Joe Ahearne's finale to his six-part chiller pulls elements from previous stories together, culminating in a deciding battle of wits between Father Jacob (Martin Shaw) and possessed Michael (Rick Warden). Following last week's climax, Jacob is now suffering a crisis of faith and physically weakened by his ordeal. Unable to read scripture or perform religious ceremonies without feeling ill, Sister Ruth (Siobhan Finneran) thinks he's been possessed and will need an exorcism himself...Meanwhile, Michael is busy putting the finishing touches to his evil plan, which involves a visit to the Shrine of Our Lady of Fatima in Portugal, to steal a relic. Cardinal Bukovak (John Shrapnel) assigns a psychiatrist, Dr. Elaine Errison (Claire Price), to help Jacob get over his alarming religious phobia – but Dr. Errison's atheist views and belief he's suffering from delusions only cause Jacob further problems. With time running out, Sister Ruth approaches Father Daniel (David Gyasi) about performing his first exorcism on Jacob, but Jacob himself comes to realize there's only one power who can end his torment: Satan.
Episode 6 is another hour of tension, scares and general uneasiness. The series quickly developed a compelling atmosphere in its first episode, and that ambience has been maintained extremely well. At heart, Apparitions is absolutely nonsense extrapolated from Biblical stories and religious history, by Ahearne's skill is in presenting everything with utter conviction, aided by actors who refuse to put their tongues in their cheek. Martin Shaw's performance was the secret weapon; even though we're denied knowledge about his family or personal history, Father Jacob's potentially one-note and boring personality never fails to engage. Shaw somehow manages to make him a convincing character with a lot of heart, faith and enviable strength. Seeing him at his lowest ebb makes his eventual success in episode 6 all the sweeter, particularly as help and guidance from divine forces finally arrive...
Michael's ultimate plan to assassinate the Pope gave this episode a pulp fiction quality, not unlike a Dan Brown novel. The location shooting in Portugal and Italy also helped give the production a greater sense of scope and importance. It was a shame the climax (set in a church, with Michael in the choir, ready to shoot the Pope), was slightly undermined by awkward editing and an unintentionally amusing levitation, but up until that point the episode hadn't really put a foot wrong.
In fact, one particular scene was a series highlight; Jacob being exorcised by his old mentor Monsignor Vincenzo (Luigi Diberti), whom he discovered had been a lifelong Satanist ever since his family were killed in the holocaust. During the ritual, Jacob implores his friend to renounce Satan himself, but Vincenzo is unwilling to do so... until Jacob is momentarily possessed by the soul of his dead father, who tells his son not to blame God for what happened to their family 60 years ago. Surprisingly touching and cathartic, it was a rare moment when good prevailed on this series.
Nice to see sceptical Sister Ruth side with Jacob during his ordeal, although drippy Father Daniel was again a disappointment – and his terrible secret wasn't anything to get worked up about. Rick Warden continued his enjoyable, disquieting performance. His role as Michael has been a delight throughout these six episodes, even though it largely resembles a lobotomised, bearded Phil Cornwell shuffling around like Rainman.
Despite her limited screen-time, Dr. Errison was also a fun addition; refusing to believe Jacob's stories, even when the truths slaps her across the face. The final scene, with Jacob showing Dr. Errison a miraculously-healed scar on his arm, was an excellent way to close the series. "Nothing can make you believe?" asked Jacob. "No," came the shrink's obstinate reply. After a well-timed pause: "you really should talk to somebody about that..."
Apparitions clearly wasn't for everyone. Moody, gruesome and with sardonic put-downs the only source of light relief, the ratings suggested only a hardcore of horror fans stuck with it. 4 million tuned in for episode 1, but by episode 3 half that audience had been scared away. I hope it returns (and develops Jacob's character into more personal areas), but if it doesn't... well, like Joe Ahearne's Ultraviolet, we at least have six decent episodes for a small clique to celebrate.
18 December 2008
BBC1, 9pm
Writer & Director: Joe Ahearne
Cast: Martin Shaw (Father Jacob), John Shrapnel (Cardinal Bukovak), Siobhan Finneran (Sister Ruth), Rick Warden (Michael), David Gyasi (Father Daniel), Luigi Diberti (Monsignor Vincenzo), Claire Price (Dr. Elaine Errison), Antonia Whillans (Girl), Cherie Lunghi (Woman) & Josephine Amankwah (Soprano)
