Posted in: Current News, Editor's Picks TV News, Movies, TV | Tagged: amazon, Amazon Prime, amazon studios, angels, Anti-Christ, Aziraphale, bbc, BBC Two, cable, Crowley, david tennant, Demons, Gabriel, good omens, HRL, jon hamm, michael sheen, neil gaiman, streaming, television, terry pratchett, tv

'Good Omens': Jon Hamm Cast As Archangel Gabriel In Amazon Series

Maybe Don Draper's finally seen the light. Mad Men alum Jon Hamm will be joining David Tennant and Michael Sheen on the set of Amazon Studios and BBC Two's Good Omens as the archangel Gabriel, the primary messenger of God.

Based on Neil Gaiman's (American Gods) and Terry Pratchett's (Colour of Magic) novel and written by showrunner Gaiman, the six-episode series introduces us to angel Aziraphale (Sheen) and demon Crowley (Tennant) as they try to find The Anti-Christ while actively questioning the overall logic behind the end of the world.

The announcement also signifies a major change in the story as it transitions from page to screen, as Gabriel originally had a very minor role in the story. Gaiman explains that the further development of Gabriel as a character is actually in keeping with what he and Pratchett had envisioned for the novel's sequel:

"Once we had finished writing Good Omens, back in the dawn of prehistory, Terry Pratchett and I started plotting a sequel. There would have been a lot of angels in the sequel. 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. So when, almost thirty years later, I started writing Good Omens for TV, one thing I knew was that our angels would have to be in there.

The leader of these angels is Gabriel. He is everything that Aziraphale isn't: 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. We were even more fortunate that he's a fan of the books and a remarkable actor."

For his part, Hamm is a fan of the novel who feels honored to be joining the cast:

"I read Good Omens almost twenty years ago. 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."

Here's what Amazon has to say about their upcoming series:

"Good Omens takes place in 2018 when the Apocalypse is near and Final Judgment is set to descend upon humanity. According to The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter Witch (the world's only completely accurate book of prophecies), the world will end on a Saturday. Next Saturday, in fact. Just before dinner.

So the armies of Good and Evil are amassing, Atlantis is rising, and tempers are flaring. Everything appears to be going according to Divine Plan. Except Aziraphale, a somewhat fussy angel, and Crowley, a fast-living demon—both of whom have lived amongst Earth's mortals since The Beginning and have grown rather fond of the lifestyle—are not actually looking forward to the coming war. And… someone seems to have misplaced the Antichrist."

The six-part television adaptation is currently in production and will be released by Amazon Prime Video to Prime Members in over 200 countries in 2019, followed by a run on BBC Two in the UK.

Good Omens is co-produced by BBC Studios with Narrativia (Rhianna Pratchett's production company) and the Blank Corporation in association with BBC Worldwide for Amazon Prime and the BBC. Gaiman, Caroline Skinner, and Chris Sussman are executive producing for BBC Studios; and Rob Wilkins and Rod Brown will executive produce for Narrativia.

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