Well I was right to tip you off to the BBC Radio 4 broadcast of Good Omens. It was great. I don’t listen to many radio shows … actually this is the first one I have listened to in probably decades, but this made me want to listen to more. They are so much more fun than a book on tape. With their cast of characters and sound effects it really draws you in.
The story follows the book fairly closely, I am not sure that I noticed any differences. I would have to read the book again to be sure. It still follows Aziraphale (Mark Heap) and Crowley (Peter Serafinowicz) as they try and stop the end of the world. “Try” being the operative word.
The cast was wonderful, and now if they ever do a movie or a miniseries they are going to have use the same people otherwise it is going to sound all wrong and bug the crap out of me. Heap and Serafinowicz in particular really anchor this production well.
The BBC’s sound effects crew need to be commended as well because everything sounded spot on. I my not have been able to see things happening, but my imagination never had to stretch much to figure out what was going on. It was just good work all around.
I had so much fun with this production, I will be looking for more BBC radio plays in the future. Though they have set the bar so high with this one maybe I shouldn’t. In any case you should give Good Omens a listen. It is only three and a half hours long, and broken up in to six episodes, so you shouldn’t have a problem finding the time. It is still free for a couple of weeks, and that is a hard price to beat.
You should see if you can get a hold of the other Neil Gaiman adaptation that Radio 4 did recently of Neverwhere. I remember the TV version, have the book, etc. The R4 version is superb! All the actors were well cast. I was worried that whoever played the Marquis de Carabas wouldn’t meet the same level of arrogance and glee that Patterson Joseph had in the TV version, but David Harewood nailed it. Plus, hearing Anthony Head as Mr Croup was sheer pleasure. Do yourself a favour and get the CD version!
I really should find a copy! That sounds great.