#Neil Tennant is alive.

[orionsangel86]

You know every single fandom ever has done the merman AU. There is a mountain of fanfiction and fanart out there for merman AUs. You think of a popular ship, I guarantee you there is merman AU fanworks of it.

OFMD just decided to bring the merman AU to canon for a hot moment. A bold move. A batshit crazy move. A fucking power move in my opinion. Anyone doubting this show was for fandom can no longer doubt it. Call it cringe or embarassing all you like, but I am so fucking impressed they did that. Amazing. 10/10 no notes. Sorry to any Kiwi's present but Rhys Darby makes for a very hunky merman too. They fully dedicated themselves to getting New Zealands funny uncle into a proper silicon merman tale, complete with pretty flowy fins and actual GLITTER and made him swim up to Taika Waititi underwater in a recreation of that scene from Splash. No one is doing it like them. I think the only way a show could top this is somehow bringing omegaverse to the silver screen... but that is perhaps a tad too far across the fandom/canon divide!

[winter-seance]

Many screenwriters assemble a fantasy cast as they write the script. It can help to bring characters alive, and Neil is no exception. In the case of Good Omens, pursuing a vision in memory of the novel's co-writer, he set out to turn the dream into a reality.

'I had Michael Sheen and David Tennant in mind when I was writing,' he says. 'I was half way through Episode Three, scripting the scene in the church, and I suddenly decided that I wanted David. And I wrote it as if I was going to get David. It was a combination of the physicality of the character and knowing he could land every line. You write different kinds of dialogue for different kinds of actors,' he continues, 'and there's a specific kind of dialogue that you write when you know they're going to land it. You can be more playful, for example. So I hoped I'd get David when I wrote Crowley going, "Ow ow ow!" as he walked down the church aisle, and then delivering this entire speech wile having to hop from foot to foot. That's not the kind of thing you'd give most actors unless you know they were good enough to do it. - Neil Gaiman, as quoted in The Nice and Accurate Good Omens TV Companion

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

The Radio Times magazine from the 29 July-04 August 2023 :)

THE SECOND COMING

How did Terry Pratchett and Neil gaiman overcome the small matter of Pratchett's death to make another series of their acclaimed divine comedy?

For all the dead authors in the world,” legendary comedy producer John Lloyd once said, “Terry Pratchett is the most alive.” And he’s right. Sir Terry is having an extremely busy 2023… for someone who died in 2015.

This week sees the release of Good Omens 2, the second series of Amazon’s fantasy comedy drama based on the cult novel Pratchett co-wrote with Neil Gaiman in the late 1980s. This will be followed in the autumn by a new spin-off book from Pratchett’s Discworld series, Tiffany Aching’s Guide to Being a Witch, co-written by Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna and children’s author Gabrielle Kent. The same month, we’ll also get A Stroke of the Pen, a collection of “lost” short stories written by Sir Terry for local newspapers in the 70s and 80s and recently rediscovered. Clearly, while there are no more books coming from Pratchett – a hard drive containing all drafts and unpublished work was crushed by a vintage steamroller shortly after the author’s death, as per his specific wishes – people still want to visit his vivid and addictive worlds in new ways.

Good Omens 2 will be the first test of how this can work. The original book started life as a 5,000-word short story by Gaiman, titled William the Antichrist and envisioned as a bit of a mashup of Richmal Crompton’s Just William books and the 70s horror classic The Omen. What would happen, Gaiman had mused, if the spawn of Satan had been raised, not by a powerful American diplomat, but by an extremely normal couple in an idyllic English village, far from the influence of hellish forces? He’d sent the first draft to bestselling fantasy author Pratchett, a friend of many years, and then forgotten about it as he busied himself with continuing to write his massively popular comic books, including Violent Cases, Black Orchid and The Sandman, which became a Netflix series last year.

Pratchett loved the idea, offering to either buy the concept from Gaiman or co-write it. It was, as Gaiman later said, “like Michelangelo phoning and asking if you want to paint a ceiling” The pair worked on the book together from that point on, rewriting each other as they went and communicating via long phone calls and mailed floppy discs. “The actual mechanics worked like this: I would do a bit, then Neil would take it away and do a bit more and give it back to me,” Pratchett told Locus magazine in 1991. “We’d mess about with each other’s bits and pieces.”

Good Omens: The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch – to give it its full title –was published in 1990 to huge acclaim. It was one of, astonishingly, five Terry Pratchett novels to be published that year (he averaged two a year, including 41 Discworld novels and many other standalone works and collaborations).

It was also, clearly, extremely filmable, and studios came knocking — though getting it made took a while. rnvo decades on from its writing, four years after Pratchett's death from Alzheimer's disease aged 66, and after several doomed attempts to get a movie version off the ground, Good Omens finally made it to TV screens in 2019, scripted and show-run by Gaiman himself. "Terry was egging me on to make it into television. He knew he was dying, and he knew that I wouldn't start it without him," Gaiman revealed in a 2019 Radio Times interview. Amazon and the BBC co-produced with Pratchett's company Narrativia and Gaiman's Blank Corporation production studios, with Michael Sheen and David Tennant cast in the central roles of Aziraphale the angel and Crowley the demon. The show was a hit, not just with fans of its two creators, but with a whole new young audience, many of whom had no interest in Discworld or Sandman. Social media networks like Tumblr and TikTok were soon awash with cosplay, artwork and fan fiction. The original novel became, for the first time, a New York Times bestseller.

A follow up was, on one level, a no-brainer. The world Pratchett and Gaiman had created was vivid, funny and accessible, and Tennant and Sheen had found an intriguing romantic spark in their chemistry not present in the novel.

There was, however, a huge problem. There wasn't a second Good Omens book to base it on. But there was the ghost of an idea.

In 1989, after the book had been sold but before it had come out, the two authors had laid on fivin beds in a hotel room at a convention in Seattle and, jet-lagged and unable to sleep, plotted out, in some detail, what would happen in a sequel, provisionally titled 668, The II Neighbour of the Beast.

