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The reviews and comments on this board are strange. I'm an atheist and I loved the series. I'm also a gay-rights activist, and I didn't see anything blatantly harmful. In fact, the story line was written to suggest that the reason the young priest lost faith was because the church had forsaken him because of his homosexuality, not because he was gay. Claiming this was akin to describing homosexuality as satanic is glib at best; the series is about the Catholic church, and it's a matter of fact that the Catholic church frowns on homosexuality. I think they did a good job of showing how that attitude hurts homosexuals, by making them doubt themselves and their instincts, and ultimately by shutting them out of the faith. Also, ONE atheist was portrayed in a negative light. (And he WAS an atheist, not a satanist, though I can see how he could be mistaken for a satanist, as he was possessed by a demon) How can one make a series about a religious war without defining 'good' and 'evil' and dealing with the resistance of non-believers. This series didn't define atheists and homosexuals as 'evil' anymore than it defined Christians as holy warriors who see possessed people around every corner.

Anyhow, of course it was unbelievable; it was about exorcism. But the story was compelling, the characters were fantastic, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. I would give it a 10, but there are only six episodes, and now i'm lonely.

I missed this one because I was out on the Thursday night, but I caught it on BBC's iplayer - and I'm glad I did. Another fantastic performance from Martin Shaw and another thoroughly believable character to add to his repertoire. Father Jacob is played with all the intensity and humanity we would all wish our religious leaders to have. Lots of excellent acting and an interesting - and slightly scary - storyline, keeps the attention. At one point, I actually had to stop the playback and go to make a cup of tea - an old trick to break the tension that I haven't used for several years when watching a TV programme... A good sign. Great start to what I hope will be a first rate series.

My only concern is that it might be a bit of a one trick pony and I wonder how we're going to get past that. But for the time being, thumbs up and all systems go! A success.

Martin Shaw first came to my notice in the Professionals back in the 80's (action cop/spy drama cheasy version of Spooks), he is a very respected and accomplished Shakespearean and TV actor here, of late the BBC have constructed a number of easy on the eye and brain dramas for him eg Judge John Deed and George Gently and I expected this to be another of the same, however I was pleasantly surprised.

It had grit, good acting, a fairly good plot and scampered along nicely, I missed the initial airing and watched it on the BBC's iPlayer facility online, I will tune in next week to watch it live.

Give it a go you might be pleasantly surprised.

This is a 6 part series following Father Jacob, a somewhat maverick priest performing exorcisms against the wishes of his superiors, who believe it is an antiquated practice that brings the church into disrepute. The series develops as the episodes go on, with the introduction of his secretary, Sister Ruth who provides the role of the disapproving sceptic; and with interesting and unpredictable cases that Father Jacob becomes involved in. These are interwoven with the continuing story of Michael, an ex soldier who succumbs to demons. Throughout, the series explores the subject of faith and raises interesting questions, tackling some difficult subject matter without actually imposing any ideal on the viewer. I hope they make another series!

This is one of the best television dramas I have ever watched. I sincerely wish there were more episodes. The acting is superb. The characters are believable and well fleshed out, even the seemingly unimportant ones come across as real. This show evokes emotion and makes you care deeply what happens next. It also beautifully filmed. The locations and sets are rich and engaging, the use of light and sound to evoke mood masterful. The attention to even small details is astounding.

I cannot fathom why this show did not have a long and rich run. I believe if its creators were to revive it for American audiences it would be a smash hit.

As some one else commented this could be a one trick pony but what a trick .You do not have to be religious or an atheist to enjoy it . This is not in the Linda Blair category of exorcism but subtle with a very dark underlying humour e.g when Father Jacob is listening to a radio ,which is switched off but still broadcasting,after being possessed the sister asks why is he listening to "Satan FM".

It might stretch it to far for another series but would still be one to watch.The plot twists still have you wondering at the end about at least one of the characters which for any series is good.

I think as a producer Martin Shaw would not let the plot lines get out of hand .so lets hope for another series or at least several longer one offs.

