theastrophysicistnextdoor

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

A Good Omens trip to London – PART 2

A few weeks ago I went back to London. ❤️

I visited St Dunstan in the East – the church garden is such a peaceful and enchanting spot. (The church was severely damaged during the Blitz in 1941. In 1967 the City of London decided to turn the remains into a public garden.)

Of course, I couldn’t miss stopping by the bench in St. James’s Park, where I bumped into two fans from Austria. They were watching GO videos on their phone 🖤🤍

I passed by Shakespeare’s Globe on my walking tour through the city, where I found that lovely line:

And finally, the highlight: Absolutely amazing to see David Tennant live in Macbeth – just wow! His precision on stage was truly impressive. The entire cast was fantastic, especially Jasmin Hinds as Lady Macbeth, a brilliant Porter, and an absolutely stunning production overall!

If you are thinking about going to London – DO IT!

I have some filming locations left to visit, and I hope for more opportunities to see Michael Sheen and David Tennant live.

Maybe we will meet in London. ❤️

A Good Omens trip to London

The opportunity to see Michael Sheen live in Nye at the National Theatre made me plan a trip to London. And having seen the tourist attractions already many years ago, I decided I would dive into the Good Omens experience – go crazy, nobody knows you there! 😀 Easy planning thanks to @fuckyeahgoodomens and the filming locations masterpost ❤️

After four fantastic days I can only say: what a lovely fandom! It was great to meet a few of you :)

In St. James's Park, at the bench, I met a fan from Romania.

At the bandstand in Battersea Park I met a fan from Scotland and found the lovely fan art by @aydracz.

In Tavistock Square (Berkeley Square in the series) I met two fans from the Netherlands. (If you read this by any chance, I hope you enjoyed Nye!)

And then it seems all the fans in London that day gather at the theatre. 😀 – greetings to @kittensceilidh and @brandiwein1982

And well, how exciting to see Nye! It was entertaining, beautiful and touching. And Michael Sheen really is a wonderful and kind person – I very much hope I will meet him again. 🤗

Be kind to each other and take care!

And if you are interested or need a bit of inspiration for your trip, here are some more impressions. I will have to go to London again and continue the experience :)

Shakespeare’s Globe

Duke of York Monument

The Ritz

Berwick Street in Soho

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

The Filming of Good Omens Season 2 -

A Chronological Masterpost

I've finally put together this huge piece of meta that I have been working on for a very long time. I haven't written or posted much about GO since the allegations dropped. I don't think I need to explain anything to all of you about that. It has been hard to find my motivation again, but I'm finally feeling motivated to write, what with season 3 (I will not call it 'the finale' you can't make me) beginning filming very soon and all. <3

In this post I will try to put together the filming timeline of season 2, in order to hopefully give us more context and decipher the reasons behind season 2's blatant discontinuity problems.

I used any and all information I could find. From actors/writers/artists social media accounts, news articles, BTS information, filming slates, and more. We will follow a chronological timeline to establish what order the scenes of Good Omens 2 were filmed in. At the end we'll discuss what the findings might mean for the discontinuities of S2.

Are Crowley's sideburns changing lengths for a reason? Or are you just seeing them consistently grow throughout filming? However, why they might let them grow out instead of just trimming them is a different question all together...

Okay let's jump in!

Before the Beginning...

June 29th 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - Announcing GO series 2, and the BBC also releases an article announcing filming will take place in Scotland.

September 23rd 2021 - Prime XRay Trivia - Episode 3, timestamp 13:04 -

"The background plates for this car scene was the first footage shot for Good Omens Season 2 on September 23rd, 2021 at Forrestburn Hillclimb, weeks before the main shoot began."

This is the background scenery for Aziraphale's drive to Edinburgh, and was likely captured while crew were scouting locations.

October 13th 2021 - Michael posts on Twitter - His hair has been bleached for filming.

October 18th 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - First day of filming on the set in Bathgate, Scotland.

October 18th 2021 - Based on the scene number, this is likely a St. James park scene from early in episode 1 (not necessarily filmed at St. James mind you).

October 19th 2021 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David's hair has been dyed for filming.

October 26th 2021 - Aziraphale receives Maggie's note.

October 18th - 31st 2021 - Prime XRay Trivia - Episode 5, Timestamp 3:53 -

“This was the first scene Michael and David filmed together for season 2"

The scene being referenced is the modern day magic shop scene where Aziraphale invites Mutt to the ball. The ball invite scenes were some of the first scenes filmed. (Excluding the invite to Arnolds as the music shop interior was not actually located on set with the rest of Whickber Street, it must have been filmed later.)

November 2nd 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - A photo of Michael and David on set together. This looks to be one of the outdoor whickber street scenes, my best guess is this would also be the scenes where Aziraphale invites the Whickber Street shopkeepers to the ball.