"It was a good one, too" Gaiman wrote in a 2021 blog. "We fully intended to write it, whenever we next had three or four months free. Only I went to live in America and Terry stayed in the UK, and after Good Omens was published, Sandman became SANDMAN and Discworld became DISCWORLD(TM) and there wasn't a good time."

Back in 1991, Pratchett elaborated, "We even know some of the main characters in it. But there's a huge difference between sitting there chatting away, saying, 'Hey, we could do this, we could do that,' and actually physically getting down and doing it all again." In 2019, Gaiman pillaged some of those ideas for Good Omens series one (for example, its final episode wasn't in the book at all), and had left enough threads dangling to give him an opening for a sequel. This is the well he's returned to for Good Omens 2, co-writing with comic John Finnemore - drafted in, presumably, to plug the gap left Pratchett's unparalleled comedic mind. No small task.

Projects like Good Omens 2 are an important proving ground for Pratchett's legacy: can the universes he conjured endure without their creator? And can they stay true to his spirit? Sir Terry was famously protective of his creations, and there have been remarkably few adaptations of his work considering how prolific he was. "What would be in it for me?" he asked in 2003. "Money? I've got money."

He wanted his work treated reverently and not butchered for the screen. It's why Good Omens and projects like Tiffany Aching's Guide to Being a Witch are made with trusted members of the inner circle like Neil Gaiman and Rhianna Pratchett at the helm. It's also why the author's estate, run by Pratchett's former assistant and business manager Rob Wilkins, keeps a tight rein on any licensed Pratchett material — it's a multi-million dollar media empire still run like a cottage industry.

And that's heartening. Anyone who saw BBC America's panned 2021 Pratchett adaptation The Watch will know how badly these things can go when a studio is allowed to run amok with the material without oversight. These stories deserve to be told, and these worlds deserve to be explored — properly. And there are, apparently, many plans afoot for more Pratchett on the screen. You can only hope that, somewhere, he'll be proud of the results.

After all, as he wrote himself, "No one is finally dead until the ripples they cause in the world die away, until the clock wound up winds down, until the wine she made has finished its ferment, until the crop they planted is harvested. The span of someone's life is only the core of their actual existence."

While those ripples continue to spread, Sir Terry Pratchett remains very much alive. MARC BURROWS

DIVINE DUO

An angel and a demon walk into a pub... Michael Sheen and David Tennant on family, friendship and Morecambe & Wise

Outside it's cold winter's day and we're in a Scottish studio, somewhere between Edinburgh and Glasgow. But inside it's lunchtime in The Dirty Donkey pub in the heart of London, with both Michael Sheen and David Tennant surveying the scene appreciatively. "This is a great pub," says Sheen eagerly, while Tennant calls it "the best Soho there can be. A slightly heightened, immaculate, perfect, dreamy Soho."

Here, a painting of the absent landlord — the late Terry Pratchett, co-creator, with Neil Gaiman, of the series' source novel — looms over punters. Around the corner is AZ Fell and Co Antiquarian and Unusual Books. It's the bookshop owned by Sheen's character, the angel Aziraphale, and the place to where Tennant's demon Crowley is inevitably drawn.

It's day 74 of an 80-day shoot for a series that no one, least of all the leading actors, ever thought would happen, due to the fact that Pratchett and Gaiman hadn't ever published any sequel to their 1990 fantasy satire. Tennant explains, "What we didn't know was that Neil and Terry had had plots and plans..."

Still, lots of good things are in Good Omens 2, which expands on the millennia-spanning multiverse of the first series. These include a surprisingly naked side of John Hamm, and roles for both Tennant's father-in-law (Peter Davison) and 21-year-old son Ty. At its heart, though, remains the brilliant banter between the two leading men — as Sheen puts it, "very Eric and Ernie !" — whose chemistry on the first series led to one of the more surprising saviours of lockdown telly.

Good Omens is back — but you've worked together a lot in the meantime. Was there a connective tissue between series one of Good Omens and Staged, your lockdown sitcom?

David: Only in as much as the first series went out, then a few months later, we were all locked in our houses. And because of the work we'd done on Good Omens, it occurred that we might do something else. I mean, Neil Gaiman takes full responsibility for Staged. Which, to some extent, he's probably right to do!

Michael: We've got to know each other through doing this. Our lives have gotten more entwined in all kinds of ways — we have children who've now become friends, and our families know each other.

There have been hints of a romantic storyline between the two characters. How much of an undercurrent is that in this series.

David: Nothing's explicit.

Michael: I felt from the very beginning that part of what would be interesting to explore is that Aziraphale is a character, a being, who just loves. How does that manifest itself in a very specific relationship with another being? Inevitably, as there is with everything in this story, there's a grey area. The fact that people see potentially a "romantic relationship", I thought that was interesting and something to explore.

There was a petition to have the first series banned because of its irreverent take on Christian tropes. Series two digs even more deeply into the Bible with the story of Job. How much of a badge of honour is it that the show riles the people who like to ban things?

David: It's not an irreligious show at all. It's actually very respectful of the structure of that sort of religious belief. The idea that it promotes Satanism [is nonsense]. None of the characters from hell are to be aspired to at all! They're a dreadful bunch of non-entities. People are very keen to be offended, aren't they? They're often looking for something to glom on to without possibly really examining what they think they're complaining about.

Michael, you're known as an activist, and you're in the middle of Making BBC drama The Way, which "taps into the social and political chaos of today's world". Is it important for you to use your plaform to discuss causes you believe in?

Michael: The Way is not a political tract, it's just set in the area that I come from. But it has to matter to you, doesn't it? More and more as I get older, [I find] it can be a real slog doing this stuff. You've got to enjoy it. And if it doesn't matter to you, then it's just going to be depressing.

David, Michael has declared himself a "not-for-profit" actor. Has he tried to persuade you to give up all your money too?

David: What an extraordinary question! One is always aware that one has a certain responsibility if one is fortunate and gets to do a job that often doesn't feel like a job. You want to do your bit whenever you can. But at the same time, I'm an actor. I'm not about to give that up to go into politics or anything. But I'll do what I can from where I live.

Well, your son and your father-in-law are also starring in this series. How about that, jobs for the boys!

