From Mickey Ralph's (the Good Omens Graphic Designer) website :) <3

Nina thinks that Crowley and Aziraphale make a great couple ❤ C+A 😊

Nina offering Aziraphale eccles cakes to calm him down instead of the WAY more obvious option of *a cup of tea* is hilarious given the history of eccles cakes...

Nina: What'll you have?

Crowley: Six shots of symbolic liberty in a big cup.

Nina: Ok. And you, Mr. Fell?

Aziraphale: What do you have that calms people down?

Nina: I sell like, I don't know, seventeen different varieties of tea here in my shop that is based in London, including several decaf and herbal varieties, and it's not just implied but is canon later on in the scene where Maggie orders some but instead of saying the most obvious thing possible to you here, which would be that I'd be happy to fetch who I believe to be an older, English gentleman a nice cup of decaf tea, I say...

Nina, cont.: And why do I say this? Well, we're in a show obsessed with food symbolism so naturally my Soho-set shop-- named after the famous rallying cry of an anti-monarchist American revolutionary as he fought to break away from the English empire whilst still being, at that moment, stuck under its thumb-- recommends, for calming purposes, the delicious little round mini-turnover bits of pastry butter and topped with sugar and filled with currants or lemon things... eccles cakes... which were banned in England in 1650 when Oliver Cromwell took over and got all puritanical and claimed they were pagan. You're stressed, Aziraphale, so instead of offering you THE MOST LOGICAL POSSIBLE THING IN THIS SHOP to calm you down-- that is, a cup of tea lol-- I will, instead, offer you the sweet treats that the crazy Nazis of history think are so good they're sweets of the devil.

Aziraphale:

Bonus hilarity related to this:

The Angel got himself locked up for eating Satan's baked goods in 1650 and made Crowley come rescue him, didn't he?

HOLY CRAP ANOTHER CONNECTION TO 1650 AND OLLIE THE CROM!!!!!!!

(I totally hadn't known that about Eccles cakes, thank you OP!)

Yes, this has to be it. Aziraphale gets himself in trouble over pastries, for real, in 1650, and is forced to do the submissive dance as punishment for needing rescue. Then, he decides to recreate the whole thing in 1793 as role play , hoping to tempt Crowley into more “dancing”, but Crowley of course refuses to cooperate.

I'm pretty sure that the apology dance is usually a verbal thing but I wouldn't hate being wrong about it lol. I would *love* if 1650 and 1793 are connected.

Terry and Neil easter egg in the Give Me Coffee Or Give Me Death! ❤🥺

(and the whole yellow thing is a snake :) <3)

SFX Magazine Issue 372 - Designing Good Omens ❤ 😊

PRODUCTION DESIGNER MICHAEL RALPH REVEALS HOW THE SHOW’S CENTREPIECE SET, WHICKBER STREET, WAS GIVEN A DEVILISHLY CLEVER UPGRADE FOR THE SECOND SEASON

WORDS: DAVE GOLDER

Invisible Columns And Thin Walls “The new studio is Pyramid Studios in Bathgate – it used to be a furniture warehouse. And unfortunately – or fortunately, because I accept these things as not challenges but gifts – right down the middle of that studio are a series of upright columns. But you’ll never spot them on screen. I had to build them in and integrate them into the walls and still get the streets between them. And it worked.

“There’s all sorts of cheeky design values to those sets. Normally a set like this is double-skin. In other words, you do an interior wall and an exterior wall, with an airspace in between. But really, the only time a viewer notices that there’s that width is at the doors and the windows. So I cheated all that. I ended up with single walls everywhere. So the exterior wall is the interior wall, just painted. All I did was make the sash windows and entrances wider to give it some depth as you walked in.”

GOOD OMENS HAD A CHANGE of location for its second season, but hopefully you didn’t notice. Because Whickber Street in Soho upped sticks from an airfield in Hertfordshire to a furniture warehouse in Bathgate, Edinburgh. It’s the kind of nonsensical geographical shenanigans that could only make sense in the crazy world of film and TV, and production designer Michael Ralph was the man in charge of rebuilding and expanding the show’s vast central set. “I wish we could have built more in season one than we did,” says Ralph, whose previous work has included Primeval and Dickensian. “We built the ground floor of everything and the facades of all the shops. But we didn’t build anything higher than that, because we were out on an airfield in a very, very difficult terrain and weather conditions, so we really couldn’t go much higher. Visual effects created the upper levels.”

But with season two the set has gone to a whole other level… literally. “What happened was that the rest of the street became integrated into the series’s storyline,” explains Ralph. “So we needed a record shop, we needed a coffee shop that actually had an inside, we needed a magic shop, we needed the pub. To introduce those meant we had to change the street with a layout that works from a storylines point of view. In other words, things like someone standing at the counter in the record shop had to be able to eyeball somebody standing at the counter in the coffee shop. They had to be able to eyeball Aziraphale sitting in his office in the window of the bookshop. But the rest of it was a pleasure to do inside, because we could expand it and I could go up two storeys.”

