Apparitions (BBC)


I enjoyed watching this series, which was one that pressed most of my buttons, but there were some problems. The smaller ones were mainly to do with Martyn Shaw’s character, who displayed far too much pride to be doing the things that he did – and which had occasionally bizarre consequences (exorcism by ‘phone??). The Black Mass, in particular, was incredible for me, in that I don’t believe a priest would do such a thing.

However, the biggest conclusion that I came to, which is one that I’ve reached separately, is that any presentation of exorcism that describes it as in any way a struggle of equals fails, for that very reason, in being a Christian presentation. Exorcism is more akin to plumbing, and a binary 50/50 clash of good and evil is no more real than a binary 50/50 clash between a plumber and a blocked u-bend. I might write more on that aspect in due course.

I very much hope that there is a second series. 3.5/5