David: I know! It was a delight to get to be on set with them. And certainly an unexpected one for me. Neil, on two occasions, got to bowl up to me and say, "Guess who we've cast?!"

How do you feel about your US peers going on strike?

David: It's happening because there are issues that need to be addressed. Nobody's doing this lightly. These are important issues, and they've got to be sorted out for the future of our industry. There's this idea that writers and actors are all living high on the hog. For huge swathes of our industry, that's just not the case. These people have got to be protected.

Michael: We have to be really careful that things don't slide back to the way they were pre the 1950s, when the stories that we told were all coming from one point of view and the stories of certain people, or communities within our society, weren't represented. There's a sense that now that's changed for ever and it'll never go back. But you worry when people can't afford to have the opportunities that other people have. We don't want the story that we tell about ourselves to be myopic. You want it to be as inclusive as possible

Staged series 3 recently broadcast. It felt like the show's last hurrah — or is there more mileage? Sheen and Tennant go on holiday?

David: That's the Christmas special! One Foot in the Algarve! On the Buses Go to Spain!

Michael: I don't think we were thinking beyond three, were we?

So is it time for a conscious uncoupling for you two — Eric and Ernie say goodbye?

David: Oh, never say never, will we?

Michael: And it's more Hinge and Bracket.

David: Maybe that's what we do next — The Hinge and Bracket Story. CRAIG McLEAN

[weirdly-specific-but-ok]

Pt VIII good omens a spoiler-free trailer

*walks into church, ignoring the gasps of the congregation* *holds mic to a terrified gentleman's face*

Have you ever wondered, what if the flaming sword at the Garden of Eden was insufferably in love with the Serpent?

*doesn't wait for response, shoves mic in shaking lady's face*

What if I told you, your bible studies are incomplete, because they are missing the most important story of all?

*cut to me in front of a white screen, walking seductively toward camera in a suit*

Worry not, for your prayers have been answered. Presenting, Good Omens, a kind-of biblically accurate story by Sir Terry Pratchett and Tumblr's own @neil-gaiman, now a TV show and queerer than ever. All you AO3 slow-burn hoes, we see you. You asked for it, you got it. Childhood friends is so last millennium, we give you instead, six thousand years of mutual pining.

*hard cut to David Tennant, whom I have stuck to a chair with Elmer's glitter glue* *he struggles, in vain*

Starring David Tennant and his signature slutty walk as Crowley, now in a ginger Barbie edition that comes with demonic eyes, every hairstyle and gender you could ever dream of, and instant outfit changes. It really is a miracle!

*camera swivels to focus on Michael Sheen, who is bound in blankets and looking deeply concerned*

Starring Michael Sheen the fae shapeshifter as Aziraphale, the sweetest, most cherubic murderous bitchy angel you've ever seen. Special features include automatic heart-eyes the moment he is faced with Crowley, a charming disregard for casual massacre in the name of God, and the instant outfit changes. Watch him melt your heart before breaking it! Bonus tip: try giving him sushi!

*cut back to the white screen, I am now sitting uncomfortably close to the camera*

Follow Aziraphale and Crowley as they alternatively try to follow and thwart God's ineffable plan, managing to spectacularly fail at both tasks with a consistency that amazes as it befuddles. Featuring alcohol, a bookstore, and metaphorical and literal fire as things get a little... heated in the Bible fandom.

*crossfade to Soho, I walk along the street as the camera follows me*

If that isn't enough to convince you, presenting also, idiot lesbians giving an ancient demon love advice, sexy horsepersons of the apocalypse, an unofficial wedding combined with burning Nazis alive where the most important part is the handing over of a suitcase, and the sexiest MILF witch Agnes Nutter, a literal bombshell.

*cut to disturbing close up of Neil Gaiman's face* *he tries to step away, and is met with my camerapersons*

Watch Neil Gaiman give you hope and shatter it again repeatedly, in a show where the literal apocalypse is only the background to a forbidden idiots who are lovers-to-lovers who are idiots story that is older than Time itself. Armageddon takes a backseat as Crowley serves gender, and if you thought the Antichrist was adorable, wait till you see him in Good Omens, where his evil powers are directed towards being the cutest kid he can possibly be.

*cut back to white screen, I smile ominously while twirling a human bone*

Good Omens, at your nearest Amazon Prime, with free UST, fluff, Queen, and plenty of tears. Don't miss it!

*text rapidly rolls across screen*

[Imagery has been used for representative purposes. No David Tennant, Michael Sheen or Neil Gaiman was harmed in the process of creating this advertisement. Good Omens will have expected side-effects, including unprompted sobbing, a Pavlovian reaction to bandstands, nightingales, holy water and 'the final fifteen', heartache for the foreseeable future, and intense lust for Crowley's elusive gender. Asmi is not responsible for any consequences resulting from the advertised product. Some features have been excluded from the advertisement due to space and time constraints.]

[fandom]

Life, it never die. Nick Nelson is our favorite guy.

The second season of Heartstopper dropped on Netflix and has all of us wishing for a love like Nick and Charlie's. Conversation around the latest season of Good Omens shows no signs of slowing, and creator Neil Gaiman is at the head of it all. Hoyoverse has finally revealed the region of Fontaine as part of their upcoming update for Genshin Impact. DJ Crazy Times newest single Planet of the Bass reignited everyone's nostalgia for 90s European dance music, even those of us who weren't alive yet. This is Tumblr's Week in Review.

Good Omens

Heartstopper

Ineffable Husbands | Aziraphale & Crowley, Good Omens

Crowley | Good Omens

Aziraphale | Good Omens

Baldur's Gate 3

Artists on Tumblr

Barbie

David Tennant

DJ Crazy Times

Michael Sheen

Five Nights at Freddy's

Neil Gaiman

One Piece

Jujutsu Kaisen

Bungou Stray Dogs

Critical Role

Ineffable Bureaucracy | Archangel Gabriel & Beelzebub, Good Omens

Genshin Impact

Red, White & Royal Blue

[isortofwriteit]

I was tagged by @haleapologist (thank you!)

Get to know you game! Answer the questions and tag 9 people you want to know better!

