David Tennant pushes back against claims that Good Omens “mocks religion”

On Good Omens, David Tennant plays Crowley, a demon of hell who forms an intimate friendship with Aziraphale, an angle played by Michael Sheen. The show has good-natured fun with Christian mythology, with various angels and demons getting into hijinks as they learn the ways of humans and maybe even strike up romances with each other…

There are literally billions of Christians throughout the world, so I hesitate to paint with a broad brush, but there are definitely some who tend to react badly to any depictions of Christian mythology they deem flippant or disrespectful. Such is the case with Good Omens; thousands have petitioned Amazon to cancel the show.

All in all, that’s a fairly small number — again, we’re talking thousands out of billions — but it hasn’t gone unnoticed by Tennant. “You’re right, there was a group that complained,” he told Radio Times. “It’s not irreligious. It doesn’t mock religion. It mocks some of the attitudes that religion vomits forth.”

As it ends up, Tennant’s father was a minister, so he doesn’t approach this topic as an outsider. “My upbringing was specifically Church of Scotland Christian,” he said. “My parents were Christians in the proper sense of the word. I don’t want to get controversial here, but that was about values, kindness, tolerance, helping people out, going the extra mile to be charitable, community. That’s the version of Christianity that I got from them.”

"I may not call it Christianity any more, but I certainly think it’s a way of living and it’s something I’m forever grateful to them for. That was their religion. I find it difficult to recognise some of the versions of religion that are more unforgiving, fundamentalist and unbending because that to me is not how I recognize the teachings of the Bible."

Did David Tennant give his son Ty advice on becoming an actor?

Tennant now has a family of his own, including son Ty, who actually appears alongside him in Good Omens as Ennon, son of Job. David Tennnat’s parents supported his acting ambitions, but they didn’t have an inside idea of what the profession was like. David does. Did he have any advice for his son?

“When you see your child act for the first time you think, ‘What if they’re s**t? How will I cope? Do I tell them?'” Tennnat said. “Luckily, Ty’s really good. He has a natural confidence and ability. That was, first of all, a huge relief and then a matter of great pride, if I’m honest.”

"I love watching him work. But it remains an unfair profession and just being good at it doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll be able to do it for the rest of your life. I think he’s got every chance."

Ty is indeed pretty good; in addition to appearing in Good Omens, he played young Aegon Targaryen on House of the Dragon. He probably has the talent to last in show business for a while…and having David Tennnat as a father can’t hurt.

Doctor Who is David Tennant’s first TV memory

David Tennant is having a huge year. Later this year, he’ll return as the lead character on Doctor Who in a series of specials. Tennant hasn’t been on the show for years, but it will always hold a special place in his heart, not least of all because it’s the first show he remembers watching.

Specifically, he remembers Jon Pertwee (the third Doctor) transforming into Tom Baker, who played the Fourth. “It’s weirdly specific, especially considering things that have happened in my life since. I remember thinking, ‘That man just turned into another man. That’s wild.'”

"It’s so utterly unpredictable the way things worked out [landing the lead in Doctor Who], it’s so fantastically unlikely. The odds are so ludicrously small that if I think about it too much, it makes me feel vertiginous."

Tennant will return to Doctor Who in a series of specials towards the end of the year. You can watch him in Good Omens right now, on Amazon.

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