The second season of Good Omens starts this Friday, continuing the story of the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), the demon Crowley (David Tennant), and their millennia-long friendship. The first season of the show was based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. There never was a sequel, so this time, the show is going beyond the page.
“hen we were doing the first season, Neil always talked about the idea that he and Terry had talked quite a bit about future storylines and that they had worked out quite a lot of it, actually. They just never got around to writing it down in a book,” Sheen told Collider. “So there was quite a lot of material already in his head.”
"One of the wonderful things about this, as well, working on this project, has been how much myself and David have been able to collaborate with Neil on the characters and inhabit them and bring them to life, and developing the relationship between them and the storylines. So it’s felt very collaborative, but then, of course, Neil is very good at making it feel collaborative even when he knows exactly what he wants."
Michael Sheen is “very much aware” of the fan love for Aziraphale and Crowley
The relationship between Aziraphale and Crowley is at the heart of Good Omens. It’s caught on with fans in a huge way, something Sheen is “very much aware of.”
"[I]t’s one of the most enjoyable aspects of working on this, to see how much the audience and in particular Good Omens fans just give to the project. It does feel like a fulfilled kind of creative collaboration with the fans as well. There’s so much talent when people come to writing fanfiction or artwork, or just discussing ideas or things that have sort of been born out of it. I mean, there are all kinds of amazing groups who fundraise now for charities and do all kinds of incredible things. There are conventions and all sorts. I love that, and I love seeing how people have made friends, really close friends, through their connection to this and these characters in this story, and how communities have been created, and how much people are helping each other. I see all that online and I hear about it. It feels very in the spirit of the story, you know, it feels very in keeping with what it’s all about. I think that’s a big part of why Neil and I and the rest of us have all really opened ourselves to that fan community, because I think it feels like a very living part of the story."
Gaiman and Pratchett deserve lots of credit for creating Aziraphale and Crowley in the first place, but if you’re looking for an explanation for why the two have become so beloved since the show premiered in 2019, much credit must be given to Sheen and Tennant, who have excellent chemistry onscreen and off. They even put together a Zoom show called Staged during the pandemic, just because.
Clearly, the two enjoy working together. Word is that the collaboration may continue in a third season of Good Omens. “It’s just a real joy, so, you know, long may it continue,” Sheen said.
Good Omens season 2 release date
But first, we have season 2 to enjoy. It’ll pick up with Aziraphale and Crowley as free agents, having severed their formal ties with heaven and hell at the end of season 1.
“I think he’s in a quite odd position for him because, on the one hand, he’s got a lot of the things that he’s always wanted. He’s always wanted to just be left alone and live in his bookshop, and drink tea and listen to music, and read books and go to the theater, and eat nice meals and drink nice wine, and be with the being that he loves being with the most,” Sheen said of Aziraphale. “But on the other hand, he’s also someone who feels very anxious about not being part of the company, you know, being out on his own and sort of independent. It’s quite a challenge for him. It’s that thing about “be careful what you wish for.” He got what he wished for, but he still feels a bit off-kilter, I think, and then this unexpected guest arrives and turns the world upside down for him again.”
"But one of the things that we wanted to explore with Aziraphale in this series is perhaps finding something a little steelier underneath the apparent soft surface, that maybe there’s something else going on under there. So we see that kind of come out as the story goes on, as well."
Good Omens season 2 premieres on July 28.
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