#douglas mackinnon
From a Q&A at Ineffable Con 2 on 17th October, 2020.
Neil:
There are definitely people out there who seem to think that I accidentally wrote a love story, with all of the beats of a love story, including a break-up halfway through, without somehow noticing that I’d written a love story. And I may not be the brightest candle on the candelabra, but as an author who’s been doing it for a long time, I’m very well aware of when I’m writing a love story, thank you very much. And so, from my perspective, I knew that the love story would be one of the driving things that would get us from the beginning to the end.
And I also made a bunch of decisions about our angels and our demons in terms of casting, in terms of gender, that everybody backed me up on, which I loved. You know, the idea that the archangel Michael is played by Doon is something that is - or Beelzebub is Anna Maxwell Martin, whatever, there’s - it’s not like we are going these are women, there are men. We are going these are demons, these are angels. They - this is not a thing. And also doing something like Pollution where you go in and go okay, well, if we were doing this in - if 1989 was now, if there were they pronouns, we probably would have done that. We didn’t think of it at the time, but that’s no reason why we can’t do it now. And we did. And I remember having a - not exactly a battle, but a - my - very tiny skirmish with one of our execs who was very nice and very bright and was like “Why are you saying they?” and I’m like (demonstrating a pause) and I - explaining, and he’s like, “Well, I’ve never heard of that before,” and I’m like “Oh, okay, but trust me. Just trust me. It’s all - it’s all fine. Just trust me.”Douglas:
And you know I have to say, just following on from what Neil’s saying, I’ve been directing for quite a while, and I tend to notice if characters are falling in love. I tend to notice a love story happening in front of me. And I think it’s there. And everything is meant, guys. Everything is meant.
[…]
Neil:
I would just say, there are some things that you do while you’re writing a script intentionally. The fact that - I wanted to do this, well, it was a thing I did that I really enjoyed doing, where whenever people accuse them of being a couple, they don’t deny it. They don’t argue. There’s no flustering on their part. They absolutely… everybody… what I’m trying to say is - yes, other people in the story are perceiving them as a couple too. And here is Uriel perceiving them as a couple. Here is wonderful Dan… you do scenes like that because that’s - you are trying to make a point here and you’re trying to make a point on how people are perceived.
First Impressions: Good Omens on Amazon Prime
In these current dark and tumultuous times it can often seem like we’re rushing faster towards an impending apocalyptic like end. But fear not, the world continues to turn and we can rest assured that in the meantime watching Amazon Prime’s new series Good Omens will alleviate some of that tension. The show is based on the Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett authored 1990 novel of the same name.…
I may be right, I may be wrong
But I’m perfectly willing to swear
That when you turned and smiled at me
A nightingale sang in Berkeley square
This scene is still one of the cutest moments of the series, so I just had to make something out of it instead of sleeping properly!
Thank you so much! Please credit if you repost!!
Here’s the fanart in picture format too:
