Rapid Response: Good Omens (Patreon)

The books of Terry Pratchett are pretty much the only ones I re-read, certainly the only ones I have re-read more than once. Since his death I've been very slowly re-reading the Discworld series and when I'm done I'll probably start again. Pratchett was one of those writers whom fans really took to their hearts and his death was like losing a friend.
The news that Good Omens was being made into a TV show was exciting but troubling. The TV versions of Discworld novels have largely missed the spirit of the books for me, and occasionally been flat-out terrible  I never felt the need to re-read Good Omens as I do the Discworld novels - while they are endlessly joyous, Good Omens has more of an immediate impact that I don't think can be recaptured when you go back to it - but I still feel an attachment to it, and I know how much the show mattered to Pratchett himself. The fact that Neil Gaiman (who co-wrote Good Omens with Pratchett) was scripting gave me hope but it's amazing how many things can go wrong in the making of a TV series. Early reviews were mixed, most of them saying that stars Michael Sheen and David Tennant were holding it up, which increased my concern.
I have now watched the first episode (having signed up for Amazon Prime partly so I could watch) and the sense of relief is enormous.  Good or bad, I'm glad the series was made because Pratchett wanted it and it had become a point of faith for Gaiman to get this done for his old friend, but from the first episode I have no idea what the critics' problem was. Good Omens is as witty, dark and fiercely imaginative as I remember the book being. It is laugh out loud funny, and retains Pratchett's distinctive voice (something his own books had begun to lack in the last few years of his life), as well as being a visual feast. Critics have suggested that the adaptation is too faithful, trying to retain too much of the book, and there is certainly a lot going on, but I found its cantering pace and avalanche of ideas to be an asset. Good Omens was a book with things to say and determined to say them in an entertaining way - the TV show does the same. I'm sure Neil Gaiman (another writer I hugely admire) sees this as a tribute to Pratchett, but actually it's a credit to them both. The thing that everyone always said about the book was that there was nothing else like it, and there still isn't.