Good Omens

Good Omens (2019)

2 corrected entries in Hard Times

(3 votes)

Hard Times - S1-E3

Corrected entry: In the scene in the church, set during World War 2, Aziraphale tells the two German spies that, upon their arrest, they will spend "the rest of the war behind bars." As a millennia old angel surely Aziraphale must be aware that, without exception, Nazi spies arrested in the UK during World War 2 were shot?

Correction: Not unless he was psychic. During World War 2 the news media was rigidly censored and no reports of the arrest, courts martial and execution of German spies were published. Obviously Aziraphale knows there are German spies in England - he is talking to three of them - but he does not necessarily know what will happen to them if they are arrested.

As well as that, many spies were hanged, not shot. Obviously Aziraphale doesn't know that, either.

And anyway, Aziraphale has shown himself to be remarkably naive and even purposely ignorant at times. I think he would intentionally choose to believe that they are simply going to prison.

Hard Times - S1-E3

Corrected entry: Aziraphale cites the only prophecy from Agnes Nutter that he could find as one for 1972, "do not buy Betamax" (a reference to the home video format war). Betamax was only launched in 1975 starting in Japan, so this advice should have been for then, not 1972. These prophecies were completely, even ludicrously accurate, so that excludes any explanation that she was simply a few years off, because she was never wrong. (00:19:10)

Spiny Norman

Correction: Aziraphale is not quoting from The Book, but an extract from a publisher's catalogue, and as a (newly) published author, I can tell you they are rotten with misquotes and other inaccurate information.

It's probably true in your case, but this was a few hundred years earlier? And she would have corrected the proofs, surely? Besides, I don't think the makers deliberately planned this (adding a misprint for more realism).

Spiny Norman

Correction: Nothing wrong with warning people in advance.

That's what prophecies are for, you say? True, for all of them. But if they come with a specific year and are infallible, then this one is a mistake.

Spiny Norman

Hard Times - S1-E3

Other mistake: Crowley shows acute discomfort while inside the church with Aziraphale and the Nazi spies as he is on consecrated ground. However, (spoiler alert) once the bomb destroys the church he is perfectly comfortable. The key word here is "ground" - it is the land upon which the church stands that is consecrated, not the building itself. (This allows churches to be rebuilt if they are demolished or destroyed.) Crowley should still be in considerable discomfort after the church has been blown up.

More mistakes in Good OmensMore quotes from Good Omens

Hard Times - S1-E3

Trivia: Budget limitations means the original plan for the Globe scene to feature a packed theatre had to be cut down, because they couldn't afford hundreds of extras with full costume starting at 5am, in order to finish before the theatre was used for a performance later in the day. Unwilling to cut the scene entirely, Neil Gaiman realised if they altered the sequence such that Hamlet was a flop, they could get away with just a few extras and work that into the dialogue.

Jon Sandys

More trivia for Good Omens

Join the mailing list

Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.

Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.