For most of the set, which is around 80 metres long and 60 metres wide, the two storeys only applied to the shop frontages, but in the case of Aziraphale’s bookshop, it allowed Ralph to build the mezzanine level for real this time. According to Ralph it became one of the cast and crews’ favourite places to hang out during down time.

But while AZ Fell & Co has grown in height, it actually has a slightly smaller footprint because of the logistics of adapting it to the new studio.

“Everybody swore to me that no one would notice,” says Ralph wryly. “I walked onto it and instinctively knew there was a difference immediately, and they hated me for that. I have this innate sense about spatial awareness and an eye like a spirit level.

“It’s not a lot, though – I think we’ve lost maybe two and a half feet on the front wall internally. I think that there’s a couple of other smaller areas, but only I’d notice. So I can be really annoying to my guys, but only on those levels. Not on any other. They actually quite like me…”

Populating The Bookshop “The props in the new bookshop set were a flawless reproduction from the set decorator Bronwyn Franklin [who is also Ralph’s wife]. It was really the worst-case scenario after season one. She works off the concept art that I produce, but what she does is she adds so much more to the character of the set. She doesn’t buy anything she doesn’t love, or doesn’t fit the character.

“But the things she put a lot of work into finding for season one, they were pretty much one-offs. When we burnt the set down in the sixth episode, we lost a lot of props, many of which had been spotted and appreciated by the fans. So Bronwyn had to discover a new set decorating technique: forensic buying.

“She found it all – duplicates and replicas. It took ages. In that respect, the Covid delay was very helpful for Bron. There’s 7,000 books in there and there’s not one fake book. That’s mainly because… it’s a weird thing to say, but we wanted it to smell and feel like a bookshop to everybody that was in it, all the time.

“It affects everybody subliminally; it affects everybody’s performance – actors and crew – it raises the bar 15 to 20%. And the detail, you know… We love a lot of detail.”

(look at the description under this, they called him 'Azi' hehehehe :D <3)

Aziraphale’s Inspirational Correspondence “There’s not one single scrap of paper on Aziraphale’s desk that isn’t written specifically for Aziraphale. Every single piece is not just fodder that’s been shoved there, it has a purpose; it’s a letter of thanks, or an enquiry about a book or something.

“Michael Sheen is so submerged in his character he would get lost sitting at his own desk, reading his own correspondence between takes. I believe wholeheartedly that if you put that much care into every single piece of detail, on that desk and in that room, that everybody feels it, including the crew, and then they give that set the same respect it deserves.

“They also lift their game because they believe that they’re doing something of so much care and value. Really, it’s a domino effect of passion and care for what you’re producing.”

Alternative Music “My daughter Mickey is lead graphic designer [two of Ralph’s sons worked on the series too, one as a concept artist, the other in props]. They’re the ones that produced all of that handwritten work on the desk. She’s the one that took on the record shop and made up 80 band names so that we didn’t have to get copyright clearance from real bands. Then she produced records and sleeves that spanned 50, 60 years of their recordings, and all of the graphics on the walls.

“I remember Michael and Neil [Gaiman] getting lost following one band’s history on the wall, looking at their posters and albums desperately trying to find out whether they survived that emo period.”

It’s A Kind Of Magic One of the new shops in Whickber Street for season two was Will Goldstone’s Magic Shop, which is full of as many Easter eggs as off-the-shelf conjuring tricks, including a Matt Smith Doctor Who-style fez and a toy orang-utan that’s a nod to Discworld’s The Librarian. Ralph says that while the series is full of references to Gaiman, Pratchett and Doctor Who, Michael Sheen never complained about a lack of Masters Of Sex in-jokes. “He’d be the last person to make that sort of comment!”

Ralph also reveals that the magic shop counter was another one of his wife’s purchases, bought at a Glasgow reclamation yard.

The Anansi Boys Connection Ralph reveals that Good Omens season two used the state-of-the-art special effects tech Volume (famous for its use in The Mandalorian to create virtual backdrops) for just one sequence, but he will be using it extensively elsewhere on another Gaiman TV series being made for Prime Video.

“We used Volume on the opening sequence to create the creation of the universe. I was designing Anansi Boys in duality with this project, which seems an outrageously suicidal thing to do. But it was fantastic and Anansi Boys was all on Volume. So I designed for Volume on one show and not Volume on the other. The complexities and the psychology of both is different.”

