Michael Sheen and David Tennant have been cast in the lead roles in the Amazon series adaptation of Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett’s “Good Omens,” Variety has learned.

The show is set in 2018 on the brink of an apocalypse as humanity prepares for a final judgment. But Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a demon, aren’t enthusiastic about the end of the world, and can’t seem to find the Antichrist. Sheen will play the role of Aziraphale, while Tennant will play Crowley. It will consist of six one-hour episodes.

“I first read ‘Good Omens’ as a teenager and it’s been one of my favourite stories ever since,” Sheen said in a statement to Variety. “To be part of the team entrusted with bringing it alive on screen is a bit of a dream come true to be honest. To work alongside Neil, who I think is one of the greatest storytellers of all time, is incredibly exciting. And, just like the rest of the world, I’m a huge fan of David’s so I relish trying to save it with him.”

“Good Omens” was Gaiman’s first novel, written in collaboration with Pratchett, who died in 2015. Terry Gilliam was attached at one point to direct a film adaptation. It is the latest Gaiman television project in recent years. Fox premiered “Lucifer,” inspired by the character created in Gaiman’s Vertigo comics series “The Sandman” and subsequent solo series, in 2015. Earlier this year, Starz debuted Season 1 of “American Gods,” based on Gaiman’s book of the same name.

“Good Omens” is co-produced by BBC Studios with Narrativia, the production company of Pratchett’s daughter Rhianna, and the Blank Corporation and in association with BBC Worldwide for Amazon Prime Video and the BBC. Gaiman and Chris Sussman are executive producing for BBC Studios, and Rob Wilkins and Rod Brown will executive produce for Narrativia. Gaiman adapted all six episodes of the series and will also serve as showrunner.

Following its exclusive launch on Amazon Prime Video, the series will also be broadcast on BBC in the U.K. BBC Worldwide has the second-run rights internationally.

Jon Hamm to Play Archangel Gabriel in Amazon’s ‘Good Omens’



Jon Hamm will be God’s messenger in “Good Omens,” Amazon and the BBC’s adaptation of the Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman novel.

Hamm (“Baby Driver”) has been cast as archangel Gabriel, the primary messenger of God, in the upcoming six-part series, which has just gone into production.

The “Mad Men” star professed to being a fan of the original novel, but thought it could never be filmed. “I read ‘Good Omens’ almost 20 years ago,” he said. “I thought it was one of the funniest, coolest books I’d ever read. It was also, obviously, unfilmable. Two months ago Neil sent me the scripts, and I knew I had to be in it.”

Hamm’s character has a fleeting role in the book, but Gabriel has been worked up for the series. “When ‘Good Omens’ was first published and was snapped up for the first time by Hollywood, Terry and I took joy in introducing our angels into the plot of a movie that was never made,” said Gaiman, who penned the series and is showrunner on the project. “So when, almost 30 years later, I started writing ‘Good Omens’ for TV, one thing I knew was that our angels would have to be in there.”

Hamm joins a lineup that includes Michael Sheen and David Tennant in the lead roles of the angel Aziraphale and the demon Crowley, respectively. Jack Whitehall, Michael McKean, Miranda Richardson, and Adria Arjona are also among the cast.

Gaiman expanded on the Gabriel character in the series. “He is everything that Aziraphale isn’t,” he said. “He’s tall, good-looking, charismatic and impeccably dressed. We were fortunate that Jon Hamm was available, given that he is already all of these things without even having to act.”

BBC Studios, the production arm of U.K. pubcaster BBC, is producing “Good Omens.” It will bow on the Amazon Prime Video streaming service in 2019, and then run on BBC Two in the U.K.