Neil Gaiman reveals he turned Good Omens into a TV show because it was Terry Pratchett's dying wish

'I'd much rather be writing novels'

Neil Gaiman has revealed he turned Good Omens into a TV show to fulfil the dying wish of Sir Terry Pratchett.

The American Gods author has adapted their 1990 novel into a series purely because his former writing partner asked him to before he died of Alzheimer’s.

Speaking to The Sunday Times, Gaiman said: “I didn’t really plan to give 18 months of my life to making a TV show. I’d much rather be writing novels. I would be making a lot more money.”

Gaiman and Pratchett had attempted to bring the novel to the small screen for many years. In 2014, Pratchett wrote Gaiman a letter asking him to return to the project

“You’re the only other person out there with the same love and understanding and passion for this that I have,” Pratchett’s letter read. “I know how busy you are, but I want to see this before the darkness takes me. Will you do this, please?”

Gaiman added that it was the first time that Pratchett, who died in March 2015, had ever asked him to do anything in 35 years.

“Suddenly I was dealing with a last request. And I’m honouring it,” he said.

Good Omens, a series about a demon attempting to deliver the antichrist to Earth, stars David Tennant, Michael Sheen, Benedict Cumberbatch, Frances McDormand and Miranda Richardson.

It begins on Amazon Prime on 31 May.