November 2nd 2021 - NG posts on Instagram - a zoomed in photo of the "cupperty" scene. Only Crowley and Aziraphale's faces are visible. Quelin Sepulveda as Muriel was likely available from the start of filming, so some scenes featuring Muriel were able to be filmed at least prior to November 2nd.

November 6th 2021 - Georgia Posts on Instagram - David and Georgia attend "An Audience with Adele" at the London Palladium, so he must have gone home and spend some time with family <3

November 8th - 12th 2021 - Filming at Stirling Castle Graveyard, Stirling Scotland. This would include the episode 3 bodysnatchers minisode scenes in the graveyard, and Aziraphale's present day visit to the graveyard.

November 15 - 19th 2021 - Filming in Dumbarton and Queensferry. This would include the Edinburgh street scenes from the bodysnatchers minisode and scenes with Dalrymple at Hopetoun House. NG also says "Next week we're back in Bathgate".

November 22nd 2021 - Hell scene - Shax asks Beelzebub if she can attack the bookshop.

November 22nd 2021 - Anna posts on Instagram - The caption is: "It's Scotte-land, daddy!" Based on the previous filming slate, if they were filming scenes in Hell, Michael had some free time to spend with Lyra and Anna <3

November 25th 2021 - Ennon's house/courtyard scene is filmed.

November 26th - December 5th 2021 - News Article - Filming crews and the Bentley are seen at circus lane in Edinburgh, this would be to film any of the scenes when Crowley is in the alley.

December 16th 2021 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David facetimes her from set, holding a Good Omens 2 mug and sporting some styled Crowley hair.

December 18th 2021 - Glasgow donut shop Tantrum Doughnuts posts on Instagram about providing Christmas donuts to the Good Omens crew.

December 25th - January 1st - Georgia posts on Instagram - David is home for the holidays and Anna posts on Instagram Michael is home for the holidays.

This is the point at which Jon Hamm joined the production! He was only available halfway through filming so any scenes with Gabriel/Jim in them were filmed after this point.

January 11th 2022 - Aziraphale's arrival to the Edinburgh pub is filmed, multiple sources post about seeing the production take place.

Jon Hamm is also seen arriving on set in Edinburgh to film his and Beelzebub's Pub scenes.

January 13th 2022 - The ball begins & the demons invade Whickber Street. Scene 19 gives us the dichotomy of the warm jubilance inside of the ball contrasted with the scary scene taking shape outside as Nina and Maggie arrive.

January 14th 2022 - "You are out of order!"

January 17th - 19th 2022 - Scenes 21 - 27 are all the goings on inside the ball: the seamstress conversation, Maggie and Nina dancing, Crowley and Aziraphale dancing, etc.

January 23rd 2022 - Instagram user marty.kelly (also the Supervising Art Director of GO2) posts a photo of a stunt banana peel. Could this be the peel that Maggie tosses from her shoulder during the bookshop invasion?

January 26th 2022 - Filming Slate - "Leave now and nobody will be hurt"

February 12th 2022 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David is home.

February 14th & 15th 2022 - Filming at Bo'ness Hippodrome takes place. These are the whiskey delivery and subsequent magic show scenes from the 1941 minisode.

February 16th 2022 - The hitchhiker scenes from episode 4 with Shax were filmed at Forrestburn Hillclimb. A local car club posted about the filming crews visit.

February 18th 2022 - Shax rousing the troops.

February 22nd 2022 - Douglas posts a photo of himself in front of the blue screen set for the Before the Beginning scenes.

February 24th 2022 - Instagram user kaedesmith7, who worked on the set of GO2 posts a photo of a pen of goats with the caption "Just a normal day at work" - We can guess then that some of the Companion to Owls minisode scenes were filmed on or around this date. If I had to guess, these would be the scenes where the large blue screen set was needed.

February 26th 2022 - Georgia posts on Instagram - David and Georgia go out for a date. Sidenote: cute <3

March 1st 2022 - The last scene is filmed on the last day of shooting. Douglas posted the slate on Instagram and Michael posted on Twitter about "hanging up his angels coat"

Conclusions:

SO! What can we learn from all of this brain rot I've compiled? First, let's list the scenes of GO2 in filming order. I'm going to include some scenes I don't have explicit proof of, but were likely filmed at the same time as others.

Crowley and Shax meet at St. James Park

Azi gets Maggie's note, and additional record shop scenes

Crowley and Aziraphale invite the whickber street shopkeepers to the ball

Coffee shop scenes, Maggie & Nina scenes, and bookshop scenes without Jim were likely filmed around this time

Muriel's arrival and cupperty scenes

Bodysnatchers minisode & Aziraphale's present day visit to the graveyard

Shax asks Beelzebub if she can attack the bookshop, more Hell scenes were likely filmed as a batch during this time.

