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The Book

Episode 2 of 6

Having monitored the wrong boy for years, Aziraphale and Crowley set out to find the true Antichrist. Might the story of Agnes Nutter and her famous prophecies hold the answer?

The Antichrist has reached his 11th birthday, and is very much at large, and Crowley and Aziraphale must now also face up to the onset of Armageddon. The Archangel Gabriel, with side-kick Sandalphon, visits Aziraphale at his Soho bookshop for an update on the boy's progress, and demons Hastur and Ligur contact Crowley for the very same. Their respective superiors tell Aziraphale and Crowley that the Four Horsemen have been summoned, as part of the beginning of the end of the world - the first of whom, WAR, disrupts a signing of a peace treaty, in Africa.

In 1656, Agnes Nutter, the author of the rarest and most accurate of prophecy books, The Nice and Accurate Prophecies of Agnes Nutter, Witch, wreaks revenge on her hostile village - brought to the stake to be burnt, she packs her clothes with explosives and nails, resulting in carnage. 11 years ago, Agnes’s descendant, ten-year-old Anathema Device, is reciting the prophecies by heart, at home in Malibu, while at the same time in Dorking, UK, 12-year-old Newton Pulsifer causes a power failure for the entire street, while attempting to change a plug.

An adult Newt is struggling to find a job that accommodates his problems with electronics - that is until a chance meeting with Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell. Newt joins Shadwell as his assistant, discovering Shadwell’s lifelong, but thus far seemingly futile, mission to rid the world of witches. At Shadwell’s, Newt meets Shadwell's neighbour and unlikely friend, Madame Tracy, part-time medium and part-time courtesan. Anathema arrives in the UK, determined to stop the world from ending, and she moves into Jasmine Cottage, Tadfield.

The Hell Hound has reached its Master - the Antichrist - Adam Young, a charismatic 11-year-old who lives in Lower Tadfield, a small Oxfordshire village. Despite being the son of Satan and the harbinger of the Apocalypse, Adam has lived a perfectly normal life as the son of typical English parents, and as a result has no idea of his true powers, and the terrifying Hell Hound has been created as a lovable pup. In addition to Dog, he has three close friends, Pepper, Wensleydale and Brian, who collectively are a gang that is called Them by the adults. Anathema runs into Them enjoying the long summer day playing in Hogback Wood. Adam and his gang have spent the day discussing their belief a witch has moved into Jasmine Cottage, and creating their own witch hunt - the British Inquisition.

Determined to locate the real Antichrist, Crowley and Aziraphale head back to Tadfield themselves - to the old convent, site of the baby-swap, only to discover it has now become a conference centre, hosting a corporate team-building, paint balling exercise. Their fruitless visit sends them back on to the road, where they run - literally - into Anathema. Aziraphale heals her broken arm and broken bicycle, and they drive her and her healed bike back into the village. Anathema discovers she has lost Agnes Nutter's book. Crowley and Aziraphale arrive at the Soho bookshop, and the Angel discovers The Book in the back of the car! Aziraphale's studies the book, and realises that the missing Antichrist is Adam Young – in Tadfield!

56 minutes

Music Played

  • Lorne Balfe

    Black Sun

  • Queen

    Bicycle Race

Credits

Role Contributor
Aziraphale Michael Sheen
Composer David Arnold
Crowley David Tennant
Director Douglas Mackinnon
Voice of God Frances McDormand
Writer Neil Gaiman
Gabriel Jon Hamm
Arthur Young Daniel Mays
Deirdre Young Sian Brooke
Hastur Ned Dennehy
Ligur Ariyon Bakare
Sister Mary Loquacious Nina Sosanya
Adam Young Sam Taylor Buck
Sandalphon Paul Chahidi
Pepper Amma Ris
Brian Ilan Galkoff
Wensleydale Alfie Taylor
Anathema Adria Arjona
Madame Tracy Miranda Richardson
Witchfinder Sergeant Shadwell Michael McKean
Thou-Shalt-Not-Commit-Adultery Pulsifer/Newton Pulsifer Jack Whitehall
War Mireille Enos
Pam Konnie Huq
International Express Man Simon Merrells
Prime Minister Chima Okafor
His Royal Highness Stewart Scudamore
Supreme Leader Moshidi Motshegwa
Peace Treaty Negotiator Stephen Jennings
Maggs Philip Wright
Agnes Nutter Josie Lawrence
Old Goody Larmour Kate Anthony
John Device Dan Antopolski
Virtue Device Bryony Corrigan
Young Anathema Reagan Osman
Anathema's Mother Gabriella Cirillo
Young Newt Rocco Wright
Newt's Mother Nicola Harrison
Louisa Blatt Amanda Hadingue
Nigel Tompkins Ben Willbond
Janice Evanson Suzann McLean
Norman Weathered Andy de la Tour
Frobisher Louise Stewart
British Immigration Offical Ramanna Banger

Broadcast