The BBC and Amazon have teamed up to adapt Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s acclaimed novel, Good Omens.
Gaiman, who will write the TV version and serve as Showrunner, said: “Almost 30 years ago Terry Pratchett and I wrote the funniest novel we could about the end of the world, populated with angels and demons, not to mention an 11 year-old Antichrist, witch-finders and the four horsepeople of the Apocalypse.
“It became many people’s favourite book. Three decades later, it’s going to make it to the screen.”
The series will be produced by BBC Studios, Narrativia and The Blank Corporation in association with BBC Worldwide, which has licensed the global subscription on demand rights to Amazon.
It will debut next year on the BBC and Amazon Prime Video.
Chris Sussman, Head of Comedy, BBC Studios, says: “Good Omens has always been one of my favourite books, and it’s hugely exciting not just to be able to bring it to life, but to do so with scripts from Neil Gaiman himself.
“It feels like a good time to be making a comedy about an impending global apocalypse.”
Joe Lewis, Head of Comedy and Drama, Amazon Studios, added: “Spanning not only the universe but also the entirety of time, Neil Gaiman has created a story that may be the largest ever told on television.
“We’re excited to be working with BBC Studios to bring Neil and Terry Pratchett’s incredible book to life and to Prime members everywhere.”
BBC Worldwide will distribute first run rights in territories where there is no Prime Video and second-run rights internationally.
Book synopsis
According to The Nice And Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, (the world’s only completely accurate book of prophecies) the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.
So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon – both of whom have lived among Earth’s mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle – are not actually looking forward to the coming war.
And someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist…