A Companion to Owls minisode courtyard and cellar scenes

Scenes with Crowley in the alley way: Shax tells him Gabriel is involved, Crowley is summoned to Hell by Beelzebub, Shax tells Crowley she thinks Aziraphale is involved

Aziraphale arrives at The Resurrectionist

Gabriel and Beelzebub's meetings through the years

The Ball and demon invasion

The first weeks of february are likely when they filmed most of Gabriels whickber street and bookshop scenes

1941 minisode scenes at the theater

Shax tricks Aziraphale into picking her up as a hitchhiker

Shax rouses the troops prior to the bookshop invasion

Blue screen scenes were likely filmed around this time including Before the Beginning, the opening and closing scenes for A Companion to Owls

The last scenes were filmed on the final day of shooting.

I couldn't find much to indicate when the Heaven scenes were filmed so if anybody has anything, this is very much a working document so feel free to share!

What does this tell us about a 53 year old man's sideburns? Well, to me it seems like they simply grew out during filming. Does this explain Bildad having two completely different wigs?! NO. Does this explain why they didn't just trim them to a consistent length during filming? NO. When his snake tattoo was being applied nearly under his jawline, there must have been conversation about it's placement, but they chose to leave it for a reason. Why? Well hopefully we'll understand some day.

I can also tell you that the progressive wear on Aziraphale's beloved waistcoat is consistent with the filming timeline. I won't bore you with the entire document filled with screenshots, so you'll have to believe me, but it appears to be that his waistcoat simply aged as filming went on.

What do you think? Let me know your thoughts and as we approach S3 filming, happy sleuthing and happy holidays!

As always a massive thank you to the folx @ineffable-detective-agency for their contributions! @embracing-the-ineffable, @noneorother, @kimberleyjean, @lookingatacupoftea, @komorezuki, @maufungi, @havemyheartaziraphale, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @dunkthebiscuit, @ghstptats, @251-dmr, @commonmexicanname, @eybefioro, @beebopboom

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Amazing!

A Nice & Accurate Good Omens Timeline

I'm back from the dead with a little side project! Friends over at @ineffable-detective-agency and I have compiled a handy dandy list with all the important Book Omens and Show Omens related dates. What makes this timeline nice and accurate? It has linked annotations! That's right, all blog posts and answers to asks ripe for the referencing. As well as little icons to demarcate Book timeline info from Show Timeline info. So if you've ever wondered what year the arrangement started in, or when Give me coffee or give me death took over Jon coffee, here's your answer! Good Omens Timeline

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Love the headband shenanigans! 😀

The case for (at least) two stories in GO season 2: Bildad

This chapter will be more enjoyable if you read the first post "The Kiss"! Another blatant instance of inconsistency and topic of much debate has been Bildad's wig(s). His hair seems to change all the time, and the headband is never quite the same. What if I told you that if you stop focusing on the hair, and count the stripes on his headbands, a clear picture emerges? Sounds insane right? Here's the entirety of episode 2, arranged by number of headband stripes Crowley has in each scene.

I'll put screenshots in case you don't want to rewatch those two sillies again for 4 minutes. But be real... who doesn't? A pretty clear pattern emerges when you arrange the scenes like this : more stripes = more intimacy and trust between Crowley & Aziraphale. For stripe 1, we only get the opening scene where Crowley "destroys Job's goats".

This scene could live on it's own in the story, theoretically. Aziraphale never interferes with Crowley as he destroys the children, because it's all hunky dory up in heaven. The very next scene we see Crowley questioning Job and Sitis, starting to doubt his job, and he's got two headbands and two stripes for most of the rest of his hijinks with Aziraphale.

Until the very end of the episode, where we are back to one headband, but two stripes. The hair is short again, and the headband is neat, and this stumped me for a long while. If you only count the number of headbands and hair length, this scene clearly belongs with the first, and story-wise, would make little sense. But taken with the other two-striped scenes, it paints the complete picture of the saving of Job's children together as a team. I've taken the three headband/stripe scenes out of order from the show and put them at the end. The only time Crowley has three headbands is when something deeply intimate is happening between Azirpahale and Crowley. The first instance is quite early on, for the whole of the reveal of Crowley's crows to goats pipeline.

Interestingly this is also where we get the cryptic line "I am not the angel you knew". Next is a little interlude inside of Crowley's "destruction" of Job's children, where Crowley admits to Aziraphale for the first time that they are "Temporarily not on different sides". It's also this part of the scene where we find out, surprisingly, that Job's children are unrepentant little shits, and Jemimah realizes that Crowley is actually, technically, a demon.

And now, after a brief break of two striped shenanigans, we return to three stripes Bildad in the basement, where he manages to tempt Aziraphale into admitting that heaven's morals are a little wacky, and into tasting food for the first time.

But this scene starts with Satan's great wind (LOL wow, a fart joke in between all the morality? Good Omens would never...), where Crowley curiously remarks "Hmm, they've started early". All of the cryptic & meta commentary dialogue is clearly happening inside the scenes where Crowley is wearing three headbands. Given that the three headbands portions of the story make little sense on their own, we could conclude that Job is a story retold three times, each consecutive time adding layers of context to the story, and quite literally, onto Bildad's head.

part 1 of this nonsense : The Kiss

next part : Heaven’s files.

