The production of the third and final season of Good Omens has been paused following allegations against Neil Gaiman.
Production on the third and final season of Good Omens has been underway in Scotland, but Deadline reports that it’s been put on pause. Uh oh. The reason for the pause isn’t clear, but Deadline has heard that there are “discussions about possible production changes.” It’s speculated that this pause is related to the sexual assault allegations made against Good Omens co-creator Neil Gaiman by several women earlier this summer.
The allegations were made in a podcast series released by Tortoise Media titled Master: The Allegations Against Neil Gaiman. Some of the allegations go back decades, with the woman accusing Gaiman of “rough, degrading” sex that was not always consensual. Gaiman has denied the allegations, saying he was “disturbed” by them. Disney also paused a feature film adaptation of Gaiman’s The Graveyard Book earlier this week.
It remains to be seen how long this “pause” will last, but hopefully, Good Omens season 3 will be back on track after whatever changes need to be made. Gaiman is more involved in the new season than ever before, especially after the exit of Douglas Mackinnon, who served as executive producer, director, and co-showrunner of the first two seasons. “I’m not involved with this show anymore,” Mackinnon said last year. In response to being asked about Mackinnon’s exit, Gaiman merely said, “Douglas has moved on to other projects.“
Based on the novel of the same name by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman, Good Omens follows the demon Crowley (David Tennant) and the angel Aziraphale (Michael Sheen), longtime acquaintances who have “grown accustomed to each other’s company, and to a pleasant life on Earth as representatives of Heaven and Hell, and who have agreed not to let the conflict between their sides prevent their friendship.“
“I’m so happy finally to be able to finish the story Terry and I plotted in 1989 and in 2006,” Gaiman said in a statement when the series was renewed for a third season. “Terry was determined that if we made Good Omens for television, we could take the story all the way to the end. Season one was all about averting Armageddon, dangerous prophecies and the End of the World. Season two was sweet and gentle, although it may have ended less joyfully than a certain Angel and Demon might have hoped. Now in season three, we will deal once more with the end of the world. The plans for Armageddon are going wrong. Only Crowley [David Tennant] and Aziraphale [Martin Sheen] working together can hope to put it right. And they aren’t talking.“