Interesting timing, putting a series rooted in Christian theology on just before Christmas. I’ve caught all but one episode of the six part Apparitions, and overall have been highly impressed by the commitment to treating questions of faith seriously. And why not? At a time when the more extreme beliefs of some Muslims and atheists are grabbing the headlines, having drama that treads in such waters is only appropriate.

The crux of the series is contained in a line that one of protagonist Father Jacob’s sidekicks quotes back at him: “Faith is nothing if it isn’t tested.” And with this being a show about exorcism, what we get to see is some very tricksy arguments being brought to life by priests and people possessed by demons.

In this last episode, it was Father Jacob himself that needed an exorcism, unable as he was to wear a crucifix or read scripture, making this an interesting twist on the old logical problem ‘who cuts the barber’s hair?’. Problem being that the Church’s Chief Exorcist, the only man who could do the job, had turned away from God when he lost his family in World War Two. The resolution to this conundrum was a miracle in which the exorcist’s father spoke to him through Father Jacob, and that set the path for the resolution of the story.

The bigger picture of the series is all about belief systems. The Church is depicted as a place of political shenanigans rather than spirituality, with Father Jacob being an aberration to modern Catholicism just as much as he is to the psychologist determined to demonstrate that he’s delusional. Interesting that the series ended with a confrontation between Father Jacob and the psychologist, whose beliefs blinded her to the reality that the wounds she wrongly supposed Jacob had inflicted on himself had healed.

It’s heartening to see intelligent drama posing big questions, and for the most part Apparitions is a series I rate highly. I wasn’t convinced by some of the directorial choices made in this last episode, but the issue they’re up against is how to bring issues of philosophy alive for an audience that reasonably enough wants to be entertained as well as provoked by its viewing choices.

It’ll be interesting to see what happens in a second series. Perhaps the issue with the psychologist suggests there’s as much room in exploring secularism and relativism as there is in faith. And it would be interesting to see how Father Jacob functions when confronted by social evils rather than those with a supernatural slant. Or is there room for a tv drama that dares suggest supernatural elements to stories inspired by the likes of the Baby P case, or the shootings of young boys on sinkhole estates? The very fact that I’m wary of such a suggestion is evidence that there’s potent material there for someone willing to tackle it with the intelligence and maturity that Apparitions has displayed.