Yesterday, we had the chance to walk the red (or, in this case, green) carpet at the World Premiere of the hugely anticipated upcoming Amazon Original series, ‘Good Omens‘ in Leicester Square, which premieres globally on Amazon Prime Video on Friday 31st May 2019.
Based on the beloved book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, ‘Good Omens’ follows an unlikely duo, a fussy Angel (Michael Sheen, ‘Masters of Sex’) and a loose-living Demon (David Tennant, ‘Doctor Who’) who’ve become overly fond of life on Earth are forced to form an unlikely alliance to stop Armageddon. But they have lost the Antichrist, an 11-year-old boy unaware he’s meant to bring upon the end of days, forcing them to embark on an adventure to find him and save the world before it’s too late.
Heading down the “green” carpet, we entered a beautiful, lush green “Eden” before being shown to our spot in the media line up to wait for the guests to arrive. People in attendance included David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Jon Hamm, Miranda Richardson, Josie Lawrence, and Adria Ajorna alongside creator Neil Gaiman and director Douglas Mackinnon. Whilst we stood, praying for the weather to hold out (thankfully it did), the gathered crowd were entertained by Queen’s Greatest Hits (a motif used in the novel, which states any cassette tape left in a car for long enough automatically turns into Queen’s Greatest Hits).
Michael Sheen & David Tennant attend the World Premiere of Good Omens in London ahead of its launch on 31st May on Prime Video
Whilst we’ve covered premieres at Leicester Square before, they have always been for big movie releases. This is the first time we’ve ever seen something of quite this scale for the release of a tv show. It was quite spectacular and really tells you how much faith Amazon and the BBC have in the show… and having seen the first two episodes, we can truly say, that faith is well placed.
As zero hour headed closer, a countdown to the apocalypse appeared on the giant video screen at the end of the carpet, ticking down to the end of the world… which is unfortunate, as we were rather hoping to interview some people before that happened. Thankfully, it just signalled the arrival of the nuns from the Chattering Order of St Beryl, who gave a live rendition of their song ‘Brand New Baby Smell‘.
Chattering Order of St Beryl
When the nuns cleared out, the guests started to arrive, and we grabbed as many people as we could to come over for a chat. They included stars David Tennant & Michael Sheen who play the Angel Aziraphale and the Demon Crowley, along with Adria Arjona (‘Emerald City’, ‘True Detective’) who plays the fabulously named Anathema Device. We also managed to grab director Douglas Mackinnon, producer Rob Wilkins, writer and co-author of the novel, Neil Gaiman, and (because he was there, so why wouldn’t you grasp a chance to talk with him…) Monty Python legend, Terry Gilliam. You can watch all the interviews in the video above.
Following the interviews, we headed inside the Odeon Luxe Leicester Square to watch the first two episodes (plus a “sizzle reel”) of ‘Good Omens’. Whilst we obviously won’t spoil anything here, we will say you are in for a treat when it premieres on Amazon in a few days. Along with the people we’ve already mentioned the series also stars Nick Offerman, Jack Whitehall, Michael McKean, Anna Maxwell Martin, Mireille Enos, and a host of other amazing actors, all perfectly cast. It’s sweet, it’s funny, it’s wonderfully British, wonderfully dark, and wonderfully strange.
During a heartfelt intro from Neil Gaiman, he explained how he started writing the show. “Terry, who never asked anything of me in all our years of friendship wrote to me and said ‘you have to do this, you’re the only person out there who has the passion and understanding for Good Omens that I have – you have to make it into television because I want to see it before the lights go out’,” he commented. “I thought I had six or seven years of Terry left, but then he died, which suddenly turned [Good Omens] into his last request.” Neil then went on to say that following Terry’s funeral, he went straight home and started writing episode one.
Terry Pratchett’s hat and scarf
Neil ended his intro by pointing out they had left a seat for Terry in the front row, adorned with his iconic hat and scarf. Whilst Terry will always be greatly missed, you could definitely feel his presence last night. We think he would be extremely happy with what Neil, David, Michael and the rest of the cast and crew have achieved.
You can catch ‘Good Omens‘ yourself when it premieres globally on Amazon Prime Video on Friday 31st May 2019
