Good Omens Season 1
Good Omens is a British fantasy comedy television series created by Neil Gaiman based on his and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 novel. A co-production between Amazon MGM Studios and BBC Studios, the series was directed by Douglas Mackinnon, with Gaiman also serving as showrunner. Michael Sheen and David Tennant lead a large ensemble cast that also includes Jon Hamm, Miranda Richardson, Michael McKean, Derek Jacobi, Brian Cox, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Frances McDormand as the voice of God, who narrates the series.
Like the novel, Good Omens features various Christian themes and figures and follows various characters all trying to either encourage or prevent an imminent Armageddon, seen through the eyes of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley.
All episodes of the first series were released on Amazon Prime Video on 31 May 2019, and aired weekly on BBC Two in the UK between 15 January and 19 February 2020. Although the show’s first series was conceived and marketed as a limited series, it was renewed for a second series in June 2021; Sheen and Tennant returned, along with most of the cast and crew. The second series was released in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video on 28 July 2023. Good Omens was renewed for its third and final series in December 2023.
Since its release, the series has well received among critics, with praise going towards particularly for Sheen and Tennant’s performances, faithfulness to its source material, and David Arnold’s musical score, earning him two Primetime Emmy Awards nominations for Outstanding Music Composition and Original Main Title Theme.
Good Omens Season 1
STORY
Episodes 01
“In the Beginning”
The angel Aziraphale and demon Crowley meet at the Garden of Eden, as Adam and Eve are expelled after Crowley tempted them with an apple. Fast forward to 11 years before Armageddon. Crowley delivers the Antichrist to a satanic convent, where the baby is to be given to an American diplomat and his family. However, a mix-up occurs and the Antichrist ends up with a middle-class English family, the Youngs. Crowley and Aziraphale meet to discuss the coming apocalypse. Aziraphale reluctantly agrees to work with Crowley. They decide that if each works to influence the boy Warlock, whom they believe to be the Antichrist, he will be neither good nor evil, just normal. In the present day, Crowley and Aziraphale attend his 11th birthday party but realize they have the wrong boy when a hellhound fails to appear. Meanwhile, the hellhound has found his master, Adam Young. Adam names him “Dog”, unknowingly initiating Armageddon.
Episodes 02
“The Book”
Aziraphale assures his superiors Gabriel and Sandalphon all is well with the Antichrist. A parcel delivery man is sent to gather the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse; War, in the form of a war correspondent, receives an ancient sword. In 1656, the prophetess Agnes Nutter is burned at the stake by Witchfinder Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer; Agnes causes an explosion, killing everyone present. Her book, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, is left to her family and passed through the generations. Agnes’ descendant, American occultist Anathema Device, studies the prophecies to find the Antichrist and save the world. Pulsifer’s descendant, Newt, meets Shadwell, a modern-day witchfinder. Invited to join his crusade, Newt meets Shadwell’s landlady, Madame Tracy, a part-time escort and faux medium. Visiting the former convent, now a corporate management retreat, Aziraphale and Crowley learn that all records were destroyed in a fire. Drawn to Tadfield, Anathema meets Adam and his friends. Aziraphale and Crowley collide with Anathema on the road and give her a lift home. She mislays her book in Crowley’s car and Aziraphale reads it, realizing he holds the key to finding the Antichrist.
Episodes 03
“Hard Times”
A series of historical events illustrates Aziraphale and Crowley’s growing relationship, ranging from Noah’s Ark and the Crucifixion of Jesus through to 1960s Soho. They cross paths in Ancient Rome, Medieval England, Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, Revolutionary France, and London during the Blitz. During their time together they come to an arrangement that lets each do some of the other’s work, saving time and travel. In the present day, at Jasmine Cottage, Adam and Dog find Anathema, upset at losing her book. Inviting them inside, she discusses environmental issues, which fascinate Adam. He leaves with a stack of magazines. Aziraphale and Crowley separately contract Shadwell to locate the Antichrist. Newt, the sole member of the “army”, is sent to investigate the village of Tadfield. The second Horseman, Famine, in the form of Dr. Raven Sable, receives his package, a set of scales. Crowley and Aziraphale meet to discuss progress on finding the Antichrist. Aziraphale sidesteps the question of knowing his whereabouts. They argue and Aziraphale ends their “arrangement”. That night, Adam falls asleep after poring over the magazines. His latent powers cause a nuclear reactor’s core to vanish and be replaced with a sherbet lemon.