This is going to have to be a multi-part series, but hey, almost no one is posting season 2 metas anymore so the people have to get their crack from somewhere. With thanks to everyone over in our @ineffable-detective-agency as usual.

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Check out that fantastic analysis of shenanigans!

The case for (at least) two stories in GO season 2: The Kiss

I've been sitting on this for a while, but I think the time has come to share it: there are three versions of the FF kiss.... *crickets*. I know I know, we've known it since Douglas and Rob both confirmed in weird ways last year that it was filmed three times. But I think I can prove that they put two/three different kisses into that one scene that broke all our hearts. The secret, like so many in Good Omens, is hidden in the costumes. Take a close look at Aziraphale's lapels during the whole scene. I've created a handy guide to point out what is changing and put it on-screen, bottom left.

During the kiss, we're very deliberately shown Crowley pulling Aziraphale by his Bottom Lapels only. There are three shots to really hammer the concept home, and after he lets go, we see those lapels curled under as Crowley leaves.

But what happens as soon as Crowley has left? We get this closeup shot:

Where they clearly wanted his Top Lapels tucked under. I say this with a lot of confidence because throughout the two seasons, Sheen's jacket lapels are steamed between takes so they lay flat. So they want us to pick up on the small differences here (just like Crowley's tartan collar in S1) as a hint that something is wonky. And it isn't just that David might have grabbed his collar wrong in another take. As soon as the Metatron enters the bookshop, now:

For (most of) the rest of the scene he's got one of each! The change happens when Aziraphale turns away and either fixes his collar, or we maybe have changed perspective? I can't tell if Aziraphale is doing it intentionally in that moment or not, because for the other two times it happens (after Crowley leaves, and when Aziraphale looks out the window) it seems to just happen on it's own. It's a powerful moment, because lapels are the primary markers of allegiances in the universe of the show; Aziraphale is quite literally picking sides and his heart is showing on his sleeve lapel in this moment. You can read more about what that means here The reason I suspect that clothing is trying to show us multiple versions or even just perspectives of the same thing happening in-universe: it's actually happen at multiple points throughout this season, not just in the kiss.

Next up : Bildad's wardrobe shenanigans. This is going to have to be a multi-part series, but hey, almost no one is posting season 2 metas anymore so the people have to get their crack from somewhere. With thanks to everyone over in our @ineffable-detective-agency as usual.

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Good Omens S1 Parallels - 1/?

Saturday Morning Funtime is a particularly interesting episode for me, because it suggests something about the structure of parallels Season One. Also, it's easier to start with a single episode than trying to cover the whole show at once. I'm going to show you six different scenes from Saturday Morning Funtime and how they link together.

Let's start with the pun pointed out by Danny Motta in his video (link here to relevant timestamp if you haven't seen it). Danny made the link between this scene near the start of E4, where Aziraphale gets exercise:

And this scene at the end, where Aziraphale was exorcised (according to Shadwell, at least):

Cool, seems like a funny pun. But there's no way to know it was intentional right? Well, I think I can argue it was. Let's look at another scene.

We have this scene where Hastur destroys 3 Erics on the plains of Megiddo. Since each demon has a corresponding animal, I'm going to go ahead and place bets on the Eric's being rabbits, and Hastur destroys 2/3 of them.

And then later we have this scene where Hastur again destroys 2/3 rabbits, but this time they're cartoon bunnies - the first one he beheads like a costume, the second he rips out it's throat.

Ok, but again, why am I linking these two scenes? No deep character insights, or thematic elements are being displayed here... Except that's a key reason I'm pointing them out - they're seemingly pretty pointless, so why bother to make them? Well, maybe the sum is bigger than the parts. One more example and then I'll show you how this comes together.

Here's a scene which I think is pretty good foreshadowing of something that will happen later in the episode - Hastur and Ligur talking about the dripping pipes down in Hell. Hastur has a little bucket he's collecting water in, which he uses in a toast:

And later, we have this particularly gruesome scene of Ligur becoming toast at the hands of a bucket full of (holy)water:

Ok, so six scenes, three sets of parallels... now's where the magic happens... I take E4 as a whole... loop it over on itself like a piece of trick rope from Goldstein's magic shop and....

Tada! Here's the episode laid out in 2 minute increments.

Some pretty interesting places to have parallels, no? That two minute block at the start is a lead in before the opening credits, so the Exercise and Exorcism scenes are coming directly before and directly after the open and close sequence (shown above in blue).

I'd be lying if I said it didn't remind me of the overall chiastic structure that some people have worked on, such as this one by @drconstellation, just on a smaller scale.

It's also interesting to note that each of these parallel pairs relates to someone getting discorporated - Eric, Ligur and then Aziraphale.

What's the point?

So, I promised that I would share a little on why this might be important. In my opinion? It appears like there is some detailed structure to Good Omens, at least in S1.

