# Good Omens - Amazon Prime adaptation by Neil Gaiman **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** tv-shows-scripted, amazon-prime\ **Created:** [May 30, 2019, 11:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796 "2019-05-30T23:26:44Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Kobal2](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kobal2/32/20_2.png) [@Kobal2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kobal2)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/21 "2019-06-01T15:35:32Z")
> [@silenus](#): > > And (not like it matters) Aziraphale knows what they are worth. An Imperial shit-ton. How much is that in farthings ? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/22 "2019-06-01T15:36:01Z")
> [@Face\_Intentionally\_Left\_Blank](#): > > I haven’t read the book. I’m guessing from context that the change Neil made was: > > At the end, when they masqueraded as each other to avoid the death by holy water/hellfire. I very much liked that bit. I admit to being fooled: They hung around each other so much and were so influenced by each other, I thought they HAD changed enough that the fire/water wouldn’t hurt them. Yes, it was, and I wondered the same. I saw an interview where Neil said it was possible to see them do it, but that it was subtle. I may have to watch again to see if I can catch it. \*Such \*a hardship. > [@Face Intentionally Left Blank](#): > > After watching The Colour of Magic, I think I’ll always hear Pratchett’s, “Death” as Christopher Lee. They should have given that role to Benedict Cumberbatch. Any deep, processed, booming voice would have done for The Devil. They already had Benedict for Satan, though. I think he’d have made a better Death, myself, but it’s not like I was consulted. 😉 > [@Face Intentionally Left Blank](#): > > As for the books: > > Thanks for explaining that. I like that Adam would put loved children’s books in place of the religious and prophecy texts. > > Finally, I was disappointed when Anathema: > > Burned the prophecies. Wouldn’t Agnes have predicted that and not bothered to write them? Also, that hurts the sequel possibilities, though I guess they never wrote a follow-up to the first book, and Neil probably didn’t want more of it made without Terry’s help/input. That last bit happened in the book, too, actually. And Agnes did anticipate it. I think it was her way of letting her descendents free themselves _by choice_. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 1, 2019, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/23 "2019-06-01T15:42:16Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > That last bit happened in the book, too, actually. And Agnes did anticipate it. I think it was her way of letting her descendents free themselves _by choice_. As Newt said in the book “Do you want to be a descendant all your life?” ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/24 "2019-06-02T04:59:22Z")
Just finished. Liked it overall, but I thought the voiceover was kind of kludgy. And if they insisted on having it, it should have been Gaiman. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 5:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/25 "2019-06-02T05:33:22Z")
I like the voiceover. _shrug_ ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/26 "2019-06-02T05:38:23Z")
Did anybody else catch, during the scene where Crowley had all the pages from the planetary atlas flying around his head, that one of them was Gallifrey? I thought that was a nice touch! ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/27 "2019-06-02T06:04:19Z")
No, but I noticed him leave a phone booth that was a bit similar to the TARDIS. ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Strangelove](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr.strangelove/32/6613_2.png) [@Dr.Strangelove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Strangelove)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/28 "2019-06-02T11:11:01Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#): > > No, but I noticed him leave a phone booth that was a bit similar to the TARDIS. Adam’s father’s car had a license plate of SID RAT. ---
**Author:** ![Infovore](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/infovore/32/420_2.png) [@Infovore](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Infovore)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/29 "2019-06-02T15:36:52Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Adam’s father’s car had a license plate of SID RAT. Ha, I missed that. I’m trying to figure out why the license plate on the Bentley said NAIT RUC, though. Am I missing something relevant about “Curtain”? ---
**Author:** ![Morgyn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/morgyn/32/3041_2.png) [@Morgyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Morgyn)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/30 "2019-06-02T15:41:31Z")
> [@Dr.Strangelove](#): > > Adam’s father’s car had a license plate of SID RAT. > [@Infovore](#): > > Ha, I missed that. I’m trying to figure out why the license plate on the Bentley said NAIT RUC, though. Am I missing something relevant about “Curtain”? I noticed Adam’s father’s car’s license plate, although I’m not entirely certain what it refers to. I didn’t see Crowley’s at all, but maybe it’s a reference to the phrase “It’s curtains for you!”. You know, the end of all things. Or maybe it’s the curtain that hides the truth, like in the Wizard of Oz? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/31 "2019-06-02T16:53:58Z")
> [@Morgyn](#): > > I noticed Adam’s father’s car’s license plate, although I’m not entirely certain what it refers to. It’s a Doctor Who reference. A [SIDRAT](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/SIDRAT)is a box that has some of the powers of the TARDIS, but not as good. It should have been David Tennant’s license plate, though. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/32 "2019-06-02T16:57:30Z")
Maybe it was a reference to somebody’s [shower curtain](https://society6.com/product/demons-run-when-a-good-man-goes-to-war-dr-who_shower-curtain?sku=s6-3538533p34a35v287). ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/33 "2019-06-02T17:22:34Z")
