Hello, it's Reviewsday Tuesday and today
I'm going to be reviewing Good Omens,
The co-production between Amazon Studios and
the BBC.
The series is currently available in its entirety on Amazon Prime Video
And it's also going to be broadcast on BBC2 in the UK
in the future.
It's six episodes long and it is an adaptation of the book of the same name by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman,
With the latter writing the series and
Douglas McKinnon directing.
It stars Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale
and David Tennant as the demon Crowley
Who wish to avoid Armageddon and the coming of the Antichrist because they like this world.
It has a large cast including Francis McDormand,
Jon Hamm, Jack Whitehall, Adria Arjona.
And it also has a lot of really fun cameos
Including Reece Shearsmith, Steve Pemberton,
and Mark Gatiss,
And David Morrissey and Benedict Cumberbatch.
I was really looking forward to this adaptation,
I've read the book and I love the book.
And there was also a BBC Radio adaptation
a few years ago which I adore.
And this adaptation was so true to the book.
I think this is maybe one of the most loyal adaptations
of a book that I have ever seen,
And that's obviously due a lot to Neil Gaiman's presence
throughout the making of this show,
Who was encouraged to continue on this project
by Terry Pratchett before he died.
And you can see that it's a labour of love and that everyone involved with the show loves the book so much
And that there's a great wish to maintain
the feel and the story of the original book.
And there are benefits and disadvantages to this.
As I say, the tone of the book is kept and the style and the humour and I love those aspects
But there are also, I think, a few things
that work really well in book form
Or that maybe I just didn't notice were there so much
in book form
Which didn't translate as well, to me, to a TV adaptation.
For instance, some of the dialogue seemed to be kept exactly and some of the exposition
Which was great to read but made the TV series feel sometimes a bit like it lacked pace or excitement.
And also quite a few of the characters
aside from Aziraphale and Crowley
Felt quite one-dimensional or like they only existed
to further the plot,
And that felt more obvious to me in the series
than it did in the book
Maybe because your viewpoint in the book is
slightly different.
But the central relationship between Sheen's angel and Tennant's demon glued the whole show together.
The show soars when one or both of those characters are on screen.
Their chemistry is so great and I feel like they were born to play those roles, Sheen especially.
I can't praise them enough.
Even with the gripes I have with the show being perhaps so true to the book to be detrimental
These two characters and these two performances make this show such a good show to watch.
I really enjoyed it, I wasn't that excited by it,
I don't feel like there's much to surprise anyone
who has read the book before
But it was a very entertaining watch
and I'd recommend it.
I'd be very interested to know what you think
about the show Good Omens
Both if you have read the book before
or if you haven't read the book before.
I'm not sure to be honest whether it's better to see the show before or after having read the book
Because on one hand this is so true to the book & you can only really appreciate that when you've read the book
But on the other hand you might find the show
more exciting and surprising if you haven't read it.
And I would definitely recommend the BBC Radio adaptation if you haven't listened to it
And I would say that I prefer that a bit to this series.
I will give this adaptation of Good Omens 3.9 out of 5.
It was really good and I would recommend it
But I feel like it was just somehow a bit too loyal
to the original text,
There were just a few elements that didn't sit as well
in this medium, I thought.
Anyway, let's move across the end screen.
If you'd like to see some more reviews or my
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I'm currently reviewing the entire Discworld series on the first and third Tuesday of the month
So that's something to look at if you fancy it.
I hope you have a wonderful day and I will see you soon!