Last song listened to: call it what you want - taylor swift (when will rep tv come out? who's to say?)

Currently reading: good omens by terry pratchett & neil gaiman

Currently watching: literally? kurtis conner's newest youtube video, no series as I binge watched good omens in two days a few weeks ago and I hyperfixate until the next thing so.

Currently obsessed with: good omens, david tennant, the concept of being alive on this mortal coil and somehow surviving???

Tagging: @dear-indies @flintstill @crowleybrekkers @davidtennantgenderenvy @puggby @earthckitt @abernathywrites

trying to tag the moots I don't know much about, hello gang xoxo

[certifiablyinsanez]

Good Omens/David Tennant/Michael Sheen/Neil Gaiman tangent: I have always had a genuine distaste for celebrities and celebrity culture for as long as I could remember. I could never relate to people having celebrity crushes, fangirling, having bedroom walls covered with posters, etc. I always felt so alienated about it as a kid. When I got older and tons of celebrities from our youth (I was born in 98’), were being arrested and outed as horrible people, I felt vindicated almost. Even now, I live by the motto “your fav is problematic” because I just live with the assumption that every celebrity has likely done something unforgivable and honestly I’ve been right 9/10 times. Even people I looked up too, who shaped who I was growing up, have been revealed to have done repulsive things. I’m talking bl*ckface, unapologetic racism, owning sweatshops, abuse, protecting abusers, etc. But if there were to be celebrities I’d want to meet and thank and celebrate, Michael Sheen and David Tennant, as well as Neil Gaiman would be on the list. Of course, people are people and good people can do bad things. But genuinely, their skills, their energy, their warmth, their chemistry; everything adding together has culminated in something that genuinely has had a profound impact on my life. It feels silly to feel that way over one bit of media these veterans have made over their careers that have been going on longer than I’ve been alive. Of course I’ve seen more of their work, but this one is my favorite because it feels like it was made for me. As if they were like “there’s a lonely person out there who has never seen themselves on screen, who feels unheard and unloved and unseen. Let’s fix that.” And they did that for MILLIONS of people. How spectacular. I’ve never actually cared to meet a celebrity really, but now I hope that one day I’ll meet them and let them know how much I cherish their art.

[hikarry]

I think too much about the fact that, canonically, David Tennant The Actor shares a universe with David Tennant The Crowley

As a Doctor Who fan, does Aziraphale look at Fourteen and then at Crowley and starts connecting some type of dots or does he just accepts the fact that a Human that looks just like Crowley less the Gingerness is currently alive and kicking and, by chance, extremely famous

I would accept Aziraphale looking at Ten and not connecting him with Crowley cause David looked much much younger back then, but Fourteen? David literally recorded Fourteen right after/before season 2! Cmon cmon Aziraphale ain't blind

Next year they are together, Crowley dresses up as Fourteen for Halloween, mainly to make Aziraphale happy - or else he wouldn't be caught dead wearing any shape of tartan - and people just stop them the whole night because "Oh my God, David Tennant on my Soho street with a gay lil man by the arm. What a coincidence. Can we get a pic? How are Georgia and the kids?"

Wait wait wait

If David is canon, could Michael also be? I mean. The Baftas happened. And so did Staged

Also, Neil is canon in the Good Omens universe so he would be canonically capable to join David and Michael together somehow

Wait wait

The book Good Omens is canon in the Good Omens TV show universe, so would Neil Gaiman join David and Michael by having them play Aziraphale and Crowley in the new Good Omens tvshow inside the Good Omens Tvshow universe which would, by logic, make David look EXACTLY like Crowley, Gingerness and all

This is a whole hole to be digged

Doctor Who being cannon in Good Omens just brings up a whole ass train of hypothesis

Someone smarter than me should think about that and write something smart

[stuff-and-shenanigans]

scattered general good omens season 2 thoughts below the cut

- neil gaiman remains my favorite writer even if he’s unequivocally broken my brain a little bit. and john finnemore, whose work on cabin pressure i enjoyed thoroughly when i was younger, was a marvelous choice for co-writer this time round.

- michael sheen and david tennant genuinely might be the two best actors alive. they’re so perfectly cast and every single interaction they have and every moment they have to themselves is so magnificently calibrated. i love them as aziraphale and crowley so very very much and i hope they are proud of their work because they should be.

- the ineffable bureaucracy was so sneakily and delightfully handled. i don’t think anyone could have predicted that ship ever becoming canon but i thought it was so adorably handled. hope they’re having a nice time on alpha centauri 🥺

- the humor this season is VERY pratchetty and all the funny moments genuinely made me grin. the demons not understanding spelling, muriel as a “human police officer,” gabriel/jim’s himbo moments, THE INEPT NAZI ZOMBIES… so good. i think terry would enjoy so much of this season.

- the historical flashbacks were a DELIGHT and i LOVED seeing their first meeting before the big bang 🥺

- i like maggie and nina a lot and i really hope we get a season three because i am really rooting for them. YAY taking time in relationships after a breakup. that’s so important and healthy and i’m glad that’s how we’ve left them for now. i hope they have a nice juicy part to play in the future.

- the second coming being season three’s plot is too perfect (presumably based on terry’s notes with neil for 668: the neighbor of the beast) and i can’t wait to see how it turns out.

- THE ENTIRE LAST MOMENTS WHERE WE THINK WE’RE GETTING A MUTUAL CONFESSION. BUT NO. IT GOES SO WRONG. AND THEN AZIRAPHALE’S “I NEED YOU I NEED US” AND CROWLEY JUST PLANTING ONE ON HIM AND AZI HAVING NO CLUE WHAT TO DO WITH HIS HANDS AND WHEN THEY BREAK HE’S DEVASTATED AND CAN ONLY SAY HE FORGIVES HIM. and then aziraphale touching his lips as crowley leaves and the dark reprise of nightingale holy fucking shit you cannot make this shit up i am forever devastated and replaying every bit in my head because gooooooood michael and david fucking killed me

[invisibleicewands]

When Good Omens wrapped its first season, the story was over. That was it, the Amazon Prime TV series created by Neil Gaiman had finished adapting Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s 1990 apocalyptic comedy novel. But Gaiman wasn’t quite finished with the tale of the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen) and the demon Crowley (David Tennant).