It should also be noted that these scenes were added only for the show in order to produce this effect - Aziraphale exercising with Gabriel, Hastur and Ligur talking about the pipes, the three cartoon rabbits in the theatre - they were all newly created for the show.

Why go to the bother of creating these little parallel moments at corresponding points along a mirrored structure? Especially when these don't necessarily have ramifications for characters or plot? Is it just good story telling or is it something more? These are all questions worth asking in my opinion. I think it relates to how this show treats words and language in a very Pratchetty fashion. The whole show is a dedication to Terry, after all.

Of course, if things were so simple, I think we would have figured it all out long ago. Parallels, puns, wordplay... they're all quite slippery things. There are things I would consider to be parallels which don't line up with this same structure. For example, the scene from earlier with Gabriel and Aziraphale exercising? The "lose the gut" gut-punch foreshadows this other gut punch scene in E4 too:

Despite examples to the contrary, the presence of parallels and wordplay that do line up along a mirrored structure makes me want to explore this further. If you're also interested in this and want to collaborate, please let me know.

This will be a continuing series, as and when time allows, because parallels seem to be absolutely everywhere. Future posts will look at parallels at different levels (within scenes, across episodes, and across seasons).

Let me know if you spot any others - I'd love to hear about them. They might be hidden in the visuals, wordplay, puns and more...

----------------------

With thanks to all the detectives for keeping me clue hunting @embracing-the-ineffable, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @noneorother, @somehow-a-human, @komorezuki, @maufungi, @lookingatacupoftea, @havemyheartaziraphale, @251-dmr, @dunkthebiscuit, and @ghstptats <3

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Will we find out what is going on in the Good Omens universe(s) before Season 3 comes out? :)

The Ineffable Detective Agency Presents: What do you mean there are TWO Edens??

Do you remember how we were shown those two different shots of the Eden walls in S1? One is the zoom in, the other a zoom out and they bookend the scene. Here they are back to back...

I've not seen anyone mention it before but these are DIFFERENT WALLS. Yes, you heard me correctly. We have been shown two totally different Edens. Let's talk about it shall we?

The devil's in the detail...

Try to think back and remember - how many spikes jut out from the walls of Eden? I’ll make it easy - is it 7 or 10?

Did you guess 7? Well, congratulations, you’re half correct! 

Did you guess 10? Well, congratulations, you’re also half correct!

That’s right - we see TWO versions of Eden in that sequence.

Here’s the Eden we’re shown first, as the camera sweeps in over the vast sands, and God narrates over the top. Look carefully at the design of the walls here, particularly those spikes. There are supports which have three spikes coming out of them. Take a look at the portions in between...

10 spikes!

And then at the end of this sequence, here are Crowley and Azriaphale, standing on the wall, looking out over the departing Adam, Eve and Flaming Sword. 

So, now we have 7 spikes! It’s not the only change, either. Take a look at the shape, size, colour and weathering of these walls.

So, what’s happened here? The only conclusion I have is that the Good Omens team have purposefully used two different digital assets when creating the VFX for Eden. The reason it flew under everyone’s radar is because these two shots are separated by roughly 4 minutes in total!

But you know what? I think the Good Omens team have been trying to drop hints all along. Check out this post from a fan who attended an event and was told about multiple Edens by Michael Ralph. What else have they been dropping hints about? Lots, I suspect.

With thanks to all the detectives @embracing-the-ineffable, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @noneorother, @somehow-a-human, @komorezuki, @maufungi, @lookingatacupoftea, @havemyheartaziraphale, @251-dmr, @dunkthebiscuit, and @ghstptats <3

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Interesting – so cool you are looking into it and digging deep! 🙂

Let me add 100% joke:

@havemyheartaziraphale found some bebop "in ma phone"

The theory of "The Hidden Morse Messages"

These people have done a unique work. They discovered and deciphered The Hidden Morse Messages.

@theastrophysicistnextdoor

Here's my theory "The Hidden Morse Messages."

1 SHE’S IN MA PHONE (or He's) Ma phone is an outdated name for a magnetophone. During World War 2, german engineers developed a device for recording sound on magnetic tape.

Crowley uses such a device and even gets inside - into it magnetic field. Together with Hastur. And we know that you can get stuck there, just like Hastur got stuck. Who exactly is this "She" or "He" who is in the "ma phone", I do not know yet. Perhaps the "dreadful eternity" itself.

2 HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY

- it is said to someone who is stuck in this "dreadful eternity"

- it is said about some eternity that has become dreadful, because it has become closed perhaps. (It's a little difficult, I know).

