November 27, 2014 - RadioTimes - Colin Morgan and Neil Gaiman get release dates for GOOD OMENS (PHOTOS)

Good Omens: Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s radio drama gets a release date and new pictures

Colin Morgan, Louise Brealey and Charlotte Ritchie all appear in the Radio 4 drama. We know what we'll be listening to this Christmas...

By Huw Fullerton

Thursday 27 November 2014 at 03:11PM

If you like your Christmas a bit dark, funny and involving the antichrist, then you’re in luck – Radio 4 has a festive treat to run over the Christmas week. 

The radio adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s comic apocalypse novel Good Omens will air at 11pm from the 22^nd to the 27^thof December, with the last episode a bumper hour-long special.

The news was announced by Gaiman on Twitter, accompanied by props from the series:

http://twitter.com/neilhimself/status/537976377941983232/photo/1

I have borrowed Aziraphale's flaming sword to let you know that Good Omens starts on Dec 22nd on BBC Radio 4. Look!

And once you've marked that date on your advent calendar, feast your eyes on a string of new cast images released by the BBC today and including Merlin’s Colin Morgan, Fresh Meat star Charlotte Ritchie, Mark Heap (Green Wing), Peter Serafinowicz (Guardians of the Galaxy), Paterson Joseph (Peep Show), Sherlock’s Louise Brealey and many more (see below).

Good Omens follows the attempts of an angel and a demon (Heap and Serafinowicz) to save the world from the antichrist, but all is not as it seems thanks to a bureaucratic mix-up. Soon, the fate of humanity is left to a gang of young children, a trainee witchfinder (Morgan) and a collection of garbled flashcards.

It was written by Gaiman and Pratchett in 1990, and became a bestseller that remains popular to this day. Now, the two writers have joined up with the team behind the 2013 smash-hit radio adaptation of Gaiman's book and TV series Neverwhere which starred Benedict Cumberbatch, James McAvoy, Christopher Lee and Natalie Dormer.

Gaiman (who appears in the promotional photos) has assisted returning Neverwhere director and adaptor Dirk Maggs with the scripts, and both he and Pratchett will make cameo appearances alongside the main cast.

RadioTimes.com caught up with the drama's star Colin Morgan who explained, despite appearances, you won’t find a better listen for the festive season...

“It’s about the antichrist, at Christmas – nothing more festive that that!” said the Merlin and The Fall actor.

“But it’s got heart and the soul. It’s the escapism, the fantasy element of it, the charm and magic that surrounds Christmas, I think. And it’s pure escapism.

He added: "I think everybody can get something from it. I think fans of Terry and Neil will be extremely pleased.” 

Good Omens will begin on Radio 4 on Monday 22^nd of December at 11.00pm