Space in Dimension Relative and Time? ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/34 "2019-06-02T18:12:47Z")
Space and Inter-time Dimensional Robot All-purpose Transporter, according to Malcolm Hulke’s novelization of the story. Never actually explained onscreen. Bssically, it’s just TARDIS backwards. ---
**Author:** ![furryman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/furryman/32/99_2.png) [@furryman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/furryman)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/35 "2019-06-02T18:14:21Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Space in Dimension Relative and Time? Space Is a Dimension Relative Analogous to Time ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_McQwark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4da419/32.png) [@Steve\_McQwark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_McQwark)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 8:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/36 "2019-06-02T20:29:29Z")
I haven’t reread the book in a few years and I had been debating whether to reread before watching, now I’m glad I didn’t. I remembered the storyline but not many details so I didn’t spend any time thinking about the differences. I thought it was amusing that the guard at the gate was reading “American Gods”. I guess they figured that if he had been reading “Good Omens” the show might have entered some infinite loop and they would have gone way over budget. ---
**Author:** ![MacTech](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c0e974/32.png) [@MacTech](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MacTech)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 8:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/37 "2019-06-02T20:36:03Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > It’s a Doctor Who reference. A [SIDRAT](https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/SIDRAT)is a box that has some of the powers of the TARDIS, but not as good. > > It should have been David Tennant’s license plate, though. So it’s smaller on the inside? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2019, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/38 "2019-06-02T20:40:07Z")
I did reread the book in anticipation of the series. One thing I noticed about the gate guard–in the book, the low-rank military were using convoluted “cop speak.” The guard used only one fake word, which seemed kinda weird if you didn’t already know what they were trying to express. ---
**Author:** ![Kron](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kron/32/12444_2.png) [@Kron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kron)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/39 "2019-06-03T15:33:48Z")
I will never again be satisfied by ANY adaptation of a written work to the screen. This was perfect- no sacrifices of story. I absolutely loved it, my son loved it, and he now wants to read the book- so it is definitely not just for those who are already fans of the novel. Why, WHY could American Gods not have been done a quarter as well as this was? ---
**Author:** ![Gyrate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gyrate/32/3588_2.png) [@Gyrate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gyrate)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2019, 3:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796/40 "2019-06-03T15:55:02Z")
So I’ve seen the whole series and here are some thoughts: - Absolutely loved the opening credit design and music. - Tennant and Sheen are, frankly, brilliant in this. Really really good. In fact, watching them alone justifies watching the series. - A surprisingly strong (and suspiciously expensive) supporting cast. I don’t know what Jon Hamm or Frances McDormand cost these days but it’s probably not cheap. I had doubts about the casting of McKean and Whitehall but actually I thought both acquitted themselves well. And Josie Lawrence is a perfect Nutter. The kids were a little stiff but whatcha gonna do. - I had fun with spot-the-voiceover-artist and laughed out loud at Nicholas Parsons channelling Dagon (if you don’t know who Parsons is, I can’t explain why it’s funny) and Andy Hamilton as a luckless demon (who should have been named Scumspawn). One I didn’t catch due to alteration was the voice of Satan himself, who only had a few lines at the end, spoken by _Benedict Cumberbatch_. Also, we got the Floating Head of Derek Jacobi as the Metatron (most of the Metatron’s lines from the book went to Hamm’s Gabriel) which I thought was gratuitous but mildly amusing. - I didn’t mind most of the changes from the book (I mean, I missed the Other Four Bikers but it wasn’t a dealbreaker). And the additional material was good - Crowley comes across as much more sympathetic than in the book, and the extra bit at the end about the trials worked well. However, the revised confrontation between the kids and the Four Horsemen was IMO a big mistake - the book version would have worked much better and wouldn’t have been any more involved than what they did in the show. - The one big negative: Anathema. I can only assume that Adria Arjona is part-owner of the production company or Neil Gaiman’s girlfriend or some influential person’s client who wanted more exposure for her, because whoever decided “You know who would be the best person to play a frumpy English hedge witch? A Puerto Rican model” can’t possibly have made that decision on artistic merit. Lovely to look at but couldn’t act her way out of a wet paper bag (and that’s not even getting into the weird steampunk couture they put her in). - Finally, I note from some of the reviews on Amazon that the usual contingent are whining over Pollution being overtly female (but called “sir”) and hinting that making Adam and Eve black was due to “SJW” influence. My heart bleeds for these people, really it does. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/good-omens-amazon-prime-adaptation-by-neil-gaiman/834796.md?page=3)