Father Jacob(Martin Shaw) is an English priest whose job entails him to investigate claims of miracles worldwide. Using the evidence gained he has an important role to play in saying who gets canonised as a Saint. Its while investigating the claims of a budding novice priest Vimal, who as a boy in India had suffered from Leprosy and then been cured by Mother Teresa of Calcutta after a brief meeting, that he becomes aware of some strange events surrounding the death of Mother Teresa, she was seemingly possessed by a demon before she died, so with Vimal showing the signs of this himself, Jacob believes the demon may have taken up residence inside Vimal too. He seeks out the help of an old friend Monsignor Vincenzo, who happens to be the Vatican's chief Exorcist in Rome, he tells Jacob that demons have already been in touch with him and that they have warned Jacob off being the next Chief Exorcist, slightly sceptical Jacob laughs it off and says he has no intentions of becoming an Exorcist, Vincenzo explains that the demons fear this most of all as it will slow their final push for world domination. However some startling turns of events and some personal tragedy soon hurl Jacob towards his fate.

I stumbled on this recent series completely by accident, so I had no preconceived ideas on its merits other than I liked Martin Shaw and the religious aspects greatly appealed to me. Written and directed by Joe Ahearne, Apparitions was a pet project of Shaw's for some time before the BBC decided to take up the option. Consisting of six 1 hour episodes, it follows Father Jacob's plight as he becomes embroiled in a series of possessions that drags him against his will into being an Exorcist. His immediate superior is Cardinal Bukovak is none too pleased either especially as the cases become very public, Jacob is warned his position may become untellable and he risks excommunication. After some gruesome deaths, Jacob finds a spy in his midst that brings that possibility forward. The episodes have separate stories, but there is an ongoing plot that threads them all together. Plot lines include, a child in danger who pleads for Jacob's help as she believes her father to be possessed, an abortion clinic where the anti Christ is due to be born, a Muslim boy who sees Christian visions, which could cause a religious war and the imminent arrival of a demon army hell-bent on world domination, a busy time for a priest not particularly enamoured by a role forced on him.

Some mighty big ideas for a TV production, you might think, but to my surprise its all superbly done, Ahearne's scripts are taut and crammed with intriguing ideas that cleverly link in recent world events political social and religious, so as to give the whole thing a credibility and also propose the idea that the theories that all we know of these events may not in fact be true. Appartions is a very credible attempt at bringing ideas from such films as The Exorcist, The Omen and Stigmata into one plot and it has to be said it all works incredibly well, there's even time to include more topical issues like sexuality of priests. The special effects of possession are superbly realised, certainly better than most cinematic outings, the acting is also top notch, there's not a bad or hammy performance to be found, in fact if there's one thing that makes this intelligent production stand out, its that it made this Atheist fear the fires of hell and almost want to take up religion again, lest my soul be eternally damned and all this despite the fact it doesn't ram religion down your throat. It really is very well directed and the pacing is spot on, in fact after the first hour I thought I'd watched twice that as there had been that much crammed in. Its also a damn good thriller with more than a air of religious mystery and the ending has the double whammy of being both wrapped up nicely and yet still left quite open ended, I hope...no, pray that there is another series.

It is truly a rarity these days to watch, read, listen to anything from the mainstream media that doesn't fuse the Church and Scandal. The negative review by "critical thinker" is the mainstream result of public brainwashing about the catholic church. Furthermore, I wouldn't consider a review being anywhere near honest when its author only watched a fraction of the show.

Unlike what the above mentioned critic claimed, the show actually portrays the Catholic church in its current state. The faith is not an institution, but rather the founding principles that guides individuals, and we see that very clearly in father Jacob's character, and the other side of the coin in Cardinal Bukovak's. They both personify the true nature of the faith in constant struggle with Satan, which can also penetrate the church.

There is no dogma forced down anyone throat, in fact the complete opposite, which is very obvious to anyone who watch the show in its entirety. Father Jacob takes every situation with utter tolerance, slight humor, without an ounce of condemnation or judgement of character, whether it is homosexuality, abortion, convicts, the Muslim faith, even the possessed.

The only shortfall of this show is that it ended.

