Prime Video "Good Omens" mini-series, which debuted on Friday, is the third current television show based on his work, with Netflix "Lucifer" and "American Gods" from Starz.
And there have been other favorable changes. When Gaiman and Pratchett created a leitmotif in the book of a CD of Queen's greatest hits – it's the favorite driving music of one of the heroes, a demon named Crowley – it was a joke about the inevitability of the great songs of the late 1980s. Now this gives the miniseries a soundtrack of pop classics.
But what makes the entertaining and generally pleasant "good omens" particularly timely has changed little: Armageddon seems as real a possibility as it was three decades ago. The hopeful universalism and ecological consciousness of history, which played well in the context of the end of the Cold War and the hole in the ozone layer, seem equally necessary. A line such as "your polar caps below the regulatory size for a planet in this category" can go directly from the book to the scenario, and it is.
Gaiman himself wrote the six episodes of the series (Pratchett passed away in 2015) and, simplifying the book – which was a digressive and more evolutionary exercise in line with the "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy." "- he made the wisest choice possible. . The story now focuses even more on the central relationship between Crowley, the living devil who launches the intrigue by misleading the baby Antichrist, and the Aziraphale prude angel, who works with Crowley in a comic campaign desperate and secret prevent the world from ending.
That's a good thing, because the clearest and funniest writing of the book was mostly in the Crowley-Aziraphale scenes, and for the series, Gaiman has reduced the time spent on some of the media the duller, like the appearances of the riders of the Apocalypse (here bikers) and the group of friends who have a beneficial influence on Adam Young, an 11-year-old antichrist without suspicion. (Richmal Crompton's echt-English "William" children's book series, which inspired "Good Omens", was visually inspired.)
And it's a good move because the demons and angels are played by David Tennant and Michael Sheen. It's hard to imagine a better cast than Tennant as a cynical but sweetened Crowley, driving his vintage Bentley at full speed in central London, or Sheen as a fearsome Aziraphale, retaining his cover as an antiquarian bookseller while indulging in the idea of having lunch at the Ritz.
Gaiman added to the distribution of the infernal and celestial superiors of Crowley and Aziraphale, to reinforce the idea of their work to subvert the divine plans, and this creates small amusing pieces for performers such as Jon Hamm (Gabriel) and Anna Maxwell Martin (Beelzebub). He has also added a fun sequence showing co-conspiratorial meetings through the ages, where we learn why the unicorn no longer exists and see William Shakespeare (Reece Shearsmith) worried during rehearsals of "Hamlet". when Tennant, a notable contemporary hamlet, advises Richard Burbage, the actor who created the role, played by Adam Colborne.)
BBC Studios' production is dotted with zany performances by veteran, mostly British, actors. The great Bill Paterson is at his best as Adam's exasperated neighbor, and Michael McKean and Miranda Richardson are amusing to watch as an aging wizard, Shadwell, and his accommodating hostess, Mrs. Tracy. Sanjeev Bhaskar of "Unforgotten" is agreeably oily, as libidinous lawyer Baddicombe and Derek Jacobi, no less, have a monochrome as a spokesman for God, Metatron.
Gaiman's adjustments to the plot, as well as explanatory animations and a importunate narration of Frances McDormand as God, simplify the story and take this as a description and not as a judgment: more meaning, less writing. Many fans of the book may be disappointed by what has been downplayed, particularly by the sentimental Anglophilia of children's friendships and the notion that Adam is not inclined to eliminate humanity because he is too attached to his village of Lower Tadfield.
It's easy to imagine a big-budget version of "Good Omens" that relies on sentimentality while giving a more dramatic visual treatment to the accidental reorganizations of Adam's world, such as the sudden emergence of Atlantis and the appearance of Tibetan TBMs in the Lower. Tadfield. But it's quite likely that it would not be as entertaining as this laid-back, somewhat disconcerting series, which reflects the spirit of Gaiman and Pratchett's attempt at the beginning of their careers to continue to get gags and comics sets.
And among his many jokes, "Good Omens" has the spirit and the good taste to make fun of "The Sound of Music" on several occasions. For this alone, he deserves an Emmy.
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