Episodes 04
“Saturday Morning Funtime”
Adam’s dreams bring several magazine articles to life, including Atlantis and the Kraken. His controlling behavior worries his friends. Aziraphale fails to convince Gabriel to stop Armageddon, while his superiors question Aziraphale’s loyalty after seeing proof of his meetings with Crowley. Crowley tries to talk Aziraphale into leaving Earth together. The last two Horsemen, Pollution and Death, are summoned. Driving to Tadfield, Newton crashes his car, and Adam and his friends take him to Anathema’s cottage. Warlock’s family arrives in Megiddo. There is no hellhound, and Hastur realizes Crowley lied about the Antichrist. Hastur and Ligur confront Crowley at his apartment, where Ligur is destroyed by holy water. Aziraphale phones Crowley admitting he’s found the Antichrist, but Crowley is preoccupied with Hastur and hangs up. Hastur becomes trapped in Crowley’s answering machine while Crowley grabs his keys and runs out. On the street, the angels Michael, Sandalphon, and Uriel physically confront Aziraphale, accusing him of “consorting with the enemy”. At his bookshop, Aziraphale contacts God to try to stop Armageddon. Shadwell watches through the letterbox and, believing he is a demon, enters and confronts Aziraphale, who accidentally steps into the open portal and is transported to Heaven. As Shadwell leaves, he slams the door, knocking over a candle which ignites the bookshop.
Episodes 05
“The Doomsday Option”
Crowley races through London to find the bookshop in flames, with no sign of Aziraphale. In Heaven, Aziraphale refuses to join the war and, determined to stop Armageddon, leaves without a body. Crowley is getting drunk in a pub when Aziraphale’s apparition appears. He learns his bookshop has burned down, but Crowley saved Agnes Nutter’s book, with which Aziraphale worked out who and where the Antichrist is. They arrange to meet at Tadfield Airbase after Aziraphale finds a body to inhabit. He chooses Madame Tracy’s body during a seance and convinces her and Shadwell to help stop Armageddon. Crowley is stuck on the M25 as a ring of fire surrounds London. Hastur, having escaped from the answering machine, appears next to him. Crowley drives the Bentley through the flames, using his imagination to believe the car is not on fire, while Hastur, not having any imagination, is discorporated and returned to Hell. Adam comes fully into his powers, scaring away his friends and Dog. This rejection returns Adam to his “human self”. Anathema and Newt arrive at the air base, joining Shadwell, Aziraphale/Madame Tracy, Adam, and his friends. The Four Horsemen arrive and take over the base’s global communications hub. Crowley arrives in his flaming Bentley as Adam declares: “I’M HERE.”
Episodes 05
“The Very Last Day of the Rest of Their Lives”
Adam restores Aziraphale’s human vessel, and his friends confront and defeat War, Pollution, and Famine, after which Death takes his leave. Lord Beelzebub and Gabriel appear to ensure Adam re-starts Armageddon according to God’s Great Plan, but he refuses. Satan emerges, but Adam, encouraged by Aziraphale and Crowley, renounces him, and restores the world to the state it was prior to the failed Armageddon. Found guilty of treason by their respective superiors, Aziraphale is ordered to be destroyed by hellfire, and Crowley is forced to enter a tub of holy water. To everyone’s shock, both survive unharmed. Afraid of what the pair have become, Heaven and Hell agree to leave them alone on Earth. They switch back to their original bodies – Agnes Nutter’s final prophecy had given them the key to surviving their executions. Life returns to normal for everyone. Madame Tracy and Shadwell decide to retire together in a cottage outside of London. The season ends with Aziraphale and Crowley enjoying lunch at the Ritz, making a toast “to the world”.
CAST
- Michael Sheen as Aziraphale, an angel who has lived on Earth since the dawn of creation. He guarded the East gate entrance to the Garden of Eden with a flaming sword, which he gave to Adam and Eve on their expulsion from the Garden out of concern for their well-being. He has grown to love the finer things of human life, enjoys haute cuisine and owns an antiquarian bookshop in London.
- David Tennant as Crowley, a demon who has lived on Earth since the dawn of creation. Originally called “Crawley”, he is the Serpent who tempted Eve with the apple from the tree of knowledge of good and evil.
- Sam Taylor Buck as Adam Young (series 1), the reluctant Antichrist accidentally placed in the custody of the Young family.
- Jon Hamm as Gabriel, the leader of the forces of Heaven. While Gabriel was only mentioned once in the original novel, his role was meant to be expanded in the unfinished sequel to Good Omens; Gaiman incorporated parts of the planned sequel into the TV series’s plot. In the novel, the leader of the forces of Heaven was the Metatron.
RELEASE
31 May 2019