3 TOMMY’S A LEGEND I think we're talking about Tommy Westphall here. And about Tommy Westphall universe hypothesis.

In short, there is a kind of crossover of all (or many) shows /series in the consciousness of Tommy Westphall. A little more: In a 2003 article published on BBC News Online, St. Elsewhere writer Tom Fontana was quoted as saying "Someone did the math once… and something like 90 percent of all [American] television took place in Tommy Westphall's mind. God love him."[9] (link 2) When directing episodes for the eighth series of the revived Doctor Who in 2014, Ben Wheatley had the art department create a replica of Tommy Westphall's snowglobe, which Wheatley placed in the TARDIS set as a reference to the hypothesis.[11] (link 2)

4 PAUL’S OUR MIXING HERO Re-recording mixer Paul McFadden. He was actively involved in the creation of a huge of TV series. This man literally lives in the universe of a TV show. (Tommy Westphall universe).

He was not only a sound engineer, but also a dialogue editor. I wouldn't be surprised if he is the co-creator of this magic (secret dialogues and hidden hints).

5 HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION DO NOT LICK THE WALLS

Here is one of my generalizing theories of Morse messages. We are really stuck in the universe of Good Omens, like a hellish web. This universe is full of references to literature, music, series and movies. In addition, a large of dialogues in the series are written in such a way that you can read between the lines and find new meanings. We literally "lick the walls." That is, we examine every pixel on every damn frame. Heaven (the creators) suggests that we give up all hope of saving our long-suffering souls. But they cheer us up - it's a sweet eternal damnation. Heaven looks down on us because we will never be able to find all the hidden meanings.

In this post: 20% jokes 5% sarcasm 20% pathos 100% love and admiration for the creators of Good Omens 40% hope to find another meaning of these secret messages 15% of the fatigue from Googling.

p.s. I'm going to formulate a more complex theory, good luck to me

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

We could've seen. bus.

Peter Anderson, in his Ineffable Con 5 session, was asked about the name of the boat in the pile of items that the procession climbs in the Season 2 intro. He didn't know off the top of his head. But he did follow that up with: "Speaking of which, did anybody look at the bus? What was on the bus?"

He didn't really elaborate on the bus, other than it "was a special Good Omens bus."

Let's assume for the purposes of this post that he's talking about a bus in the intro, which was the current topic of conversation. (Rather than the actual, in-service bus that was wrapped to promote the series.) I am pretty sure this is the bus in question:

So what's on the bus?

There's an ad on the side, which is interesting. Wings for Victory was a fundraising effort in 1943.

And there's also what looks like a route identifier on the front:

I think this says GO2 (as the route number): Soho, Green Park, Victoria; Soho Square. That's a fairly reasonable bus route; the actual 38 bus takes a similar one.

In the X-Ray, Peter Anderson also brings up where the bus is going. Very briefly. So clearly it means something to him.

There is one more thing I found, because of course there is. Amazon did a behind the scenes tour of the Season 2 set as a prize for a promotional contest. There was a bus involved:

Interestingly, there was also a TikTok including the bus which shows a different set of stops for the route.

What does it mean? I have no idea. Ours* is not to reason why; ours is to deliver packages. Of research. What do you think?

*and by Ours I mean Mine

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

@noneorother I also thought that while watching Broadchurch these days, it is more or less what we are doing here... But, you know, others do sudoku or crosswords... Good Omens detective work is definitely more fun as a brain workout :)

The Ineffable Detective Agency presents: Decoding 1941 Hell – The Hidden Morse Messages

The Good Omens team never fails to surprise us: In the Hell scenes set in 1941, there are subtle beeps in the background that many might have missed: morse code messages! 

We took the time to decode these messages from about 5 minutes of the show – some parts are easy to identify, some parts are really hard due to overlying sounds or noises. 

We used the 5.1 audio and selected only the channel with the morse signals. Check out an easy snippet – which line is it? :)

Then, we applied high- and low-pass filters to emphasize the code’s pitch around 1360 Hz. Some of us have pretty sharp ears, some of us worked with the frequency spectra to mark short and long signals as well as pauses in between. 

Here is what we have heard or seen, together with some facts and thoughts on the lines. Let us know what you think!

S2E4 06:19 to 08:23 “Have a miserable eternity”

Here are the pieces we have successfully decoded: 

HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY

We are wondering why this is different to the text via loudspeaker as well as Furfur’s “have a miserable eternity”...

TOMMY’S A LEGEND

Do we know a Tommy?

1) There's the Welsh magician/comedian Tommy Cooper (his magical act specialized in magic tricks that appeared to fail), who was the inspiration for the red fez in the magic shop. Cooper died live on television suffering a heart attack. :(

2) There's also the lead character Tommy in Brigadoon, the plot of which feels seriously GO-coded. There is a magic village hidden outside time that only appears in Scotland once every 100 years and is connected to the rest of the world with a bridge, outsiders who find "clues about the village and its people that make no sense", and a plot about unlikely lovers who are separated (because one "can't just leave everything in the real world behind"), and an ending that reunites the lovers against all odds because of the strength of their love ("I told ye, if you love someone deeply enough, anything is possible ... even miracles.")

PAUL’S OUR MIXING HERO

Could that be the Re-Recording Mixer PAUL McFADDEN?