“We always knew from the beginning that there was more story because Neil and Terry, when Terry was alive, had talked about ideas beyond the first book,” Sheen tells Inverse.

In fact, some of those ideas made it into the first season of Good Omens, which aired on Amazon Prime in 2020 to widespread acclaim. With new characters like the archangel Gabriel (Jon Hamm), and scenes showing further insight into the millennia-long relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley, Gaiman was planting the seeds for the second season of Good Omens. That wasa gamble, considering Season 2 didn’t get greenlit until 2023. Even then, Sheen and Tennant weren’t even sure if Good Omens Season 2 was happening until they showed up to set the first day.

“Until you’re on set on day one, you don’t really believe it’ll happen,” Sheen says.

Nearly five years after they filmed Season 1, Sheen and Tennant settled back into their characters as if they’d been doing this for, well, millennia. With the apocalypse out of the way, Good Omens Season 2 is very much the Aziraphale and Crowley show, dedicating lengthy flashbacks to their friendship (or maybe more) through the ages. The chemistry between the two can be credited to Sheen and Tennant’s close real-life friendship, with the pair even poking fun at their relationship in a comedy series called Staged that aired during COVID. But the Aziraphale and Crowley relationship took off in a way they couldn’t anticipate after the first season, and which Sheen and Tennant felt some pressure to live up to.

“Gradually, I’d start meeting people dressed up as Aziraphale and Crowley,” Tennant tells Inverse. “And then that would happen more and more and more, and you realize, oh, this has got legs.”

Inverse spoke to Sheen and Tennant about Good Omens Season 2, how they dealt with the show’s passionate following, and what Easter eggs fans can expect to see.

Knowing the first season of Good Omens finished adapting the book, what was your reaction when you were asked to be in the second season?

Michael Sheen: Well, there was no real clear point where it was put to us. We always knew from the beginning that there was more story because Neil and Terry, when Terry was alive, had talked about ideas beyond the book. And in fact, some of those ideas are in the first series. The angels and Gabriel are not in the book. So we knew there was more story. And then as the series came out and it got the reception it got and the audience seemed to enjoy it so much, it was clear that there was possibly an appetite for more. And I think because Neil had talked it through with Terry in the past, about where the story could go, that gave him the confidence to feel like maybe we could explore this. And then it just developed.

David Tennant: Yes. But it crept up on us, didn’t it? It evolved as an idea, and it went from being something that, oh, wouldn’t it be nice if, to a genuine exploration of a possibility of Series 2, to when can we do it?

Sheen: Until you’re on set on day one, you don’t really believe it’ll happen. And then when I did turn up on day one—

Tennant: I wasn’t there.

Sheen: Because he was ill.

Tennant: I got COVID for the first couple of days of the shoot. Remember that was a thing? Everyone stayed off work and everything.

Sheen: Well, you did. Some of us battled on.

Obviously, both of you were in Doctor Who. I saw the handful of Doctor Who references in this season, with Aziraphale haggling over a lost episode of Doctor Who, Peter Davison playing Job, and David, your reference to Alpha Centauri. Whose idea was it to sprinkle in those Doctor Who nods? And were more that didn’t make it in?

Tennant: That’s Neil [Gaiman], isn’t it? Neil’s a fan, and Douglas [Mackinnon], our director as well, who’s worked on Doctor Who, so there are a few overlaps. But there are lots of, not just Doctor Who, there are lots of references to all sorts of things that are sprinkled in there.

Sheen: For film and TV buffs, there are so many little Easter eggs. There’s not a scene that there isn’t something going on in there.

Tennant: Yes. Some of them are very explicit, others you have to really search for, and lots I still don’t understand. But there’s a lot going on in there and there’s a lot of hidden content.

Sheen: Yeah. Because the episode of Doctor Who that I did was written by Neil. That was the connection.

A fantastic episode.

Sheen: Some say the best episode.

Tennant: Eh, there were better ones. I don’t know.

The relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley was a major part of what made Season 1 work so well, and I was overjoyed to see Season 2 doubled down on that. They’re obviously close in the book, but it was your chemistry in the show that made fans really embrace them as ineffable husbands. Did the glowing reception for the Aziraphale-Crowley ship influence Season 2’s direction? And how aware were you of the immediate fan reception to your characters together?

Sheen: Well it was quite overwhelming, really. When the first series came out, I’d never experienced anything like it before. I suppose David, having gone through the whole Doctor Who experience, had experienced some kind of passionate fan base now.

Tennant: Yes, yes. Particular shows like this that have that kind of enthusiastic following, it is quite overwhelming. But it’s lovely. It’s very humbling to be in the midst of that. And Good Omens, I don’t know that I was immediately aware of it, but then gradually I’d start meeting people dressed up as Aziraphale and Crowley. And then that would happen more and more and more, and you realize, oh, this has got legs. This has grabbed a level of adoration and love that is really lovely. It’s a real privilege to be connected to because it goes well beyond anything that we do. It becomes its own thing, and that’s lovely.

Sheen: There’s a lot of incredibly creative and talented people out there watching this show. And then putting that creativity and talent into writing fanfiction or doing fanart or making things, I’ve seen the most extraordinary things that people have made based on this show. And it’s amazing to have that and to know that people care about the story and these characters so much. And we carry that responsibility into the show, and take it very seriously, the way people have responded to this, just seeing how people have created their own communities based on it and formed incredible friendships and meaningful relationships as a result of it. It really is a privilege. It’s very humbling to witness that.

[fellthemarvelous]

The Giggle is a true work of art

It's a love letter to humanity, but everyone has to be willing to listen for it to work.

I love this gif. Think about it. The MCU has a LARGE audience base and Tony Stark is the face of the MCU and is one of the richest men alive. It is no accident that UNIT looks like a tower that was erected by a a white male American narcissist who sacrificed his life to save the entire universe. Love him or hate him, Tony Stark gets your attention. And so does Iron Man. And so do the other Avengers. You know who else has a tower? Batman. (Right?). He's DC. Some people like both. I don't know enough about the DC characters.

