Ten weeks after Neil Gaiman finished making Good Omens (the book he co-wrote with friend Terry Pratchett in 1990) for television, he blogged, “I’m only just starting to feel human again. Not yet a laughing, running, tap-dancing human, more a sort of baffled, awkward, vague human who only remembers the word he was searching for about five minutes after he no longer needs it”. Perhaps that’s why the man who is known for his attention to detail, was almost late for the London première of the Amazon-BBC Studios production.
You could blame a sartorial snafu, but then again, Gaiman, 58, has always walked to the beat of his own drum. And on May 28, he’d decided he wanted to wear a bow tie — though he didn’t know how to go about it. After checking with everyone, including bystanders, “Daniel, the guy from the barber shop next to the hotel” saved the day, joked his wife, and American singer-songwriter, Amanda Palmer, on Instagram. Which was fortuitous as the evening went on to be a success, with the Odeon cinema in Leicester Square at full capacity. The only empty seat was in the front row, deliberately kept vacant in honour of Pratchett. The late English writer’s trademark hat and scarf presided over the event.
Since then, the star-studded, six-episode apocalyptic comedy — which narrates the story of an irreverent demon (David Tennant) and a well-intentioned angel (Michael Sheen) coming together to stop Armageddon — has won many fans.
Calling the shots
Sipping tea at The Soho Hotel, clad in his habitual black tee and trousers, the British-born-US-settled writer tells me the ball was set rolling when Pratchett found out he was dying. “He told me ‘you have to do this. I want to see it before the light goes out’. He had Alzheimer’s and passed away in 2015, and it turned out to be his last request.” Gaiman started writing the screenplay right after the funeral.
- Gaiman had to back out of the Jaipur Lit Fest last year because “we were working 18 hours a day trying to finish Good Omens”. But he fondly recalls collaboration with Texas-based illustrator Divya Srinivasan on Cinnamon (2005) — “a conscious attempt to collaborate with an Indian artist”.
While the novelist and comic book creator is no stranger to writing for television — he has done episodes for shows like Babylon 5 and Doctor Who, and turned executive producer for the adaptation of his book, American Gods — what wasn’t expected was him donning the hat of showrunner. “I’d learnt from my previous outings in TV that some [shows] become enormously successful and some don’t, and the measure is not the quality of the script but what winds up on screen. So I thought I’ve to be in a place where I can control the shots,” he says.
Casting was easy because, as he later told collider.com, “the book has generated an awful lot of good will. They [actors] are fans and they wanted to be a part of this”. In fact, he cast many from his address book — friends like Sheen and Tennant. Frances McDormand came on board after she asked to rent his house in Scotland (he said yes and then asked her if she would be the voice of God), and Benedict Cumberbatch was his “first choice” to play Satan. “Having Neil at the helm of all creative choices gave us a huge amount of confidence because he is the lord of this universe,” says Sheen, who plays Aziraphale. “He is also an incredibly generous person, creatively. He was invested in making sure everyone felt ownership of what they were doing.”
Tackling multimedia
Gaiman has commanded a loyal fan following ever since his comic series The Sandman became successful. Now, with Good Omens on Amazon Prime Video, a newer audience can discover his work. But the writer has always been PR and technology savvy, says Samit Basu. “In the early 2000s, when the Gaiman phase was at its strongest, he was one of the first writers to turn to blogging. I don’t think anyone else [of his generation] has used the internet as well as he has, engaging with and allowing readers to become interested in his life. Now he is big on Twitter and other social media,” says the author of The GameWorld Trilogy, who was inspired to try different media because of the British writer. (Basu has just co-directed a film for Netflix.) “The idea that someone could be good in multiple media — comics (The Sandman), novels (American Gods, Stardust), children’s books (Coraline, The Wolves in the Walls), screenplays (Beowulf) — is something I first saw in Gaiman,” he adds.
- Gaiman feels Good Omens is more apt now than in the ‘90s. At a time when the nuclear clock is ticking, “issues like deforestation and killing of whales” are troubling, and world leaders are pushing their own agendas, it’s not far-fetched to think the End Times have come.
For others, like graphic novelist and artist George Mathen or Appupen, it is Gaiman’s eye for art that is to be lauded. “I am not a fan but I’ll say this, he has a good eye and chooses the best artists to work with. That was how I discovered (English illustrator) David McKean, who later influenced my work. The Tragical Comedy or Comical Tragedy of Mr Punch was one of their iconic collaborations, as were many of The Sandman covers and that of Midnight Days.”
Once again in demand (if he ever dropped out, that is), Gaiman is being hounded by fans wanting to know if a season two of Good Omens can be expected. From his reply to GQ magazine, we think not. “While I wouldn’t say it is absolutely 100% impossible that there could be more, I’d also say it’s not absolutely 100% impossible that I will learn to fly. It’s about the same level of unlikeliness,” was his response. However, he does assure that he has a lot more to write, including the sequel to Neverwhere.
The writer was in London at the invitation of Amazon.