#good omens set

[frog-person]

Cool things I found out about the GO set on the set tour

There are multiple missing cat posters around the shops and all the pictures used are actual cats of the crew

On the graffiti in the coffee shop, theres a snake with the names Neil and Terry in it

The records in the record shop are all made up songs albums and bands to avoid having to pay for the rights (my favourite one was one in the window with a shark on a paddle board)

All the stickers in the record shop were designed in one week by a graphic design intern (theres hundreds of them)

Along with the Neil and Terry snake, theres the name of the horsemen in nickname form around the coffee shop (Pollutions is P-Boy)

Not a set thing but the head set designer and head graphic designer are mother and daughter

There are over 7000 books in aziraphales book shop

Of the lesser seen shops that only have window displays, the backdrop of the tailors shop (can be seen in the Maggie and Nina rain scene) is made of scrap air vent pieces

Also not really a set thing but the set is in the same town David Tennant is from

I think its funny the set is in a warehouse behind a tescos

Thats all I can remember rn Ill add more if I remember them

[ashfae]

Eden

(No spoilers for season two in here, promise) One of the most interesting parts of getting to visit the Good Omens set was talking with set designer Michael Ralph. Mostly it was about the bookshop, but he also talked about back before season 1 was done and he was first envisioning and drawing the concept art for everything. His image of the Garden of Eden was that it would be behind walls, obviously, and that outside those walls would be a vast desert.

And that in that desert were the remains of the first attempts of building other Edens. Failed prototypes now left to turn to ruins.

I think about that a lot now. About what might have been in the other Edens, what was left when they were abandoned.

[pookasluagh]

The Resurrectionist Public House 😄

Part of my recent trip involved a brief stay in Edinburgh, and the Cask & Barrel - Southside pub (that was used as the Resurrectionist for filming) was only a mile from my hotel. Yeah, was not going to miss that!!

Unfortunately, Gabe & Bee’s table was occupied, so my little group sat at the table directly behind where Aziraphale stood talking to the barman. 

[illiophop]

GO and Statue Significance

Anyone noticed the statues? Three in particular, which take center stage quite literally in Seasons 1 & 2. We have:

Crowley and his "wrestling" demon and angel, which had pride of place in his flat.

Gabriel's graveyard statue portrait

Aziraphale's marble bust

Because nothing in the set seems accidental and because the statues are so lovingly and prominently displayed, I think it's worth lavishing some attention on them and think about why the characters chose them/like them/display them. This is gonna get academic, for which I'm sorry/not sorry!

Some background on what we know about each statue, with much thanks to @fuckyeahgoodomens for lots of info regarding #1 and #3 statue origins. The wrestling demon and angel is an original work, based upon the Uffizi statue "The Wrestlers." The original is dated to the age of Augustus after a Greek original, which depicted two men engaging in an Olympic sport called Pankration which is described as "an empty-hand submission sport with scarcely any rules." (Make of that what you will).

Gabriel's statue is particularly fascinating. Typical monumental-sized angel statuary with a large cross either has the cross placed above, and the angel below, carrying it, or the angel crouching while embracing the cross. In either composition, it is the cross which is the focal point. In Gabriel's statue, we see the Cross in a non-dominant position, whereas Gabriel's face is the focal point. Also important to note - in traditional angelic statuary, Gabriel is usually depicted as a herald with a horn, and not with a cross at all.

Aziraphale's statue bust original is located in the Louvre, and is called "The Victorious Athlete." It dates from around the time of Crowley's statue, perhaps a century or so later. It is also Roman and it is most likely an idealized figure, not a Greek portrait. Greek-style hair and features came back into fashion in the Roman first century AD, when the Emperor Hadrian fell in love with a Greek youth, Antinous.

My theory is that each statue represents how its owner sees themself and their purpose. In other words, an allegory that allows us to understand the events of S6 and each respective character's actions.

Crowley: Crowley's statue elevates the beauty of eternal tension between dark and light. It's a spiritual and also a very physical, fleshly beauty. More tension. There is definitely sexuality in that piece as well (a few of us have noticed, including Neil!) Each figure pushes the other to their best effort and is, in turn, shown at its best. And each figure is defined by its engagement with the other.

Gabriel: The statue is a clear portrait, unlike the other two (highly unusual for angelic statuary). The whole composition serves to allow the viewer to look, and admire, Gabriel's face. The hope of a resurrection of the dead, as represented by the cross, is completely sublimated to angel portraiture! Pretty extreme stuff for a graveyard, tbh, and reconciles nicely with Gabriel's complete disinterest with the Second Coming.

Aziraphale: His bust is meant to serve as an idealization and embodiment of qualities of the ancient athlete, summed up in the word arete, a term describing "a maximum of ability and potency for action (optimum potentiae); a man’s effectiveness and skill in goodness." Not making this up, btw, this is a widely accepted view of why such idealized statuary was created to represent ancient Olympic athletes - they were literally offerings dedicated to Gods at sanctuaries in Olympia, Delphi and elsewhere.

Such arete encompasses Aziraphale's goal and purpose, and it makes sense that the bust would be displayed so prominently in his bookshop. In S1, it dangled a medallion presented to him from Heaven in 1800. It is interesting that Aziraphale's medallion is missing from the bust in S2 - has it been stripped by Heaven after the events of S1?