And think about RDJ who is trying to step away from the Tony Stark image. It's a character he loved, a character that changed his life after he got out of prison, and he will always love Tony Stark, but he and Tony Stark are not the same person.

https://www.thestreet.com/media/vintage-video-of-robert-downey-jr-visiting-wall-street-resurfaces-goes-viral

Robert Downey Jr told us what was up in the 1990s.

This is meant to connect to the people who love superheroes and superhero movies. To see that Robert Downey Jr is the way he is because he's seen the ugly side of humanity and he has always told us what he really thinks. People look up to him.

This is meant to catch their eye, to say THIS IS WHAT WE ARE DOING. Please listen to our message.

Nerd culture is beautiful art.

And if you don't spend your time asking yourself how often Neil Patrick Harris is bullshitting us because I refuse to believe that he had never heard of Doctor Who before joining the cast. I think he just threw 100% of his "please" attitude into Barney Stinson.

Remember when Neil Patrick Harris played Doogie Howser, MD? The 14 year old Doctor?

Oh, he was a Doctor too! So let's not forget this other cult classic Doctor character he played. If you haven't seen Doctor Horrible and His Sing-along Blog you are missing out.

He was once listed as one of Times' 100 Most Influential People in 2010.

He's charismatic and is openly affectionate with his husband and their children.

Love him or hate him, he has a large fanbase. And he is an AMAZING actor. And a really good magician too.

And they used his skills as a magician on Doctor Who, took us to Soho in 1925, and the Good Omens fandom arose from our slumber severe hyperfixation and meticulous meta analysis to dig into a fandom where David Tennant is the most popular incarnation of a particular character, so we are already doing nonstop detective work.

The Good Omens fandom LOVES David Tennant. He is our favorite rebellious demon.

He played the MCU's most terrifying villain (there is not one single MCU villain that has ever terrified me as much as Kilgrave because that fucker uses his powers of mind control to force Jessica Jones into being in a relationship with him...among other things). As a character though, he was fucking fascinating despite the fact we have met so many men who act just like him, and we hate all of them.

Side note: When I typed "Doogie Howzer" into the gif search, this is the most popular image that came up. I consistently get Howser and Howzer confused.

Now I've got the attention of the Star Wars fandom! Howzer rocks.

You know who else appeared on a Star Wars show (again) this year?

This entire episode was crafted in a way that it formed as many connections as it could with other fandoms.

And not just that. It made sure to include as much representation as possible. Was it perfect? No, but the point is that Doctor Who is telling the world that it is moving on. It is ready to grow and it is ready to be a mainstream voice for everyone whose existence is being threatened by unjust laws.

The new Doctor defied expectations. This Doctor is a breath of fresh air, and a reminder that we will all be okay, but change is inevitable and this sci-fi show about an alien who is either 2,000 or 4,000,000,005 years old. I can't keep up anymore. It doesn't matter because he's a Doctor free from the confines of societal expectations.

Nerd culture is vast, and I know I've left out fandoms because I don't really have all day nor do I know all the fandoms, so I'm just giving you a taste of what I do love.

This episode is meant to be for everyone who needs a place to call home.

And the old Doctor finally gets to retire to make way for the new Doctor.

And as a reward for longtime fans, the retired Doctor has found a place to call home on Earth with his best friend. David Tennant will always be Doctor Who because the old Doctor was allowed to live.

And for the Staged fandom, you know what that means, Michael?

[theroundbartable]

Celebrities I think would go well with one of the tumblr vibes:

Neil Gaiman, obviously. He's our cryptid.

Fight me on this, but Ryan Reynolds is deadpool in the flesh and deadpool has like, created this site or smth.

Tom Felton. Honestly, does he have a blog here called drarryking? I bet he's here already in hiding.

David Tennant. But like....on accident. He wouldn't understand shit on this side. He's already living a pseud and would take a new one specially for tumblr and post totally normal stuff and like... Visit this side once a month, cause he get's like 5 reblogs out of it. Then he sends a cat meme which goes off and he'd be totally lost. He would also, unironically, text neil Gaiman for the next season of good omens in the ask box and get a "wait and see" answer out of it.

Colin Morgan. I just think it would be funny, if he were here, not even with a pseud or posting anything at all. He'd have like no Interactions, he'd just be here on an empty blog to see what's going on and is silently surprised that the merlin fandom is still alive. He wouldn't even do it often. Just like... Once a year on accident, when he suddenly remembers that he has a blog here. On the Chance that he interacts, he's instantly blocked, cause we think he's a bot.

Taika Waititi. The poor chaos of this man. He's a creator. He'd post memes and updates of his works and still somehow end up among the average tumblr user ratio.

Mary Shelly. If she were alive. Or maybe that doesn't matter in her case.

Alice Oseman. But that doesn't count. She rose from the tumblr grave and made herself known to the outside world. She was born here and here she will live. The outside get's to see what she accomplished, but we are her roots and the grovel that shaped her.

These are all the people that I know. I'm bad with names and mostly watch cartoons. Lel.

People who I think shouldn't/ wouldn't be on this side:

Anthony Head. I want him here though, lol.

Bradley James. Yes, i'm going through the merlin cast first. And Bradley is cool and all. But he doesn't have the vibe.

Angel Coulby. I dunno. I think she's above this hellsite. She'd be falling from grace and I simply cannot imagine it.

Katie McGrath. Albeit a close one.

Michael Sheen. He's chaotic enough. But I can't imagine it. Maybe i'm reading too much Aziraphael in his character. But he's the chaos on a good website, while David is the good on the hellsite.

Elliot Page. I dunno. I think he would go to a cooler website, like instagram or i dunno. Even facebook. He'd be welcome here, and I think he might visit from time to time. But I don't think he'd have a blog of their own.

Daniel Radcliff. No?

jensen Ackles. I don't think tumblr could handle him

Misha collins. He's here. Kinda. In spirit. But he can't quite reach us. He's the ghost that haunts us. He can't have a blog.

