Good Omens Season 2 Dvd
Consuela Ellett
Good Omens is a 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 been 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.
The second series, set post-COVID-19 lockdown, concerns the Archangel Gabriel arriving without his memories to Aziraphale's bookshop. Aziraphale and Crowley attempt to find out what happened to Gabriel and to also hide him from Heaven and Hell, both of which are eager to find him.[2]
In series 1, Jonathan Aris appears as the Quartermaster Angel: an angel who gears up the angels for Armageddon. Adam Bond portrays Jesus, whose crucifixion is witnessed by Crowley and Aziraphale. Sanjeev Bhaskar portrays Giles Baddicombe, a lawyer. Steve Oram plays Horace, a motorist on the M25 hypnotised and burned alive by Crowley's sigil. Paul Kaye and Ben Crowe make vocal cameos: Kaye as a spokesman for an electricity board (impersonating the voice of Terry Pratchett) and Crowe as Freddie Mercury. Jayde Adams and Jenny Galloway play participants at Madame Tracy's seance. Dan Starkey plays a passerby comforting Aziraphale. Alistair Findlay and Jim Meskimen cameo as George W. Bush with Findlay physically portraying Bush and Meskimen voicing him. Kirsty Wark, Paul Gambaccini and Konnie Huq cameo as TV presenters. James Naughtie cameos as a radio presenter. Neil Gaiman cameos as a sleeping man in the cinema. Terry Pratchett's iconic hat and scarf appear in Aziraphale's bookshop.
Pratchett and Gaiman had planned to adapt Good Omens as a movie for years, with various directors and writers attached to the project along the way. In 2011, a television series, written by Terry Jones and Gavin Scott, was first reported to be in the works but no further plans were announced.[7] After Pratchett's death, Gaiman refused to ever consider working on the adaptation alone but changed his mind when he received a letter from Pratchett, written to be sent after his death, urging him to finish the project.[8]
On 19 January 2017, it was announced that Amazon Prime Video and the BBC had commissioned a television series adaptation of the novel to be produced in the United Kingdom by the BBC. Distribution of the series was licensed to Amazon, and handled by BBC Worldwide in territories where Amazon Prime Video doesn't operate.[9][10] Executive producers were set to include Gaiman, Caroline Skinner, Chris Sussman, Rob Wilkins, and Rod Brown. Gaiman was also set to adapt the novel for the screen and serve as showrunner for the series. Production companies involved with the series were slated to consist of BBC Studios, Narrativia, and The Blank Corporation.
On 29 June 2021, the series was renewed for a second series consisting of six episodes.[11] In July 2023, Gaiman discussed the possibility of a third series, which was planned and would serve as the final series, though writing on it had been affected by the 2023 Writers Guild of America strike.[12]
Gaiman's initial writing around the announcement of season two mentioned the proposed sequel to Good Omens devised by him and Terry Pratchett during the World Science Fiction Convention in Seattle in 1989, the year before the book was published.[13] In the lead-up to the second season's release, he clarified that this was not the basis of the second season's plot, as he "didn't feel that we could drive straight from season one into that". Series two is instead a new story, intended to act as a bridge between the original and the sequel, which will form the basis for a third series.[14]
The third and final series was announced in December 2023.[15][16] Mackinnon, who had served as co-showrunner, director, and producer for the first two series, was announced to not be returning for the final series.[17]
On 14 August 2017, it was announced that Michael Sheen and David Tennant had been cast in the lead roles of Aziraphale and Crowley, respectively.[18] On 14 September 2017, Gaiman revealed on Twitter that Nina Sosanya, Ned Dennehy, and Ariyon Bakare had joined the main cast.[19] A day later, Jack Whitehall, Michael McKean, Miranda Richardson, and Adria Arjona were announced as series regulars.[20] A week after that, Sam Taylor Buck, Amma Ris, Ilan Galkoff, Alfie Taylor, Daniel Mays, and Sin Brooke were also cast.[21] In October 2017, it was reported that Jon Hamm, Anna Maxwell Martin, Mireille Enos, Lourdes Faberes, and Yusuf Gatewood had joined the main cast.[22][23] In November 2017, it was reported that Reece Shearsmith and Nicholas Parsons had also been cast.[24][25] On 15 December 2017 it was reported that Derek Jacobi would voice the Metatron.[26]
