Series 2 of Good Omens released on Amazon Prime to much acclaim in July 2023, providing a solid follow-up to the first series, which was based on the book of the same name by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The second series took the characters we know and love, creating an equally humourous and compelling story told over six episodes, with an ending that left many people clamoring for more, myself included. It also has an excellent depiction of disability.

While I won’t be revealing any big spoilers for those who haven’t seen season 2 yet, if you want to completely avoid spoilers of any kind, save this page and come back to it after watching the show!

If you’ve seen the show, then you already know what I want to write about; Liz Carr’s depiction of disabled archangel Saraqael.

Normally the introduction of a disabled character grinds everything to a halt while we learn all there is to know about their condition, none of the characters can stop talking about it, and it becomes a significant plot point. This does not happen with Saraqael. She is first seen in the heavenly office block using a sleek, white and gold powered wheelchair which levitates a few inches off the pristine floor. We aren’t told why she is using a wheelchair, nor do any of the other angels refer to it. She is simply a wheelchair-using angel, and it is refreshing.

Furthermore, depictions of wheelchair-users are almost exclusively people who are completely unable to stand, often using a manual wheelchair. Not only is Saraqael’s wheelchair clearly based on a powered wheelchair, made obvious by the times it transforms into a conventional looking powered chair, but a brief shot later shows the archangel stood up peering at a map of Earth. Despite the fact that most wheelchair users are actually ambulatory to varying degrees, there is still significant stigma towards those of us who stand or walk briefly in public. This shot, while brief, makes a powerful statement, all the more so for once again not giving the audience an explanation about how she can stand. She just stands.

Perhaps my favourite moment with Saraqael came when entering Aziraphale’s inaccessible bookshop, which has multiple steps in the doorway, a fact I pointed out jokingly to my husband while watching series one. The archangel simply wafts her hand and a ramp appears, something that I admit would be extremely useful in real life. Saraqael is obviously able to perform powerful feats of angelic power, but feels no need to miraculously “cure” herself and get rid of the wheelchair. Inaccessibility is the problem here, not her disability.

Saraqael is not the only disabled angel to appear in the second series. In one scene of Biblical history from Crowley and Aziraphale’s past, centering around the story of Job, several angels appear alongside the two leads, all of them appearing to have some kind of disability from Down’s Syndrome to missing limbs. Once again our attention is not drawn to this fact, and indeed it actually took me a minute to notice. The disabled angels simply exist, with no need of a cure.

In all honesty I would have been happy to see any disabled characters played by disabled people in Good Omens 2, but the fact that it was not demons but angels depicted with disabilities should not be overlooked. Disability is regularly, quite literally demonised, both in fiction and reality. Multiple horror movie villains are disabled, with entire franchises built around their condition. In some more extreme religious settings, disability is still to this day viewed by some as a kind of divine punishment for our alleged sins.

In Good Omens 2, disability is shown as it should be; not as a villainous trait, a punishment, or a plot point, but as something that simply exists. It is not for the audience to know why Saraqael uses a wheelchair, she just does. Nor is it something Saraqael whishes to change, or she would have done so already.

Saraqael is the quite frankly the best depiction of disability I have ever seen in fiction, and all it took was hiring the right actress for the job (and also Neil Gaiman telling people who complain about him being “woke” to go fornicate individually). If other franchises look to Good Omens 2 as an example of how to portray disabled characters, then it is indeed a good omen for disabled people.