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABAN

The phrase "Abandon all hope, ye who enter here" is a quote from Dante’s Inferno, Prelude to Hell, Canto III, Vestibule of Hell: Dante passes through the gate of Hell, which bears an inscription ending with the phrase "Lasciate ogne speranza, voi ch'intrate". So, the minisode is THE place where we get quotes from the two most famous literary accounts of Hell – with Furfur's quotation of Paradise Lost in the dressing room at the Windmill Theater: "In dubious battle on the Plains of Heaven". 

S2E4 09:16 to 10:09 “Processing the Nazis”

ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION

S2E4 11:07 - 13:12: “The offer to return as Zombies”

These two minutes are very tricky: while in the first half it is ok-ish to identify the signals in the spectrum, the second half is overlaid by so much noise… – yes, we are calling the dialogues and sounds in hell noise now :D – that we chose a different approach. 

It looked as if the sequence starts from the beginning, so we compared both parts, and now we are quite sure that it is the same pattern. 

DO NOT LICK THE WALLS HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION DO NOT LICK THE WALLS HEAVEN LOOKS DOWN ON YOU BECAUSE YOU ARE PATHETIC ABANDON ALL HOPE YE WHO ENTER HERE CHEER UP IT’S ONLY ETERNAL DAMNATION DO NOT LICK THE WALLS HEAVEN LO …

So those are the sections we are pretty certain we have correct. However, there is one section we are still unsure on - maybe you can help?

Back to S2E4 06:19 to 08:23

We have been fighting hard with the first six seconds, before “HAVE A DREADFUL ETERNITY” and we think it is:

SHE’S IN MA PHONE

Who are we talking about now?

Do you have any other ideas of what this could be? If it is “She’s in ma phone”, what does that mean? Or is the S just noise and it starts with an H? Or even with a B – BE’S IN MA PHONE?

So, what are your thoughts on all of these messages? Why go to the effort of putting morse code here? Is it a fun easter egg, or something more? And why say “dreadful eternity” in morse when the quote used in the show is “miserable eternity”? We have so many questions!

Spoiler: There is more code hidden throughout the series.  Let us know what you see or hear!

-... .    -.- .. -. -..    - ---    . .- -.-. ….    --- - …. . .-. 

An amazing joint effort with @noneorother, @kimberleyjean, @thebluestgreen, and @embracing-the-ineffable at the @ineffable-detective-agency (with the incredible @maufungi, @somehow-a-human, @lookingatacupoftea, @komorezuki, @havemyheartaziraphale, and @dunkthebiscuit)

See more of our posts, plus a collection of Clues and metas from all over the fandom, here.

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Ok, I want a yellow feather duster!

How has no one called the yellow feather duster out yet?

How in the Freddy Mercury has no one yet pointed out that the yellow feather duster moment is a huge shoutout to one of the most Good Omens coded Queen songs of all time: I Want To Break Free.

I can't unsee it. This is now Gabriel's fight song. He's fallen in love for the first time and needs to break free. Just check out these lyrics if you've never heard it...

I want to break free I want to break free I want to break free from your lies You're so self-satisfied, I don't need you I've got to break free God knows, God knows I want to break free

I've fallen in love I've fallen in love for the first time And this time, I know it for real I've fallen in love, yeah God knows, God knows I've fallen in love

It's strange but it's true, yeah I can't get over the way you love me like you do But I have to be sure When I walk out that door Oh, how I want to be free, baby Oh, how I want to be free Oh, how I want to break free

But life still goes on I can't get used to living without, living without Living without you by my side I don't want to live alone, hey God knows, got to make it on my own

So baby can't you see I've got to break free I've got to break free I want to break free, yeah I want, I want, I want, I want to break free

With love, Your Ineffable Detective Agency

Special thanks to @lookingatacupoftea who's roof troubles directly led to this. Our other members include: @embracing-the-ineffable, @kimberleyjean, @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @maufungi, @somehow-a-human, @ghstptats, @havemyheartaziraphale, @dunkthebiscuit, and @251-dmr

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

✨ Lovely people ✨ ✨ Get your ticket and talk to you then! ✨

⏰ Virtual tickets and one in person ticket still available! ⏰

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

The Ineffable Detective Agency Presents: Street Seating - A Disappearing Act!

As @noneorother mentioned the other day, we’re going through the archives over @ineffable-detective-agency and trying to post discontinuities and clues that haven’t been shared yet! 

Have you ever noticed the outdoor seating on Whickber street? Just in front of the Deli?

Don't see it? Look closer, this one, here!

You can also see it up close when Maggie and Nina have their “Awning of a New Age” moment nearby. 

These tables and their surrounding hedges are present consistently throughout episodes 1-3 but when we get to episode 4, take a look at Whickber street when Aziraphale returns from his Edinburgh trip…

Um, where did it go? The outdoor seating has mysteriously disappeared, and we know it is a physical prop, so the crew had to go about removing it all together, they couldn’t just use VFX. Why remove it for this scene? Did they really just need the Bentley to drive that close to the curb or is there something off about this version of Whickber street? 