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

Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4

-Alf Laylah Wa Laylah - Imported Fabrics and Textiles The name is Arabic for "The Thousand and One Nights"; the compilation of stories from the Middle East and Central Asia that Shahrazad told King Shahryar night after night to save hers and many other women's lives. -The Small Back Room Currently owned by Maggie, although she rents the space from the nice bookseller next door. Her great grandmother started it in a corner of the bookshop (a small back room?) in the 1920's. Soon after, nice Mr. Fell gave her the space it is currently occupying. We know Maggie's dad ran it until he retired and left it to Maggie. In S1 it was called "Vinyl Fetish" so maybe they were trying something new to revive the business or maybe that's the name he used and she reverted back to "The Small Back Room" when she took over. The Small Back Room is also a reference to a film of the same name by Powell and Pressburger. -A. Z. Fell & Co. Booksellers - Antiquarian and Unusual Books - Purveyor of Books to the Gentry THE bookshop, need I say more? Yes, yes I do, but not here or this post would be double the length it already is :P

Across the street, on the other side of the block we have:

-Delicatessen - Continental Wines & Provisions This Deli has been around since S1, it may be somehow connected to the Italian restaurant next door and the only basis I have to say this is that they are both Italian. -Francesco's - Authentic Italian Named after Francesco Raidy, the First Assistant Director. -Battye and Palm - Est 1790 - Bespoke tailoring, made to measure Sandra Battye and Rosemary "Rosie" Palm are a couple of flatmates in Discworld; the former is a seamstress while the latter is a "seamstress" (I wonder whether she would get along with Mrs. Sandwich). In S1 this was a 60's shop called "Skye Suits", Skye being the Scottish island Douglas is from and where Neil has his UK residence. Battye and Palm may have taken over and relocated here or they may have opened a new location some time between S1 and S2. -Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death A relatively new shop, owned by Nina who according to this ask bought Jon Coffee in 2019 and later on, in 2021, took over the closed shop next door, Honey Sweets, to expand. The name is a play on "Give me liberty or give me death" with the Statue of Liberty motifs all over, starting with the logo. The side of the shop was cleaned up very nicely and where Jon Coffee had its dumpster, Give Me Coffee has a nice bench. -Arnold's - Musical Instruments - Established 1950 Music shop named for David Arnold, the Good Omens composer. David was supposed to play the part of Mr. Arnold in the show but because of scheduling conflicts, it didn't happen. David was not born in 1950 so why they used that date is a mystery. To get to Arnold's you actually have to enter the alleyway (see the sign on the wall), turn right and find the door. In S1 the wall that now has a display was covered by an iconic red phonebooth. We don't know if Arnold's was there back then as there were no signs, but we know Mr. Arnold has been a member of the Whickber Street Traders and Shopkeepers Association for years. -Marguerite's French restaurant owned by Justine, another relatively new establishment. In S1 this space was occupied by a firm of solicitors, the stairs lead to their office, no tables at all or pretty flowers. -Newsagency This establishment has been there since S1. We don't really know anything about them.

Finally, around the corner, next to the News agency is: -Otwell's Furniture Spelled with one T; the only reference I could find is for Old Otwell Bins (one T, one N although it can also be found with two N's). Ottwell Binns (two T's, two N's) was a novelist from the beginning of the 20th century while Old Otwell Bins/Binns wrote prophecies in the early 1600's (or maybe late 1500's). Naturally Aziraphale has an original signed by him. Otwell was mentioned in S1 but we didn't get to see his book (with the characteristic bookmark handwritten by Aziraphale). Fun fact: The GO book has it spelled as "Old Ottwell Binns" from the very first edition onwards, so I imagine an editor "corrected" the novelist name it and it stayed that way ever since. Part 1 | Part 3 | Part 4

That eyebrow should have a separate paycheck :D <3 (also, that lil' red curl! :))<3)

Have we talked about this yet?

I'm definitely a "death of the author" girly but when the author is alive and a fellow tumblrina and confirms my interpretations of their work, I'm here for it.

Several other really good metas have hit on it now, but to throw my own thoughts in the ring:

The coffee is a metaphor twice over.

Aziraphale uses it as a stand-in for both everything he values on earth, and Crowley (arguably the same thing but you get what I'm saying). "I don't want to go to Heaven - where would I get my coffee?"

So in Aziraphale's metaphor, coffee is Life, Heaven is Death - give me coffee or give me death. (Interesting too that the phrase "go to Heaven" is also a euphemism for dying. This show.) Give me life (freedom, choice, love), or give me death (Heaven). At that point in the convo, Aziraphale thinks that's his choice, and he rejects Heaven.

But Aziraphale is wrong at this point in his conversation with the Metatron about what the coffee means. He learns something new that makes him change his mind.* The Metatron is also using the coffee as a metaphor, and it doesn't represent earth.

