The Ineffable Good Omens

A comedy about Armageddon, who wouldn't want to watch that? Good Omens is exactly that! Based on Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett's 1990 novel of the same name, Good Omens is a fantasy comedy series that Neil Gaiman developed and wrote. I'm one of the "the book was better" mob. So when I say that for me, the TV version of Good Omens was the ideal adaptation I never dared to dream would happen, I don't say it casually. The pairing of Michael Sheen and David Tennant was perfect, and their on-screen banter made the show a delight to watch. The show is at its best when they are together coming up with hare-brained schemes to delay (if they can't stop it) the end of the world. The main characters of Good Omens are Aziraphale (played by Sheen) and Crowley (played by Tennant), two angels who are initially seen protecting the Garden of Eden. We quickly learn that Crowley (formerly known as Crawly when he was a snake) quickly changed into a fallen angel and is now, well, a demon. He represents Satan, whereas Aziraphale represents God. Both of them are ambassadors on Earth, which, as you are aware, is merely a place for testing human beings and the setting for the final conflict between good and evil, which will take place between heaven and hell. The antichrist's birth and the end of the world are just the beginning of that vast plan, which Aziraphale calls "ineffable" in some aspects, but Aziraphale and Crowley also come to the realisation that it might not matter what they do. As a result, the two wind up joining forces in a plan to cover for one another and ease their difficult lives at first. After that, they start to get along. They eventually develop into the best of all buddies. And it's not hard to think that, after watching all six Good Omens episodes, this might be one of the most heartfelt, wonderfully portrayed (though chaste) gay love stories in television history.

The over-the-top fanciful aspects of Good Omens and the several surprise cameos (and others that are best left for you to discover) give the story a buoyant, gleeful sense of surrealness. Listen, this is a tale that not only features the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse appearing in modern times (Pestilence is replaced by Pollution), two of whom are played by women, and all of them ride rumbling motorcycles, but also the Kraken and the rise of the Lost City of Atlantis.

The series is ultimately a love letter to the novel, blending the sharp humour and wonderful character development of Gaiman and Pratchett with stunningly beautiful settings and enduring costumes.