I had never heard of this miniseries until Chiller (cable) started announcing it. I have only seen the first two episodes and at the moment I simply cannot find any explanation to it's low ratings when it first aired (as I've read in the internet), except maybe the "timing" was inappropriate(??). Who knows! I have reasons to believe the idea was ahead of it's time, and it is now that it has relevancy. The actors, especially Martin Shaw (whom I had never met until now), are superb. The delivery is excellent. Flaws?? There surely are, but I have yet to ponder the four remaining episodes. I'll surely get back here as soon as that happens.

I love the previous reviews by Atheists about this show. How they loved it. I loved it too. The script, really got to me at times. In a good way. For instance when the Priest is talking to the rape victim and he asked her is she believes in God, and she tells him that the rapist took that from her. The Priest looks at her and says, " what a loss for god." I'm half way remembering, but there was no instant conversion, but because the acting is so on point, you believe him. I mean, this guy could possibly convert me if he existed! Love love love this show! I love it that they have mean Nuns, and wonderful ones. I love it that they have believers and non believers, and there is no shame or or making them out to be evil because of it. I got a glimpse of something beautiful for a few moments while watching. Very very good show. ! The acting superb, writing amazing. And this show goes there. For adults, not kids.

Acting: Well Done.

Story-Line: Disappointingly unrealistic and seemingly bias. It requires significant "Suspension of Disbelief" for those who are more Objective and less Dogmatic.

The program itself is not frightening in and of itself. The only "scary" bit in it is that it seems like a religious propaganda video. I can only speak toward the first episode, but It very much seems as if it is written by a fundamentalist that is writing for viewers with the same religious context: scaring them with atheists and homosexuals, as tools of Satan.

If you like religious bullying, this storyline is framed for you:

---SPOILERS FOR EPISODE ONE START HERE---

1. A nun talks of Miracles regarding the healing of Leprosy - When a child asks why God's Miracle healed the Leprosy but not the fingers the boy had lost because of the Leprosy, the nun talks down to the child as if she was a fool for believing God would do that, too. (Hmmm, they WERE talking about "Miracles". Seems a fair question from anyone, especially a child.)

2. The priest(main character) tries to black-mail a Richard-Dawkins- reading father into undergoing an Exorcism because the father slapped his child and was not talking nice about Jesus, meanwhile the church is holding the man's daughter at the Church until he complies. When the father's access to his daughter is regained with the help of the police, he fulfills the claims of the priest by seemingly expressing an intent to kill his daughter. But just then the Super-Priest swoops in, quotes some Latin and saves the day by exorcising the demon from the Oxymoronical "Satanic-Atheist". (For those not getting this reference - Atheists are WITHOUT-Religion; the key here is "WITHOUT". Satanism, being inherently religious removes any "WITHOUT" from any religious status, thus allowing ONLY for WITH- Religion titling such as Satanic or Satanic-Theist).

3. A homosexual seminarian whose Leprosy most other characters believed was cured by Mother Theresa, was actually cured by Satan. He's kicked out of the Seminary because of his sexuality, even though he never acted on it. Depressed about being kicked out, a demon talks him into acting on his sexuality so he goes to a bathhouse, meets a man and the ex- seminarian is subsequently de-fleshed to death.

---SPOILERS END HERE---

Apparitions MIGHT make an interesting storyline IF it portrayed BOTH the church and the traditional church "villains" (atheists, gays, etc.) as each being imperfect in their own ways; To it's downfall, however, the storyline seems very-much framed for that Middle-Ages, as if the clergy is all knowing and everything the church does is justified. Therefore the program is thus more disturbing as by what is implied in the Framing of the story, rather than any actual 'suspense or horror' that may have been intentionally written into the story.

I have seen only two episodes so far, but it looks as if this show is more like "The Godfather" than "Exorcist". It has all the elements of a classic gangster movie. We have two sides, priests and demons, fighting each other (cops and gangsters). There is a new chief exorcist in town (new chief of police), and the demons start attacking people close to him. First victim of "the shootout" is a certain priest who used to be a leper, but the demons cured him (a cop on mafia payroll, I guess he got an offer he couldn't refuse). The demons want him to return the favor, torturing him all the while for being gay (and we all know how gays are treated in mafia).

