Good Omens is wickedly great TV

Clear your calendar because you’re going to want to binge this six-part TV series in one go. It’s so engrossing.

The apocalypse will start at teatime.

That’s Good Omens in a nutshell — a larger-than-life battle between good and evil, all wrapped up in a quaint, droll and extremely English package.

The six-part series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant as an angel and a demon dealing with the End of Days drops today on Amazon Prime Video — and if you haven’t already subscribed to Amazon for Fleabag, then Good Omens should convince you it’s a no-brainer.

Good Omens is wickedly funny and often gives off Life of Brian vibes. It’s also clear all the actors are having an absolute ball in their roles, and that kind of fun is infectious and leaps off the screen, enveloping you so that you’re completely lost in the story.

Before his death in 2015, fantasy writer Terry Pratchett asked Neil Gaiman to adapt their 1990 novel into a TV series. It took some years, but Pratchett would’ve been proud of the series Gaiman wrote for him — sharp, dark, hilarious and completely engrossing.

When good and evil combine collude

Angel Aziraphale (Sheen) and demon Crowley (Tennant) have been around on Earth since the beginning — Crowley tempted Eve with that apple while Aziraphale gave them his flaming sword to protect themselves against that pesky lion.

So since the dawn of time, they’ve been the opposing forces in each other’s lives. Or have they?

Despite pitching for different teams, Aziraphale and Crowley are actually great friends, dropping in on each other throughout the millennia, occasionally colluding together.

The lines between good and evil are blurry, especially when neither of them can remember which side started the Reign of Terror in 1793, or when Crowley questions the ethics of God (voiced by Frances McDormand) drowning everyone except for Noah and whatever fit onto his ark — only one unicorn, the other one ran away.

As Aziraphale says in defence, “The great plan is ineffable.”

Now the apocalypse is only days away, and Crowley and Aziraphale have misplaced the anti-Christ (Sam Taylor Buck), an 11-year-old boy who happens to live in a small village in Oxfordshire.

Of course heaven looks like office hell

The biblical forces are all assembling and the Four Horsemen have been summoned. Everyone is preparing for the final battle between heaven and hell.

Everyone that is except for Aziraphale and Crowley. They rather like Earth, and Aziraphale doesn’t fancy spending eternity listening to only angelic harp harmonies or The Sound of Music on repeat.

But trying to stop the apocalypse isn’t easy when you have to contend with your bosses, like Archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm) or Beezlebub (Anna Maxwell Martin), or witches like Anathema Device (Adria Arjona) and witch hunters (Michael McKean and Jack Whitehall)

Good Omens takes irreverence to the next level — and if you’re not going to do that with a TV show about the apocalypse, then when are you going to?

Lose yourself in Good Omens

But the real highlight of the show is Sheen and Tennant’s utterly delightful chemistry.

An angel and a demon — both a little holier and naughtier than they should be — slyly joining forces makes for the most fun dynamic.

Tennant is revelling in the devilish role, snarling his words and really going for a Billy Idol swagger, while Sheen’s more prudish Aziraphale always looks like he regrets, but not really, whatever form of mischief he’s indulged in.

The two Brits bounce off each other with this energy that makes for intoxicating viewing.

You won’t want to stop watching it or anything in this imaginative show.

Good Omens is available to stream on Amazon Prime Video now

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