This is where it matters, as I've said in another post, that a choice between something and death is not a real choice. Nina establishes this for us textually when she confirms that no one chooses death.

On the outside it looks like Aziraphale can choose to either go to Heaven or stay on earth.

But importantly, the coffee was forced on Aziraphale - he was told he jolly well better enjoy it. In this metaphor - the Metatron's metaphor - the coffee is heaven. And the death? Is probably literally death. Aziraphale's, Crowley's, maybe both. Or at least, someone's memory erasure. (With the Book of Life hanging like a sword of Damocles, the Metatron could also mean erasure, but I do not at all believe that's what the BoL does. Aziraphale, however, may not be as sure as I am.)

We don't know the details of the apparent "death" threat because Aziraphale didn't relay that part of his convo with Metatron to Crowley, but we can infer this because "give me coffee or give me death". Aziraphale chose the coffee, he chose Heaven. Of course he didn't choose death, and unfortunately Liberty was never actually on the table.

*I know that metatrash makes the angel!Crowley offer & that alone could be what tipped Aziraphale's decision, but if he wasn't compelled in some other way, why not stay with crowley when crowley said nah no thanks? And even if there was no threat perceived by Aziraphale, I still say that "give me coffee or give me death" tells us, the audience, that Aziraphale was in danger if he tried to remain on earth. The Metatron didn't make a huge deal out of this fucking cup of coffee he bought from a place called "give me coffee or death" for us to disregard it.

There's also the sign that says "Life begins after coffee." Just a minor set detail and a common little saying in coffee shops, but another way to set coffee up as the "life" option.

Oh my god I've been so stupid

GIVE ME COFFEE OR GIVE ME DEATH

It was an outright goddamn death threat

You either take the coffee, or take the death

Metatron you nasty little piece of shit

When the book or life plot point is established and never used

when aziraphale says nothing lasts forever even though he spent his time trying to make the earth and his relationship with crowlet last forever but he knows that him as a person might not last forever if he doesnt go.

Soho has taken the Crowley route and gone mini!

Check out this amazing BTS of how creator davidminiatures (IG) brought the spirit of Good Omens 2 and Soho to life. @neil-gaiman

Since the first photos of the set came out, we saw changes to the corner of Soho where the bookshop lives. The most surprising was learning that the Dirty Donkey is right across the street. And then we became acquainted with Maggie and Nina and their shops. So I decided to take a look and see how the neighborhood changed in four years: -The record shop used to be called "Vynil Fetish" but it got rebranded as "The Small Backroom" -The coffee shop not only changed from "Jon Coffee" to "Give Me Coffee or Give Me Death", it also expanded to take over an empty shop next door -In the back of the alleyway between the coffee shop and the solicitors there was just a blank wall, now there is some sort of music shop? bar? something with a guitar -The Italian Restaurant awning repainted

These are the maps, the first one was posted by Douglas a while back, the second one is a diagram I made based on pictures from the set when it was being built and images from the trailer

This is the alleyway next to the coffee shop, which tends to be difficult to see. The first picture is the only one from season one where it was somewhat visible.

Now one interesting thing is that Maggie has known Aziraphale all her life -the record shop has been in her family for generations after all. Aziraphale even has his own chair in there! But Nina doesn't know Crowley. I doubt Crowley has never set foot in the coffee shop before now so is Nina new to the neighborhood? did she just purchase the coffee shop and that is why the change in name and size?

Is any of this going to be commented on in the show? Who knows! Well, a few people know and in a couple of more days, we all will know :)

from a doylist perspective, i am not going to worry too much about changes that probably have more to do with simply rebuilding the set in a new location. possibly with an eye to whatever action is planned.

from a watsonian perspective, i am intrigued by the changes, and would ascribe at least some of them to the pandemic. i recall maggie? i think, saying something about lockdowns, so that happened in good omens soho too. i can't help noticing the many changes in the storefronts in the places i go to, so it's not surprising that there might be some changes here too.

Maggie and Nina!

Naked Gabi carrying The Box!

Suspicious birds!

Bookshop... falling apart? 👀

The titles really took a little bit of a liberty. To begin with, the streets are transposed. From the angle we see the bookshop in the titles, Crowley and Aziraphale should have been facing the pub.

The record shop (the orange one with an awning on the side) is on the wrong side, it should be on the side street (between the bookshop and that "play now" sign). Here is that side street. The record shop is on the side of the bookshop and the coffee shop is across from it, but it is not in the corner. The one on that corner is the news agency.

What is interesting is that all over the street in the titles we see the same bunting flags that adorn the front of the record shop

i had not noticed the design on the front of the record shop awning, how clever! and then for the title sequence to pick up on it and use it as bunting all over the street.