There is also a pious little girl, who comes to the chief exorcist asking him to help her father. Her father is a second victim of the demons. She noticed that he talks to himself, threatens to molest her, and reads atheist books by Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens (atheist books, an OBVIOUS sign of demonic possession). The exorcist decides to have a look into the matter, but doesn't want to go to the police or social services (the Feds always ruin the fun, plus there would be a HUGE jurisdiction problem – are we dealing with a regular atheist molester or a possessed person??), so he visits the girl's father personally. He discovers that the man really is possessed (works for the mafia), and with a little bit of praying and a lot of shouting and some persuasion finally banishes the demon. So now that the girl and her father are safe, they need to be hidden someplace safe, away from the demons (a witness protection program?). Quote from the show: Little girl's mother (worried and angry): "Is that what this is? God and Satan in some kind of pissing contest, with us in the middle??" Priest (deeply troubled and concerned): "The police can not protect you...wherever you go, Satan will find you. There is only one place demons can not enter." (zoom in on the church)

The actors are very good, no doubt about it, but the story is quite silly and a total cliché. I give the show 3 stars, only because of the fine acting.

This is a very odd series that requires a lot of you as a viewer. My guess is that most will not make it through all six episodes. That is a pity, because "Apparitions" is not a TV series with sequential episodes but one long story, told in six parts. And, taken as what it is, it's one of the best such stories ever told.

I don't much *like* the kind of story it is, but I understand it. It's *very* much like William Peter Blatty's "The Exorcist" and "The Ninth Configuration." Those were Catholic stories, too, about the question of faith, and the questioning of faith. But all three fall into a genre I would call "religious emotional drama queen fiction." That genre is about writers trying to manipulate audiences by showing them over-the-top miracle and possession stories to push their buttons and get them to associate those pushed emotional buttons with having had some kind of religious epiphany.

Ordinary life and ordinary questioning of faith aren't *enough* for these writers. They have to "paint large," and can seemingly only believe in God or attempt to sway others into believing in God by creating larger-than-life situations based in conflict between good and evil, personified as a conflict between the man of faith and Satan. Such stories are IMO the spiritual equivalent of sappy romance fiction and manipulative emotional tearjerkers. There is little about them that could be described as "subtle." That said, I think that "Apparitions" is pretty *good* religious emotional drama queen fiction. It is FAR better than Blatty's "The Exorcist," and FAR more intelligent. The cast is excellent and the writing more so. But it's still religion dressed up like Carmen Miranda. I prefer subtler stuff.

An extremely intelligent, well crafted drama series, that produces some very chilling moments. Martin Shaw shows us yet again, why he is one of the finest & most underrated actors of our time. I am desperately hoping that they produce a second series, as we are clearly left hanging at the end of episode 6.

This series brilliantly explores the interplay between the Vatican in Rome and its skeptical view on all things related to Exorcism. The continual struggle between Martin Shaw's character and his obstinate counterparts in Rome, make for a fascinating analysis of the inner workings of the Catholic Church.

I very rarely give a title 10/10, but I must make an exception here...

This is an excellent show with superb writing. I just discovered it and was disappointed to find there only seem to be six episodes. I would have given it 10 stars if they had made more! It was probably an expensive show to shoot but is still much better than 90% of television on the air. Here's hoping that someone will want to make more. This is what the recent movie featuring Anthony Hopkins should have been had the writing and story line been stronger. I hope if someone buys it they don't try to re-do it in the US as it will probably be a weaker version. I would hate to see it watered down to the Sc-Fi "Being Human" equivalent.

A fan in Texas

When I saw that the six episodes of "Apparitions" were available for streaming on Netflix, I browsed the user reviews on two sites, and found them to be overwhelmingly glowing. And so, even before I had an opportunity to view the episodes myself, I drew them to the attention of a friend who is a fan, as am I, of Martin Shaw's work. I was surprised to learn from him, a few days later, that he had abandoned "Apparitions" after viewing the first episode. I understood why when I finally got around to viewing the series: I, too, wanted to quit after the first episode, but I stuck with it through three, after which I cut my losses and gave up.

