Jasmine Sahu is well suited with this new American drama exclusive to Dave.
Lois Cameron explains why this series is much more than your average cosy period drama.
The last episode of this series sees Sherlock and Moriarty attempt to solve the final problem with devastating consequences.
With major cast changes afoot, Jacob Martin ponders whether Being Human can live up to its own scarily high standard.
Warm-heartedness is a highly underrated quality in a TV programme. If a show has its heart in the right place, I will happily and willingly overlook many problems in execution (hi there, Land Girls!) So you can imagine my sheer delight when the first series of Rev managed to combine genuine quality with real warmth to create something really quite remarkable, despite its fairly unassuming appearance.
And thankfully, that standard was maintained with the start of series two. Even if it’s not the funniest programme in the world, this whole world is amusing and human enough to keep it consistently engaging. It’s often the little moments that make it work as much as the big ones, and here particular highlights for me included Nigel carrying the church’s uber-flowery tea set and Adam furiously trying to find a dog-collar, only to realise that the one he could find had a ketchup stain on it.
That’s not to say that there were no laugh-out-loud funny moments. The whole opening sequence, with Adam’s attempts to contemplate on retreat being disturbed by his wandering mind and the arrival of Roland (played by the magnificent and glorious Hugh Bonneville, be still my beating heart), quickly and effectively established the tone of this world, and I loved their achingly middle-class discussions of what they’d brought with them (The Killing and a lot of cheese, basically). And, even if Ralph Fiennes’s Bishop didn’t entirely fit in, the “glory before humility” moment had me yelping with laughter.
A great part of the charm of Rev is just how grounded in reality it is. If Adam’s Pride of Britain nomination seemed a bit far-fetched, the programme knew how far to take it. Other shows would have had him refuse the award on the night in a toe-curling scene; instead, Adam acts as any real human would, and declines before it’s too late. In fact, much of the amusement here came from the mundane elements of being a vicar, like CRB checks (including Colin’s brilliant list of misdemeanours) and uninterested children being horrified at the prospect of having to spend a whole day outdoors.
Of course, all this would be nothing without acting to back it up. The supporting actors manage to bring plenty of humanity to the strange world that surrounds Adam. In other hands, Colin would just be a weirdo, but Steve Evets makes him sympathetic as well as mad, and I just adore Miles Jupp as Nigel. And Olivia Colman is just wonderful as Adam’s exasperated wife Alex; the scene when she gets annoyed at Adam for organising the trip on a Saturday is brilliantly nuanced, as she knows that he’s just being the man she loves, yet she can’t help but be frustrated by it.
And yet, it’s all held together by the ever-marvellous Tom Hollander, who has just got this role completely spot-on. Adam is thoroughly believable and likeable, a flawed but genuinely good person who’s just trying to do his best for his community. Hollander brings so much to the part, filling it with humour, nuance and warmth. In a TV landscape dominated by cynicism, Rev is like a little beacon of loveliness and joy.
The second series of Rev continues on Thursdays at 9pm on BBC2.
You must log in to submit a comment.