On 9 February 2018 it was announced that Steve Pemberton and Mark Gatiss had joined the series.[27] On 6 March 2018, it was announced that Nick Offerman had been cast in a series regular role.[28] On 20 July 2018, it was announced during Amazon's San Diego Comic-Con panel that Frances McDormand had been cast as the voice of God as well as the series' narrator.[29] On 13 February 2019, Neil Gaiman announced that Benedict Cumberbatch would voice Satan, with the character itself being computer-generated imagery (CGI).[30]
The 109 days of principal photography for the series took place over a six-month period beginning 18 September 2017 and ending in early March 2018.[31][32] Shooting began throughout the UK with subsequent filming taking place in and around Cape Town, South Africa.[32] In October 2017, the production was spotted filming in Surrey.[33] The series also filmed in St James's Park and Tavistock Square in London and Hambleden.[34] The Soho area of London representing the street and Aziraphale's bookshop was created and shot in Hertfordshire at Bovingdon Airbase.[32] A vacant building in Weybridge, Surrey served as Heaven's corporate headquarters, and Hogback Wood, the location for Adam and his friends, was also filmed in Surrey. Bulstrode Park, just outside Gerrards Cross in Buckinghamshire, with its mansion and grounds, was used for the satanic convent/hospital and later the corporate training center. The American Army base was located and filmed in Upper Heyford, in Oxfordshire. The Weald and Downland Living Museum in West Sussex was used to film Agnes Nutter's burning at the stake. It was shot over a two-day period in October 2017.[31]
The car in the novel is a 1926 Bentley, but neither Gaiman nor Pratchett really knew what a 1926 model looked like when they wrote Good Omens. For the television series, a 1933 model which had more of the look Gaiman had in mind was used.[35] The Bentley used in filming is valued at 250,000.[31]The second series began filming in later 2021 in Scotland.[36]
Good Omens' opening title sequence, created by the London-based Peter Anderson Studio, features music by David Arnold.[37] When Douglas Mackinnon approached Anderson about the title sequence, Mackinnon said that he wanted something "over the top". His idea was to communicate the coming of Armageddon while also showing the humor and "fantastical tone", Crowley and Aziraphale's friendship, and the idea that good and evil are in everyone.[38] The project was a new style of design by Anderson and his studio, and a unique design for a television series. Anderson described the result as "a totally bonkers mishmash of all animation styles in a way where they feel as if they belong together".[39][40]
The actual production used physical props, animation, illustration, 3D and some live-action motion, to depict the approaching apocalypse and clash between Heaven and Hell.[40] Studio employees were filmed in costume, on green screen; they were then cut out and animations were created.[40] Each of the characters has either Crowley's or Aziraphale's face.[38]
The title sequence incorporates all the characters from the series as they move towards the Apocalypse.[39] Included are Crowley's Bentley in front of Aziraphale's bookshop, the Chattering Order of St. Beryl's nuns, Shadwell and Madame Tracy, the hellhound, flying saucers, the appearance of Death, and the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Crowley's work on London's M25 is featured in the parade, along with various towns and areas of the world.[41] In the end, characters fall from earth, landing either in Heaven or Hell,[39] leading into the Good Omens title artwork.[38] The entire sequence runs one minute and 40 seconds.[39]
Claire Anderson was the costume designer for Good Omens.[42] She received a 2019 Emmy nomination for Outstanding Fantasy/Sci-Fi Costumes for Episode 3, Hard Times.[43] Early design centered on main characters Aziraphale and Crowley; Anderson worked closely with actors Michael Sheen and David Tennant to design their modern-day looks.[31] Once created, they were an important influence on their other attire throughout history.[42]
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