Afterwards, I looked again at the glowing user reviews and tried to reconcile them to what I had seen. I could not. Especially puzzling is the opinion that the stories are "thought-provoking." Really? Consider the following exchange, taken verbatim (my comments in brackets), from Episode 3.

Father Jacob (Martin Shaw), exorcist extraordinary, is called to a prison to interview a convicted rapist named Cory who appears to be possessed by a woman. During the interview, Cory begins to sweat blood, a sure sign that demonic, or divine, powers are at work. (There's a fair amount of sweating and crying blood in the series–both by humans and by statues. But, hey, who among us hasn't encountered it?) Later, Cory is assaulted in the shower by a group of inmates. Afterwards, Father Jacob, the warden, and the prison priest discuss the possibly that Cory is possessed by a saint, and they speculate by which saint. WARDEN: "What about suspects? How many saints are there?" FATHER JACOB: "Ten thousand plus." WARDEN: "Possession then. Any of them got form {a police record} on that?" FATHER JACOB: "We're on our own there. There are no documented cases of saintly possession." WARDEN: "What about saints and rapists?" FATHER JACOB: "Maria Goretti is the patron saint of rape victims. She was murdered resisting a rape just over a hundred years ago." WARDEN: "Was she a virgin?" FATHER JACOB: {Nods} "She was eleven." WARDEN: "Should we dig up some background on her and Cory, and see if there are any other connections?" FATHER JACOB: "Cory was 20 when he was put behind bars. Maria Goretti's assailant, Alessandro Serenelli was also 20. Both gave their victims the same choice: lose your virginity or die. But Serenelli repented in prison. He attended Holy Communion with the victim's mother, and he went to her canonization. But Cory has never even admitted his guilt." WARDEN: "Right. Well, that's what I'm saying. She takes over a guy who raped virgins; gets him raped {in prison} till he owns up." PRISON PRIEST: "Does that sound like God? That is Satan making a mockery of everything we stand for!" FATHER JACOB: "But if it is Maria Goretti, perhaps she's trying to get him to reconcile with his victims."

This scene cries out for Rod Serling, to step from the shadows, look into the camera, and address the audience. "Three seemingly intelligent adults discuss the possibility that an 11- year-old rape victim, 100 years dead, has taken possession of a convicted rapist, to provoke his rape in prison, forcing him to reconcile with his victims. These three men do not yet realize that they're no longer in Kansas, or anywhere else on Planet Earth. They're in… The Twilight Zone."

On the positive side, production values are high; the settings are appropriately atmospheric; and the cast performs heroically in the face of some really bad dialog. But none of this succeeds in elevating "Apparitions" above silliness.

There is a point when Cardinal Bukovak, who is trying to rein in Father Jacob, says of him: "I'm not denying his charisma. Exorcists are full of it." With his last point, the Cardinal has taken the words out of my mouth.

Father Jacob, played by Martin Shaw, is a British Catholic priest who is next in line to assume the Vatican's positions of chief exorcist. As you may guess, he is very talented at exorcising the demons of the possessed. The demons, fallen angles, are eager to take hold of human bodies, since they are tired of the suffering they must endure in hell. Roughly, this is how the story goes. Although the story line sounds quite ridiculous, I must admit that I was intrigued by the show. As an atheist, it took quite the suspense of disbelief to keep watching, but I found myself questioning interesting notions put forth and challenged throughout the show: Father Jacob lives in a world in which both demons and saints can possess people; a world in which Satan acts but God relies on faith; evils is apparent but good only implied. All in all, the show has decent entertainment value, some very nice acting, and an interesting (albeit a tad ridiculous) storyline. Unfortunately many of Apparitions' plot twists are left hanging in mid air, and many things remain unexplained by the end of the 6th episode. It seems like they may have had a little too much faith in their viewers to make sense of all of it.

Martin Shaw has a gravitas that is mocked by stories this bad.

