Mon 21 Nov 2011 @ 08:03
televisionrev.
Last year I wrote about how much I had enjoyed the television show Rev., a comedy about an inner-city vicar. Well, the second series has just started (two episodes broadcast so far, and still available on the BBC iPlayer). I still very much like the show, which I think is funny and relevant even to atheists like me. Tom Hollander is brilliant, as is the supporting cast. Once again, I would recommend watching it, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Last year I wrote about how much I had enjoyed the television show Rev., a comedy about an inner-city vicar. Well, the second series has just started (two episodes broadcast so far, and still available on the BBC iPlayer). I still very much like the show, which I think is funny and relevant even to atheists like me. Tom Hollander is brilliant, as is the supporting cast. Once again, I would recommend watching it, and I am looking forward to the rest of the series.

Sun 8 Aug 2010 @ 14:11
rev.television
Rev. is a television series which recently aired on the BBC, just finishing its six episode run this past week. I’d heard good things about the show but I had my doubts about whether I’d really respond to a comedy about a Church of England reverend adapting to his new life as the vicar of an impoverished inner-city church. But eventually I got around to watching the episodes on iPlayer (I watched all six in one long sitting) and I’m glad that I did, as the show was really rather brilliant. Tom Hollander plays Adam, the vicar in question; he does a great job of portraying Adam as a fallible human being, genuine and down to earth, and as petty as the rest of us, while still being likeable (though occasionally mistaken). The focus of the show is on Adam and his interactions with his wife and his parishioners (especially the drunk Colin and the bitchy assistant Nigel); through the course of the series he deals with such issues as someone breaking a church window, how to get on television, and dealing with parents who want their kids to get into the church school. Basically, small plots points which allow for exploration of wider social and religious issues; the religious aspect is there, but it’s not as in-your-face as I’d feared and it is even relatable and understandable to atheists such as myself. But at the same time, it’s a funny show, the kind of quiet, dry humour that I most appreciate. As I said, it took me by surprise and ended up being a show that I really enjoyed watching.

Rev. is a television series which recently aired on the BBC, just finishing its six episode run this past week. I’d heard good things about the show but I had my doubts about whether I’d really respond to a comedy about a Church of England reverend adapting to his new life as the vicar of an impoverished inner-city church. But eventually I got around to watching the episodes on iPlayer (I watched all six in one long sitting) and I’m glad that I did, as the show was really rather brilliant. Tom Hollander plays Adam, the vicar in question; he does a great job of portraying Adam as a fallible human being, genuine and down to earth, and as petty as the rest of us, while still being likeable (though occasionally mistaken). The focus of the show is on Adam and his interactions with his wife and his parishioners (especially the drunk Colin and the bitchy assistant Nigel); through the course of the series he deals with such issues as someone breaking a church window, how to get on television, and dealing with parents who want their kids to get into the church school. Basically, small plots points which allow for exploration of wider social and religious issues; the religious aspect is there, but it’s not as in-your-face as I’d feared and it is even relatable and understandable to atheists such as myself. But at the same time, it’s a funny show, the kind of quiet, dry humour that I most appreciate. As I said, it took me by surprise and ended up being a show that I really enjoyed watching.