Backstage With… David Tennant and Michael Sheen on nerve curves, Good Omens, and Doctor Who
David Tennant has admitted he didn’t really know what he was getting into when he signed up to play the demon Crowley in Good Omens, a series based on the cult favourite book by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman.
As it’s a novel beloved by its fans, there was a certain amount of pressure that came with the part, though Tennant told Sky News’ Backstage podcast he hadn’t quite realised that when he got the gig.
The Doctor Who actor stars in the series alongside Michael Sheen, Jon Hamm and Miranda Richardson.
Miranda Richardson and Tennant in Good Omens. Pic: Amazon Studios/ Prime Video
“My nerve curve was pretty exponential because I wasn’t – unlike Michael – I didn’t really know the world of, the fandom of the book, somehow it had passed me by,” he said, in an interview alongside Sheen before the actors’ strike was announced.
“Then I was doing the show and it was thrilling and then I would keep meeting people, some of whom were in the cast, who would go: ‘This book I’ve read every year of my life, it’s the most important story to me’.
“And then of course, you start realising this precious thing that you carry and the responsibility and so yes, then it was alarmingly scary that you might break some dreams.”
Sheen interjects, asking his co-star: “And how’s your nerve curve now?”
“I’m pretty chill,” says Tennant.
“I saw it the other day, it looks marvellous,” Sheen replies.
This kind of light teasing is typical of the pair, who also worked together on the comedy Staged, in which they play fictionalised versions of themselves, and share a genuine friendship.
This is replicated in Good Omens, with Tennant’s demon Crowley the unlikely best pal of Sheen’s angel Aziraphale.
Tennant and Sheen. Pic: Amazon Studios/ Prime Video
Sheen says their relationship is at the heart of what he loves about being on the show.
“You can have a character that you enjoy playing and that you really love, but it’s kind of rare that you have a dynamic between two characters that just is the thing that works so well,” he said.
“That then makes the whole process very enjoyable because you don’t feel like you’re having to generate stuff yourself all the time, it just happens… as we’re in scenes together it just happens – because it’s written so brilliantly as well, obviously, that’s the main thing.”
“They only really exist as a unit,” Tennant adds. “That’s when they come to life, and that’s really fun to play.”
Pic: Amazon Studios/ Prime Video
While an angel and a demon might sound like opposites, Good Omens looks at the grey areas – the fact that Crowley is more well-intentioned than you might expect from a demon, and vice versa for Aziraphale.
Human behaviour is also up for inspection – in the first episode of the second series, Crowley admits he doesn’t have to work too hard to cause trouble as humanity messes things up well enough.
“There’s a lot of great things to celebrate in humankind aren’t there, but we don’t get it all right, and Crowley likes to take credit for a lot of the things that we get wrong,” says Tennant.
“But I think that’s one of the things about this story. It’s sort of celebrating – I mean, these are two supernatural beings, but they’re more human than the humans – and it’s celebrating the kind of diversity of that, it’s looking for common ground between us.”
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Tennant on Good Omens ‘nerve curve’
Sheen agrees: “Our greatest frustration as a species is also our saving grace, which is that we are flawed. And it’s only when we like to pretend that we’re not that we get into trouble, I think it’s when we deal in absolutes and black-and-white that we get into trouble.
“When we are able to accept our flaws and our messiness, then that always leads to reaching out and being inclusive and connecting.”
Good Omens isn’t the only fan-favourite property Tennant is involved with at the moment. He’s the first actor to return to the role of Doctor Who, playing the time traveller for three episodes and a festive special later this year before Sex Education star Ncuti Gatwa takes over.
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Tennant returns along with writer and executive producer Russell T Davies, with expectations high for the new era of the long-standing sci-fi.
“Oh, it’s lovely, lovely,” Tennant says of his return. “And very exciting for where that show’s going, Russell T Davies back in and Ncuti Gatwa who is just a sort of force of nature.
“And it’s very nice to have a little revisit for myself in amongst all that excitement and great future that that show’s got – it just keeps reinventing itself.”
Good Omens series 2 is out on Prime Video – hear our review in the latest episode of Backstage, the film and TV podcast from Sky News
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Joy star James Norton on the ‘postcode lottery’ of IVF – and playing the scientist who was part of creating the first ‘test-tube baby’
Actor James Norton, who stars in a new film telling the story of the world’s first “test-tube baby”, has criticised how “prohibitively expensive” IVF can be in the UK.
In Joy, the star portrays the real-life scientist Bob Edwards, who – along with obstetrician Patrick Steptoe and embryologist Jean Purdy – spent a decade tirelessly working on medical ways to help infertility.
The film charts the 10 years leading up to the birth of Louise Joy Brown, who was dubbed the world’s first test-tube baby, in 1978.
In the UK, statistics show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade
Norton, who is best known for playing Tommy Lee Royce in the BAFTA-winning series Happy Valley, told Sky News he has friends who were IVF babies and other friends who have had their own children thanks to the fertility treatment.
“But I didn’t know about these three scientists and their sacrifice, tenacity and skill,” he said. The star hopes the film will be “a catalyst for conversation” about the treatment and its availability.
“We know for a fact that Jean, Bob and Patrick would not have liked the fact that IVF is now so means based,” he said. “It’s prohibitively expensive for some… and there is a postcode lottery which means that some people are precluded from that opportunity.”
Bill Nighy, Thomasin McKenzie and James Norton star in Joy. All pics: Netflix/ Kerry Brown
Now, IVF is considered a wonder of modern medicine. More than 12 million people owe their existence today to the treatment Edwards, Steptoe and Purdy worked so hard to devise.
But Joy shows how public backlash in the years leading up to Louise’s birth saw the team vilified – accused of playing God and creating “Frankenstein babies”.
Bill Nighy and Thomasin McKenzie star alongside Norton, with the script written by acclaimed screenwriter Jack Thorne and his wife Rachel Mason.
The couple went through seven rounds of IVF themselves to conceive their son.
Norton portrays scientist Bob Edwards, while McKenzie plays embryologist Jean Purdy
While the film is set in the 1970s, the reality is that societal pressures haven’t changed all that much for many going through IVF today – with the costs now both emotional and financial.
“IVF is still seen as a luxury product, as something that some people get access to and others don’t,” said Thorne, speaking about their experiences in the UK.
“Louise was a working-class girl with working-class parents. Working class IVF babies are very, very rare now.”
In the run-up to the US election, Donald Trump saw IVF as a campaigning point – promising his government, or insurance companies, would pay for the treatment for all women should he be elected. He called himself the “father of IVF” at a campaign event – a remark described as “quite bizarre” by Kamala Harris.
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Bill Nighy ‘proud’ of new film on IVF breakthrough
“I don’t think Trump is a blueprint for this,” Norton said. “I don’t know how that fits alongside his questions around pro-choice.”
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In the UK, statistics from fertility regulator HEFA show the proportion of IVF cycles paid for by the NHS has dropped from 40% to 27% in the last decade.
“It’s so expensive,” Norton said. “Those who want a child should have that choice… and some people’s lack of access to this incredibly important science actually means that people don’t have the choice.”
Joy is in UK cinemas from 15 November, and on Netflix from 22 November
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