David Tennant calls on people to stop passing judgement on Good Omens

David Tennant calls on people to stop passing judgement after his Good Omens show was hit with 20,000 petition signatures from Christians for being ‘blasphemous’

David Tennant has called on social media users to stop passing judgement on topics before taking time to investigate what has provoked their anger.

The actor, 52, is set to make a comeback later this week with a second series of his show Good Omens which was previously hit by more than 20,000 complaints from Christians who insisted the programme promoted and normalised satanism.

The Amazon Prime Video adaptation of Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman’s fantasy novel follows his character Crowley, who tries to prevent the coming of the Anti-Christ when his boss decides to kick-start the apocalypse.

And David is insistent people should not jump to conclusions after the first series prompted a petition. 

He told the Radio Times: ‘People are very keen to be offended. They’re often looking for something to glom on to without possibly really examining what they think they’re complaining about.’

Taking a stand: David Tennant, 52, has called on social media users to stop passing judgement on topics before taking time to investigate what has provoked their anger (pictured earlier this month)

Protest: A second series of his show Good Omens is set to air this week, with season one hit by 20,000 complaints from Christians who insisted it promoted and normalised satanism (David pictured in series one of Good Omens)

He added that people who thought the programme glamorised the Devil simply misunderstood the show.

David said: ‘It’s not an irreligious show at all. It’s actually very respectful of the structure of that sort of religious belief. 

‘The idea that it promotes satanism [is nonsense]. None of the characters from Hell are to be aspired to at all. They’re a dreadful bunch of non-entities.’

More than 20,000 Christians signed a petition calling on Netflix to pull the plug on Good Omens in 2019, accusing the show of promoting and normalising satanism.

The only trouble is, the six-part series starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant was and still is an Amazon Prime Video production.

The show tells the story of an unlikely friendship between Michael’s fastidious angel, Aziraphale, and David’s wayward yet charming demon, Crowley, who team up to save the world by preventing the coming of Armageddon at the hands of an 11-year-old Antichrist.

It also stars Mad Men alum Jon Hamm as the Archangel Gabriel and Michael McKean, from Better Call Saul, as a crackpot witch hunter.

The plot features a gaggle of Satanic nuns called the Chattering Order of St Beryl, a family of witches and the re-enactment of Jesus’ crucifixion.

Heaven and hell: David is insistent people should not jump to conclusions after the first series prompted a petition in 2019 (L-R: David seen as the demon Crowley and Michael Sheen as the angel Aziraphale in the show)

Wrong streamer: More than 20,000 Christians signed a petition calling on Netflix to pull the plug on Good Omens, which is an Amazon Prime show

The first series of Good Omens garnered mostly positive reviews, earning a score of 83 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes, with critics highlighting its humour, charm and the quality of the performances delivered by the cast.

But members of the Christian group Return to Order were not fans.

In their petition, mistakenly addressed to Netflix, members of Return to Order accuse the series of presenting ‘devils and Satanists as normal and even good’.

The petition also listed all the ways in which the show purportedly ‘mocks God’s wisdom, ‘ including the fact that God is voiced by Academy Award winner Frances McDormand, who is a woman; that the Antichrist is portrayed as a ‘normal kid’ who does not really want to destroy the world; and that the plot features Satanic ‘nuns.’

The crux of the complaint, however, is that ‘this type of video makes light of Truth, Error, Good and Evil, and destroys the barriers of horror that society still has for the devil’.

Gaiman, who is also the author of American Gods and Caroline, poked fun at the petition on Twitter, writing at the time: ‘I love that they are going to write to Netflix to try and get #GoodOmens cancelled. Says it all really. 

‘This is so beautiful … Promise me you won’t tell them?’

The second series of Good Omens is set to air on Amazon Prime Video from Friday 28 July 2023.

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