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While debate remains as to whether or not we’re still in The Golden Age of Television, it is safe to assume that we’ve been witness to a new era of TV: streaming services and their instant-access original content. Fewer and fewer mainstream TV shows settle for “just good enough” anymore, overall visual standards, diversity in content and storytelling techniques have ameliorated substantially since the early 1990s and 2000s. However, rising standards in general mean that differentiating between good and great TV is becoming harder and harder. Amazon, following in the footsteps of streaming giant Netflix, has steadily increased its reliance on original as opposed to purchased programming. Good Omens is an example of one such triumph.

Good Omens was adapted for the screen by Neil Gaiman, one of the two authors of the 1990 novel of the same name (the other being the late Terry Pratchett, OBE). Gaiman served as showrunner and chief writer for the entirety of the series, his creative input undoubtedly contributing to the success of the show’s adaptation. It stars David Tennant as red-head demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as angel Aziraphale, who dons an off-white suit and bow tie for the majority of his screen time. The two experienced actors unsurprisingly deliver impeccable performances; a sincere dedication from both the cast and crew to the absurd fantasy plot makes this show about the apocalypse feel charming – from beginning to The End. 

The basic narrative thread of Good Omens involves the coming-of-age of the young (outwardly human) antichrist, the approach of The End Times, and the unlikely friendship between Crowley and Aziraphale. Satan’s newborn son, delivered to earth by Crowley, is raised as a normal, rosy-cheeked boy, who gets up to childish mischief as agents of heaven and hell race to prepare for the coming apocalypse. The focus on the young boy and his friends, and the unusual relationship between Crowley and Aziraphale, makes Good Omens a comic drama focused on personal relationships and growth, with all the fantasy trappings one expects from Neil Gaiman. 

Good Omens invites us into the inner workings of both heaven and hell, and dedicated world building helps to establish a strong world-fantasy setting. A satisfying visual feast, Good Omens makes strong use of a legion of classic English scapes, ranging from the famous St James’s Park in London to a snug table in The Ritz. Heaven and Hell are zones of moral professionalism, treated as official work spaces rather than dramatic or divinely inspired locales. If anything, ironically, they are the most unimaginative use of setting in the series. 

The show plays with history as well as geography, tracking the friendship of Aziraphale and Crowley over the past 6000 years. The pair effortlessly flit from chatting outside the Garden of Eden to enjoying a rehearsal of Hamlet in Shakespearean England, or bickering in a Parisian jail cell during the French Revolution. In another episode, we are brought back to the era of witch trials, learning about the all-important Book of Nice and Accurate Prophecies by Agnes Nutter, a female Nostradamus whose descendant Anathema Device (Adria Arjona) plays a key role in the unravelling of the apocalypse. For all the grandeur of the show’s historical scope and landscape, the majority of its action occurs within a limited setting: the quintessential – and fictional – English village of Tadfield, and a nearby American airbase.

Good Omens’s star-studded cast also features Jack Whitehall, Frances McDormand, Benedict Cumberbatch (as a questionable CGI rendition of Satan), as well as ardent fans of the 1990 novel, Nina Sosanya and Jon Hamm. Despite the array of famous names and the authorial prestige surrounding the project, the show is never lost in star-dom. Tennant and Sheen breathe new life into one of TV’s favourite tropes, the unlikely friendship between “good” and “bad”. Their effortless chemistry grounds a show of literally cosmic proportions in the devoted, believable connection between two (sort of) men. Undoubtedly, without the performances of this divine lead pairing, Good Omens would be doomed.