It's hard to know where to begin with the stupidity, but it's mainly related to the editorial "theology", which is laughably ignorant, regardless if you're a religious type, or a hardcore atheistic cynic. At one moment, the series has a very credible edge in the discernment of demonic activity from mental illness (i.e. the place of religious ritual in a modern context), then it's spinning off into Catholic silliness about Mother Theresa and WWF battles between priests and demons. All of it is dressed up in very credible BBC photography and heavy mood music.

Essentially, - and 2mins of research indicates this clearly - the Catholic Church has a lot of wordy rituals that have no apparent scriptural basis, and are at best inaccurate, and more likely, absurd/aberrant - that every other denomination considers extremely suspect. The writers, of course, have a field day with it, inflating these One-True-Church -specific theatrical follies into devices that are more similar to witchcraft "spells" than anything eschatological: 5min rituals with Latin-y words, symbols, Virgin Mary and water for "protection", invoking names of "saints", "reverse" exorcisms, demons "sheltering" themselves and/or being "freed" from hell in human flesh, the devil "exorcising" Catholics (wtf). Satan exorcising a priest? Come on, BBC. Even the Bible explains why that is stupid, let alone a logical impossibility.

Allegedly the Satanic mission is all about "breaking someone's faith" like a currency or "converting" them to evil (whatever that is meant to mean or look like), etc etc ad nauseam. The writer's cynicism is quite apparent, naturally, by the constant implication that it's priest's video game "belief level" that wins the spiritual martial arts battle of "fighting" the Devil on an equal basis: (i.e. religious faith is a subjective idea, despite the fact your story revolves around presenting absolute evil etc etc). A phone call to someone - anyone - would have steered writers away from the p**spoor idea that a priest's "faith" is like a Ghostbusters laser beam which expels demons.

The theology research is just very, very weak, as usual - and sensationalist to a really ridiculous degree. Screenwriters can never, ever seem to simply pick up a book and actually study what it's about - if they did, there's a treasure trove of interesting editorial material to be found. It's not more dramatically interesting to lazily sass up these same implausible tropes, it just makes serious actors and production crew look hopelessly lost to cliché. If you attempt to "broaden" the ideas around exorcism (e.g. "reverse" exorcism) but don't even have a basic understanding of the theology behind it, you're going to come off as dumb no matter how much sepulchral piano you add.

Saying all that, though, there is an interesting angle inviting a moral conversation: the demonic characters' impassioned plea that Hell is akin to the Holocaust: there's a lot of meat to that missed opportunity. And as it's Auntie Beeb, it's one of the better-produced of the genre.

Do not write a series about anything when you haven't the faintest idea what it's about: irrespective of whether you personally believe in it or not.

The only thing dumber than this in the genre is the newer "Constantine" series, which takes religious parody to a new depth of terrible. And if you think the judgment on both of these is harsh, take a quick read through CS Lewis' "Screwtape Letters" or Scott Peck's "People of the Lie" for a more interesting and twisted approach that has a considerably more heightened intellectual spearhead, and actually offers insight into the human condition that is far richer than simple sensationalism. As the immortal line of "The Usual Suspects" goes, the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was the camouflage of transforming himself into a fairytale: far more intriguing and sinister in its cunning than a blatant jihad-with-toys.

The power of "The Exorcist" was in the juxtaposition of childhood innocence with absolute, inexplicable evil; the inexplicable nature of it is what makes it so terrifying, as is the "final" nature of Hell itself. The primal fear of "The Omen" arguably came from the sense of powerlessness over evil's plan, and the answer was murder - not prayers to saints and wrestling showdowns. All simple principles that this - and every other - writers' room, completely missed. And there are far more horrifying manifestations of evil in the Catholic Church, like the political corruption and paedophilia.