Because Crowley has been stripped of his flat, we have no idea what happened to his wrestling angels statue but we no longer have it in S2 as an allegory to access and reference. Is this because he has evolved in his self-definition and that of his relationship with Aziraphale? We cannot know until we have an opportunity to see his flat again, and whether it is still in place.

We know that Gabriel uses his statue as narcissistic reinforcement and a date spot. With his escape from earth, we expect that it will retain little value to him, shed as a narcissist sheds all supply once it is of no use.

But what has happened to Aziraphale's bust in S2 E6? We see Crowley methodically put everything back together exactly as it was after the Ball/Demon incursion, but we don't see the bust go back in place. What is the significance to its absence in the Kiss scene, and the following one with Metatron? I don't know, but I wonder if this is not foreshadowing to indicate that Aziraphale's self-conception is going to be radically altered as a result of his going to heaven. He is not going to come back the same angel, and his allegory is going to have to change with him!

[sanpakueyes17]

Finally finished this sketch of Maggie’s shop. Also, I’d really like to watch Powell and Pressburger’s “Small Back Room” and I can’t seem to find it anywhere. Help?

[very-normal-abt-this]

Googled images from Berwick Street in Soho, London.

Look familiar, anyone? (heart eyes)

[gingerbreedhouse]

Everything for our customers' satisfaction

Gingerbread House - we cure what ails ye ...

[scrtomens]

YEah

[frog-person]

Just finished the set tour and its all absolutely stunning, props to everyone who worked to make good omens and every little detail they put into it

[i-only-ever-asked-questions]

Map of Soho Good Omens Season 2 - Part 4 (Whickber Street [right])

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

Update: Map now identifies Lucky Snake

The right side of Whickber Street doesn't have as many stores. It also ends with a park. On one side: -Dirty Donkey Pub The pub occupies most of the block, in the far side there is a small alleyway that leads to a courtyard and to the pub's backdoor. This courtyard has two large doors facing the street. Since there is an alleyway the courtyard is not isolated, people can come and go. I imagine this courtyard acts as a loading area where the pub receives and unloads supplies. And on the other side:

-Market This structure is more like a small office building or a parking garage with flower and fruit stands at street level. It was already there in Season 1 -Unknown structure There is an alleyway between this mysterious structure at the end of the block and the market, so they are not connected. This structure has a door but no sign that I could see. It doesn't look like a storefront at all, maybe storage? public restroom? something so British that a non-British person is unable to imagine?

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3

[ladybracknellssherry]

Why didn't anyone tell me this is a play on a bible quote? First time I regret being raised by atheists.

Can't believe some gay ass show got me reading the bible.

[uziraphale]

I was sooooooo impressed with @bil-daddy's long scroll, especially because it reached all the way up to me.

❤ (tweet)

[pookasluagh]

Stumbling onto unexpected Good Omens filming spots

Imagine you're staying in Piccadilly, and you decide to walk down to St James Park (bc obviously!). You walk down a really cool street filled with beautiful buildings and statues, then you walk around the giant statue that the street dead-ends into...only to see the stairs that Aziraphale and Crowley are walking up in the first episode of Season 1! Yeah, okay, I had no idea that that spot was famous (didn't even know if it was real or set!), but the second I rounded the corner, I froze. Grabbed my friend's arm. "Wait! I know this place!"

And then, imagine realizing that just behind that statue is where the Bentley was illegally parked, and you stood RIGHT THERE, and the street it rockets up afterwards is the street you walked down, where you sat down to have lunch in a cute little Uzbek restaurant...

[illiophop]

Crowley's necklace missing

Did anyone else see Crowley's silver chain necklace in S2, because I didn't. Theory - it was a commendation/medallion from hell (there was something attached to the chain that can be seen in the final airfield scene). Aziraphale's commendation from Heaven is also missing from the bookshop's statue bust, where it resided in S1. Did our group of two start casting off reminders of their former sides, or get them stripped from them?

[floccinaucinihilipilificationa]

[slateblueflowers]

Asdfghjkl

‘DON’T [TRY] THE GUY WITH THE BLACK GLASSES HE DOESN’T WORK HERE!’

Local Soho lurker, known associate of Mr. Fell, inspiring so much lust around him people flock to the brothel to see if they can spend some quality time with him. And it happens so frequently Mrs. Sandwich had to put a sign up.

Alternatively, as @cassieoh (thank you for brightening the image!!) suggested: ‘DON’T [PAY] THE GUY WITH THE BLACK GLASSES HE DOESN’T WORK HERE!’

Poor Mrs. Sandwich. ‘Yes I know he looks like he works as a seamstress, but he does NOT, so if you could kindly pay me, thank you very much.’

I can’t decide which is funnier, Crowley accepting money from Mrs. Sandwich’s patrons (does he cackle as he does this? Is he confused? Does he walk the money over to her afterwards or do something else with it?) or Mrs. Sandwich having to march over to him and sternly asking him to stop letting patrons pay him instead (does she cock her hip and stick out her hand? Does she laugh along with him? Do they bond over it?? Are Crowley and Mrs. Sandwich buds???)

‘You’re a good lad.’