By the time Crowley returns again the next morning in Episode 5, the seating area is back, you can see it just behind Aziraphale.

It’s present throughout the rest of the season, and visible even in the final scene. 

So, what is special about the morning Aziraphale returns from Edinburgh? Douglas MacKinnon mentioned that there was an important clue in that scene, could this have been what he was referring to? Let's hear your theories and thoughts! And as always, be kind to each other <3

Special thanks to @kimberleyjean for her lovely screenshotting skills, and the rest of the detectives @theastrophysicistnextdoor, @noneorother, @komorezuki, @maufungi, @lookingatacupoftea, @havemyheartaziraphale, @251-dmr, @dunkthebiscuit, @ghstptats <3

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Yep, there's more :) Dive into the ineffable mystery of Good Omens with @251-dmr!

My Musings

2 AziraCrow Theory - The theme of 2 and a possible interpretation of its prevalence.

Blurring the Edges - Blurring the edges of the end credits. What it might mean.

I know someone who looks like you - On names, labels, and identities.

Cranking up the stars and nebula - A few observations on Crowley's constellation schematic.

Job flashback and foreshadowing? - An obscure theory about the destruction of Job's property and the unused apocalyptic story concept art.

Thoughts on Pride & Prejudice - Jane Austen and the books

Arrivals - Compare and Contrast - Looking at Gabriel's arrival and Muriel's arrival to the bookshop.

Weird Coffee Shop Guy - There's something odd about this guy.

Unable to Reconcile - Confusion over cause and effect with the half-miracle vs blowing up the halo. Might not be anything.

Haven't seen you since - Unpopular opinion piece on why I don't think Azi and Crowley were seeing each other between the Garden Wall and Job.

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Dive even deeper into the ineffable mystery of Good Omens with @noneorother!

The Noneorother Good Omens Meta master list

Welcome to the master list of all Good Omens related meta posted by none other than myself, your humble art director and meta enthusiast. Dutifully organized for your season 2 spiralling pleasure/pain.

Music/soundtrack metas All the music you didn't hear, part 1 All the music you didn't hear, part 2 All the music you didn't hear, part 3 All the music you didn't hear, part 4 Neil dubbed one line in season 2

Production design metas The Good Omens BTS is trolling us I found a few pearls in the GOS2 posters part 1 I found a few pearls in the GOS2 posters part 2 The streets are wet *almost* all the time? There are multiple versions of the bookshop columns Moving lamps Saraqael's map is from season 1

Symbology & Art metas The secret timeline inside of good omens part 0 The secret timeline part 1 The secret timeline part 2 Crowley’s did what now? Gabriel’s an ostrich The costumes at the ball Aziraphale *is* a real magician Puppet show in the magic shop Beelzebub's thrones The meaning of Crowley's Maltese Falcon Aziraphael's lapels Why are extras wearing orange

Puns/Wordplay Shax can spell toast Aziraphale's Visable bullet Angel vs. Angle Movie Metas The League Of Gentlemen's: Apocalypse The Tales Of Hoffmann, P&P part 1 The Tales of Hoffmann, P&P part 2

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Dive into the ineffable mystery of Good Omens with @komorezuki!

My thoughts masterpost

Well i will make it bc i should remember which theories questions and jokes i have posted already and which ones are waiting for their finest hour. Not sure i am doing it right.

Security issues in the Heaven and Crowley as a prehistoric hacker. Who told you that the record which Crowley had watched in Heaven wasn’t falsified?

You are the bad guys

Crowley's mental condition in s2

Who the fuck is Metatron

Thoughts about Brielzebub

The information from Beelzebub

Language difficulties

The Metatron and Almighty's Plan

Random short thoughts what my inflaming brain generates infinitely are here

Random jokes are here bc why other people don't laugh with me

All demonic metas you can find in this masterpost.

[theastrophysicistnextdoor]

Dive into the ineffable mystery of Good Omens with @kimberleyjean!

Solving the riddle of Good Omens:

See here for My Guide to All the Mysterious "Errors" in Good Omens.

Below are my own meta, but you can also find more on this blog via #ineffable mystery for all mysterious shenanigans, or #good omens meta for all general meta.

Ineffable Detective Agency:

Why are there two scrolls in Before the Beginning?

Missing Pieces / Discontinuity:

Weird camera cuts in E1 and E4 (1941)

Gabriel's Statue

Are Episodes 2 & 3 all mixed up?

Surrender the Angle Sign

The Resurrectionist Pub has two signs?

Saraqael's Map (response to @noneorother)

Fairy Lights

Overarching Themes:

Notes on Magic and Good Omens (S1)

Infinity and Mobius Strip Symbols (S1, S2, Book)

Props / Set Analysis:

The Picture Bible

Nina Simone (response to @fellthemarvelous)

Jim's bookshelf:

The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time (response to @aprilodite)

Good Omens Metaverse / Extra-textual:

The Baftas and Bark Ruffalo