Disclaimer:

#this is a Personal headcanon. You can disagree or agree with all of these and I won't be offended. This is meant as a joke.

# some of these people might already be here. Reality overrules my headcanons.

#i realise I mostly know male actors. But Not knowing things is my right as a person.

#please add your own ideas, or disprove mine. This could be fun :)

[themarychain]

“The Pet Shop Boys are pretty cool by me. The thing about Neil Tennant is that he’s the new Marlene Dietrich but nobody’s sussed it yet. He manages to convey songs in such an understated way - There’s such an emotion in his voice. I’ve read about Dietrich a lot, and I think what a performer, what dignity. I think she never died at all, she just joined the Pet Shop Boys.”

- Pete Burns (singer of band Dead or Alive) for Attitude Magazine, 1994

Neil Tennant as Marlene Dietrich

[fuckyeahgoodomens]

(it's a paywall article and this is not recommended :))

Then there’s the sitcom Good Omens – in which an antiquarian bookseller angel (played by Michael Sheen) and a sly devil (David Tennant) team up to stop the apocalypse – based on a novel Gaiman wrote more than 30 years ago with Terry Pratchett. They met when Gaiman, then a journalist, was sent to interview the Discworld author; they became fast friends, and published the book five years later.

Pratchett passed away in 2015 but, for Gaiman, working on the show “makes it feel like he’s not dead … Einstein apparently once sent his condolences to the wife of a dead colleague. He wrote, ‘You need to understand that he’s still alive, he’s just not alive where you are, when you are.’ If I’m working on Good Omens, that’s with my mate Terry. He’s still there doing that, he just isn’t here now.”

Gaiman says that if there is a third series – which he may or may not be writing – it will go beyond the book to tell a “story that Terry and I plotted in a hotel room in Seattle, very late at night on Hallowe’en 1989”. There’s a subtle nod to Pratchett in the show’s bookshop set. “On the first day of shooting, [Pratchett’s former assistant] Rob Wilkins turns up in the bookshop and hangs Terry’s hat and scarf on the coat-rack, and …” Quietly, Gaiman starts welling up. “I dunno. Makes it feels like he’s there.”

[buttherainbowhadabeard]

Unpopular Opinion: David Tennant Should Never Have Returned To Doctor Who

When a teary eyed David Tennant as The Doctor uttered the words “I don’t want to go” in his 2010 generation scene, it was a heartbreaking moment for fans. Saying goodbye to such a universally loved incarnation would be hard, but this was Doctor Who. Change was inevitable, and often, exciting.

So when the BBC announced that Tennant would be returning to the iconic role 15 years on, as part of a series of 60th anniversary specials, I was sceptical. 

It looked like I was the only one though, as the internet erupted with anticipation and jubilation. I, however, thought the 14th Doctor reveal was a huge distraction that disrespected both the outgoing and the incoming actors.

Don’t get me wrong, Tennant is one of my favourite modern Doctor’s. His mid 2000s run as the 10th Doctor was funny, frightening, heartfelt and unforgettable. He had some of the best companions and villains, and some of the smartest and most compelling stories. But all good things come to an end, and now his emotional first exit felt a bit hollow. 

His return really took the shine off Jodie Whittaker’s finale. Yes, her years as the 13th Doctor were responsible for some of the worst Doctor Who storylines in recent memory. But this was hardly her fault, and instead of enjoying her last moments as The Doctor and reflecting on the good bits (the first female Doctor in the show’s history), fans were shouting at their screens for her to hurry up and regenerate so their favourite could return. It was almost like the show was doing a reset and hoping we’d forget about her.

It also meant that the now 15th Doctor (Ncuti Gawta, the first gay, black Doctor in the show’s history) had to wait a little longer to make his debut, which seemed on-the-nose too. 

The BBC were making it crystal clear who they thought their most popular Doctor was. Tennant has had more screen time than any other modern era Doctor, and now he’s the only one still alive and kicking post regeneration across all eras. Haven’t they ever heard of 'jumping the shark' or having too much of a good thing?!

He had four consecutive seasons from 2005-2008, with a fake regeneration at the end of Series 4 that saw him get cloned and live happily ever after with Rose Tyler on parallel earth. From 2008-2010 he travelled sans companion in a series of specials, before reluctantly regenerating into Matt Smith. In 2013, he made an appearance alongside Smith in the 50th anniversary special.

And now in 2023, he’s done three extra episodes alongside Catherine Tate reprising her role as his much loved Series 4 companion Donna Noble. These specials ended with him bi-generating (one Tennant Doctor, one Gatwa Doctor - don’t ask!) and continuing on as The Doctor, complete with his own TARDIS. He will, he says, stay put on earth to let Gatwa go off and have his own adventures. How generous of him! 

Firstly, Tennant’s latest run didn’t feel like a 60th anniversary either. Instead it felt like a very late follow up and conclusion (or even an alternative ending) to Series 4, so the opportunity to include other cameos and celebrate the show’s rich history was lost.

In ‘The Star Beast’, the monstrous Meep really just provided a reason for The Doctor to see Donna again. In ‘Wild Blue Yonder’, The Doctor and Donna fought creepy doppelgängers of themselves (again, talk about self-indulgent!), and in ‘The Giggle’, Neil Patrick Harris’ promising Celestial Toymaker did little more than put on a funny accent and do a funny dance.

Sure, it had some fun and heartfelt moments. I'm glad the DoctorDonna Human-Time Lord metacrisis has been resolved. The Doctor's tender moments with Donna were nice. His two redheaded companions (Donna and Mel) holding his hands as he "regenerated" was touching. Even Tennant and Gatwa's interactions were surprisingly sweet. However, the whole jaunt just felt like an excuse to reunite Tennant and Tate and capitalise on their lingering popularity. Which leads me to my second point… 

No other actor has been able to continue on as The Doctor, so the fact that this is the first exception to the rule shows that the studio is very obviously playing favourites. They are keeping Tennant’s sprightly sneaker wearing, pin stripe suited spaceman up their sleeves to roll out whenever they please. If the ratings plummet, the can bring Tennant back. If the fans want it, they can bring Tennant back. If Tennant wants it, they can bring Tennant back. Does anyone else smell a spin-off?

