Posted in: Amazon Studios, BBC, Good Omens, TV | Tagged: BBC Radio 4, david tennant, good omens, Just William, michael sheen, neil gaiman, Richmal Crompton, William the Antichrist

Neil Gaiman Discusses The Secret(-ish) Origin of Good Omens

Published Mon, 02 May 2022 07:38:13 -0500

by Adi Tantimedh

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On BBC Radio 4 on Sunday, Neil Gaiman spoke about the secret origin of Good Omens, the bestselling novel he co-wrote with the late, great Sir Terry Pratchett that has become a hit Amazon TV show starring David Tennant and Michael Sheen.

Gaiman, like many British schoolboys, grew up reading the Just William stories by Richmal Crompton. Crompton's book series began in 1922 featuring mischievous and precocious 11-year-old schoolboy William Brown and the various schemes and shenanigans he got up to. William was the archetype that went on to inspire all kinds of mischievous kid characters in comics later on like Dennis the Menace. The BBC Radio 4 program Just William… and Richmal dives into the history of the stories, their authors, and their influence on British pop culture still felt today.

Neil Gaiman Reminds Us of the Secret Origin of Good Omens — "Just William" audiobook cover, BBC

The program interviewed Gaiman, a professed fan of Just William, who said he thought about crossing Just William with The Omen sort of as a spoof. He wrote the first pages of William the Antichrist: what if William was swapped at the orphanage by mistake and raised to become the Antichrist? He sent the pages to his friend Pratchett and they decided to write the book together. Then they decided they should "shave the serial numbers off" so they could own the copyright of the book as a piece of intellectual property. They changed the names of the characters, so William became Adam, and the story played out the way it did in the thus-retitled Good Omens. The rest, as they say, is history.

This origin story for how Good Omens came to be hasn't exactly been hidden. It has been an open secret in the UK for ages, especially for anyone who has heard Gaiman tell the story. The rest of Just William… and Richmal is worth listening to for a thorough history of the character, the stories, and the author behind them. Non-Brits might not know about William Brown despite the large catalogue of books, movies, and TV series adaptations, but the character has been an archetype and a staple since 1922. Just think, without him, there would be no Good Omens, which is now making its second TV season.

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