For those wondering, Christian theology on the matter is actually fairly simple: God and the Devil are not even comparable, let alone evil - the Devil is a narcissistic cockroach. Christ explicitly extended his power over evil to his followers, meaning the ass-kicking comes from that command, not objects, a priest's faith, saints, etc etc. God himself does the eviction (apparently somewhat in league with the patient themselves) upon request from one of his own, somewhat similar to pest control. Hell is a final, inescapable quarantine over which one judge has authority, and nothing gets "sent" back/forth from like a Starbucks - the only thing that gets anyone sent there is believing they can save themselves. Quite where the Vatican gets holy water, saints, coins, oil, ropes, Latin prayers and weird incantations from, is anyone's guess, but presumably writing around it makes for good TV. But it doesn't, because it's obviously silly and shallow. And you might enjoy this if you are, although it's presented as a serious BBC drama.

If you were looking for a controversial, hard-hitting British piece examining the darker side of spiritual life, ritualistic behavior, psychiatry, and/or historical mystery/relevance of exorcism, you'll be left short-changed. Don't be fooled: this is Harry Potter witches, spells and stakes from a Cosmopolitan reading, Facebook-posting BBC commissioning team, who wanted to make it sound cleverer with a few bible quotes and Shaw's serious voice.

I have seen the first episode of this show and there is a huge mistake: the guy who is supposed to be possessed is referred to as an atheist by father Jacob. An atheist is someone who doesn't believe. The guy was very much interested and definitely believed in God; he just chose the other side. That kind of belief is satanism, not atheism. I am agnostic (which means, to those who do not know, I believe that I just don't know whether God exists or not) and anti-religion. This show is full of superstitions, religious inaccuracies and lies. If they were more intelligent about it I would have enjoyed it even though I could never believe it. But they made atheism (by mistake maybe) and homosexuality to be the devil. People can believe anything they want as far as I'm concerned as long as they don't try to impose their beliefs onto others. And this show does impose their prejudice onto the viewer.

Intelligent, mostly well acted, but somewhat frustrating BBC mini-series.

This story of a priest pulled into battle with the devil feels like it owes too much to 'The Exorcist' and 'The Omen' (among others) for the first episode or two, but then in increasingly develops it's own quirky, complex personality. I found myself ever more caught up.

But then, it's let down by an ending less dramatic then what's been promised.

We've told this is literally going to be the birth of the anti-Christ, the unleashing of all the demons of hell, etc.

Spoiler!

So when it turns out to be just a plot on the Pope's life, I felt very confused and disappointed. I felt like there must have been a last episode or two missing.

Martin Shaw has a lot of strong moments as our hero Priest, but there are times the performance becomes more than a bit theatrical. Indeed, you could say that for a lot of the acting. Fun, but a bit 'actory'

Overall I enjoyed it , I had just hoped for even more on both the visceral and thematic sides.

I was really looking forward to this series after reading about it in the papers and hearing about how controversial it was going to be. I was hoping for something a bit more exciting to watch on a week night than the usual drivel. I must say I am a bit disappointed. I appreciate I have only seen the first episode, but in my opinion, if you are not grabbed at this point, then there's a mistake been made somewhere. The acting was 'okay', but it looked a little cheaply made, very TV, not at all what I was expecting. The story lines were a little silly and I didn't find it scary at all. As for being controversial, it didn't particularly offend or shock me, but then I'm not a practising Catholic.

Hopefully things will pick up by next episode, but for me, if the first instalment fails to deliver, I don't hold up much hope...

I was willing to suspend disbelief and accept the premise of the show, and I admire the actors for treating the script seriously, but I can't accept its plot holes and misconceptions. The primary weakness is an inability to understand other points of view. Jews do not believe in the Christian version of Hell, for one thing, and while a Jew might (and many did) lose faith in God because of the Holocaust, he would have no reason to turn to Satan because of the behavior of the Pope. Jews do not recognize the Pope as God's representative. He might become anti-Catholic, but, despite the scriptwriters' misconception, that is not the same as becoming a Satanist. A psychologist would have had no trouble accepting that performing a satanic ritual could have resulted in physical illness for a priest; she would simply have explained it as a psychosomatic illness. Every non-believer is not also rude, aggressive, and confrontational. Minor inaccuracies - a priest would have known that it's "The Revelation of St. John the Divine," not "Revelations." A European Jew would have spoken Yiddish, not Hebrew.