Thirdly, I don’t buy the idea that The Doctor can be - and wants to be - domesticated at all. Despite everyone telling him that he needs to stop and slow down, he has never once done so. In every incarnation, he/she is an energetic, chaotic and forever on-the-go entity that can’t stand waiting or having to sit idly by.

So, all of a sudden we're expected to believe that he’s going to stay with Donna and her family and just hang out on earth like a regular human? I doubt it. He even said it himself to Rose in Season 2, when trying to justify why he can’t settle down. "You can spend the rest of your life with me. But I can't spend the rest of mine with you." If bi-generation had have happened to Peter Capaldi’s 12th Doctor, I might have accepted it better because he said he wanted to rest. It would’ve made more sense there.

And lastly, but probably most importantly, everyone loves a bit of nostalgia, but bringing beloved characters back from the dead to get ratings up again isn’t a good enough reason. In reality, it just reeks of lazy writing or a lack of creativity, and in turn, a lack of closure. The whole point and poignancy of a show like Doctor Who is that The Doctor must change and move on, as we, the audience, have to move on.

When someone plays The Doctor, they do it for a limited time but they leave a lasting legacy. Having Tennant on standby undermines that. I want the writers to invest in their new actors and have faith in their new adventures instead of having earlier models waiting in the wings.

So for me, the best thing about these three specials and the finale wasn’t that Tennant didn't have to say goodbye this time. It was that Gatwa finally got to say hello...

[denimbex1986]

'Doctor Who's 60th anniversary special reveals the Toymaker had a hand in the Timeless Child, the invention of TV, and much more, but he may have also played a game with Captain Jack Harkness. One of the biggest twists from Russell T Davies' first stint as Doctor Who showrunner was the reveal that Torchwood's Jack Harkness would eventually become the Face of Boe - a big face floating in a jar. Frustratingly, Doctor Who TV canon has still not bridged that gap. Rose's Bad Wolf form made Jack immortal, but at some point during the millennia he was alive, the universe's randiest Time Agent became a giant head, and it remains unclear how.

This seems to be one of few Doctor Who mysteries RTD doesn't use the Toymaker to solve in Doctor Who's "The Giggle." When Neil Patrick Harris' villain faces David Tennant's Fourteenth Doctor in a game of cards, the Toymaker proclaims he "made a jigsaw out of your [the Doctor's] history." Speaking on Doctor Who: Unleashed, RTD explained this was intended as a loosening of the rules that could account for Doctor Who's Timeless Child retcon, the Eighth Doctor's claim about being half-human, and anything else that didn't quite fit. In a strange way, the Toymaker might have also addressed how Captain Jack transformed into the Face of Boe.

The Toymaker Claimed He Turned God Into A "Jack-In-The-Box"

When the Toymaker is boastfully listing his many achievements since crossing into Doctor Who's main universe, he mentions, "I gambled with God - and made him into a Jack-in-the-box." The initial implication here is that Doctor Who's Toymaker made a beeline for whatever passed as the monotheistic deity of the universe, played a game with it, won, and then turned this entity into a toy for his own amusement, just as he does to the UNIT soldiers in "The Giggle." According to one theory (via X user Tigfore), however, the Toymaker's "Jack-in-the-box" remark may have been a sneaky reference to turning Jack Harkness into the Face of Boe.

Across Doctor Who seasons 1-3, the Face of Boe was treated as a big deal, with loyal followers that would accompany and care for him towards the end of his life. The 2018 audio story "Escape from New York" went further, and included a reference that suggested the Face of Boe had come to be considered a God in humanity's future. When the Toymaker says he "gambled with God," therefore, he certainly could mean Captain Jack Harkness. "Jack-in-the-box" would then be a very wry nod to the Toymaker turning Jack into a face inside a jar.

Why The Toymaker Turning Jack Harkness Into The Face Of Boe Makes Sense

Using the phrase "Jack-in-the-box" to refer to the Face of Boe fits perfectly with the morbid, toy-centric sense of humor Neil Patrick Harris' version demonstrates throughout "The Giggle." More importantly, Jack Harkness was both a friend of the Doctor's and an immortal being, tickling two of the Toymaker's areas of interest. Given how long Jack was alive, it seems inevitable that the Toymaker would have approached him. Just like the Doctor, Jack would have realized that his best bet was defeating the villain at his own game. Jack then lost, and - with all due respect to Boekind - had his trademark good looks taken away as punishment.

This would actually answer two big questions hanging over the Jack Harkness-Face of Boe connection. Given that Boe is allegedly the future form taken by Jack Harkness, it seems strange that Doctor Who also mentions an entire species known as Boekind. Secondly, Jack is supposed to be immortal, but eventually dies after becoming the Face of Boe. Boekind may have been a preexisting species that the Toymaker decided was a fitting form for Jack Harkness to take, and the villain is also powerful enough to undo the TARDIS mojo keeping Jack from dying. As the Fourteenth Doctor himself admits, "the TARDIS is an idea the Toymaker would throw away."

The Toymaker Is Doctor Who's Best Chance At Explaining The Face Of Boe

Since Russell T Davies is dipping into Doctor Who lore and pulling out the Meep, Mel, and the various deep-cut Easter eggs in Tales of the TARDIS, one cannot rule out Doctor Who explaining the full story behind the Face of Boe in a future season. Due to external factors, however, this is incredibly unlikely. Controversy surrounding his initial run on the show has likely scuppered any chance that John Barrowman will return in Doctor Who season 14 and beyond, ending hopes of continuing Captain Jack's story.

Without Barrowman, recounting the story of how Jack became the Face of Boe would be tricky, which leaves blaming the Toymaker as the most straightforward answer. This also avoids the problem of "God" in Doctor Who. If the Toymaker turned the universe's actual God into a Jack-in-the-box, this not only means God no longer exists in the show's canon, but for the first time since the Tenth Doctor beat the devil, questions are raised over the nature of Doctor Who's religious mythology. If the "God" mentioned by the Toymaker was only Captain Jack, those problems no longer apply.'