I’m late to the party on this one, despite getting a timely invitation. I finally caught the first episode of the BBC miniseries Apparitions. Seems like the athiests hated it. The Catholics hated it. And it didn’t do all that well in the ratings. But I thought the first episode was terrific.
Maybe I’ve finally gotten over my fear of horror, Dead Set and Tru Blood having broken me down. It seems like rich storytelling to me. It moves along at a nice clip, the acting’s credible, the writing’s strong and the territory is sort of delicious in that way that horror can be.
Did anyone see the whole series? What did you think? I can’t wait to watch it all.
My Apparitions episode one Trailer - MARTIN SHAW
Xander
Yeah, I watched the entire thing. It’s only 6 episodes, and it stumbles badly at the end, but overall I think it’s one of the finest miniseries ever made. Some of those middle episodes are incredible.
It seems like such a singular vision, probably because Joe Ahearne wrote the entire thing and directed half of it. In that way, it sort of reminds me of The Singing Detective — a story somebody was burning to tell.
Xander
Enjoy. I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.
The hate from others confuses me. With the possible exception of the last episode, it seems like one of the most intelligent treatments of Catholicism/Christianity I’ve ever seen on a screen. If I were Catholic instead of atheist, I’d probably still be raving about it to people.
admin
Good. I’ll invest my time in the other five episodes then. Thanks for commenting.
Lee
Easily the best genre show to air in the UK for ages. Fingers crossed for a second season.
admin
I think you made a comment here, Lee, after watching the first episode, which is what I meant about getting an early invitation. Last night I rewatched episode one and then rolled straight into two. I was surprised when two had what felt like a real ending on it and a little startled by that ending.
It’s tv that calls for rapt viewing. It’s like being glued to the couch. Oh my. I needed this.
Lee
Good catch regarding the ending, Jill. Episodes one and two were made separately, to air as a two-parter in early ’08. The BBC liked them so much they commissioned a further four and showed all six together; so really, these six episodes comprise two seasons.
admin
Which is why I’ve read about a second season on the web. It’s actually season 1.5 and we’re still waiting to hear if it’ll go beyond 6 episodes… So I’ve got to savour these ones, not blast through them in one of my greedy viewing binges.
J D Raoul
Beautiful title sequence. Love the Pity-the-Damned premise. And that hide-bound bible is very creepy.
admin
Yeah, I was wondering if you’d seen it. I love that about it too, what a great table turner. Going to go watch #3 now.
daye
I won’t say it’s the best offering from the BBC but I did enjoy it for the most part. I could see where people would lose interest. But it’s a solid story line and I am looking forward to seeing how far they take the evil within angle.
The conflict definitely grows, but I have to agree with Xander on the ending. It stumbles quite badly and tries to just wrap everything up quickly. A shame really, since there are a few solid episodes in the middle.
admin
I saw the fourth episode last night… two left. And I found the end of the episode itself a little wanting. The storyline and thematics are brilliant and its certainly got creepy/scary/disturbing covered. I think Father Jacob is a brilliant character and all the inter-character dynamics are extremely interesting. But the way the episodes wrap isn’t always satisfying. The end of episode two left me going “huh?” Ditto for 4.
And still, I am enjoying the series tremendously and highly recommend it.
daye
Jill
Have you finished? I’d love to hear your take on how the series ended.