Apparitions (TV series)
Apparitions | |
---|---|
Opening titles | |
Genre |
Serial Supernatural drama Mystery |
Created by |
Joe Ahearne Nick Collins |
Developed by | Lime Pictures |
Starring | Martin Shaw |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 1 |
No. of episodes | 6 (list of episodes) |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) |
Carolyn Reynolds Tony Wood |
Running time | 60 minutes |
Broadcast | |
Original channel |
BBC One BBC HD |
Original run | 13 November 2008 – 18 December 2008 |
External links | |
Website |
Apparitions is a BBC drama about Father Jacob Myers, a priest of the Roman Catholic Church, played by Martin Shaw, who examines evidence of miracles to be used in canonisation but also performs exorcisms.[1] As he learns, Jacob's duties run deeper than just sending demons back to Hell; he later must prevent them all from escaping.
Unlike most portrayals of exorcism and spirit possession in fiction, Apparitions is more religiously accurate and fact-based, incorporating the nature of demonic possession as described by the Church. It also recounts historical events associated with Christianity and other Abrahamic religions, which may have been caused by (or directly influenced) Heaven or Hell, indicating that the War described in the Bible may not have fully concluded.
The series is written by Joe Ahearne.
Episodes
Episode 1
In Rome, a meeting is being held at the Congregation for the Causes of Saints. Father Jacob, a London priest and investigator of miracles for the Congregation, has presented a case that may lead to Mother Teresa's canonization: Vimal's leperosy was seemingly cured without antibiotics six months after Teresa's death.
Vimal was spontaneously cured of leprosy, when he was a child, while saying the prayer of Mother Teresa just as she died, (a miracle he had offered as proof of her right to sainthood). But he is visited by the apparition of this demon, and comes to realize that it was, in fact, demons who restored his flesh (the miracle attributed to Mother Teresa).
The demon appears and skins him alive in vengeance as the girl's father is freed of his possession by Jacob and Vincenzo at the same spot in Kensington Gardens where the girl had been conceived at the moment of Mother Teresa's death.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Father Jacob: Martin Shaw
- Vimal: Elyes Gabel
- Cardinal Bukovak: John Shrapnel
- Monsignor Vincenzo: Luigi Diberti
- Michael/Astaruth: Rick Warden
- Donna: Romy Irving
- Sister Anne: Michelle Joseph
- Sarah: Sarah-Jayne Steed
- Liam: Shaun Dooley
- Police Officer: Adam Zane
Episode 2
First Broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD, 20 November 2008 at 21:00
This episode immediately follows the first episode. The father of the girl has been freed from his possession. However, Father Jacob now realizes that people close to him are being deliberately targeted by demons. The homeless man appears repeatedly, challenging Jacob to a kind of exorcism duel - they shall battle each other for supremacy and see who comes out on top, God or Lucifer. There are puzzles and clues that lead to some amalgam of the Holocaust, hell, heaven, the next Vatican exorcist, the usual stuff. This mystery leads Father Jacob into the past of Monsignor Vincenzo. Meanwhile, Cardinal Bukovak begins to prevent Father Jacob from practicing future exorcisms.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Father Jacob: Martin Shaw
- Sister Ruth: Siobhan Finneran
- Cardinal Bukovak: John Shrapnel
- Michael/Astaroth: Rick Warden
- Monsignor Vincenzo: Luigi Diberti
- Donna: Romy Irving
- Sister Anne: Michelle Joseph
- Sarah: Sarah-Jayne Steed
- Liam: Shaun Dooley
- DI Rachel: Stephanie Street
Episode 3
First Broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD, 27 November 2008 at 21:00
Father Jacob is called in by Father Daniel to investigate reports of demonic possession in a prison. Father Jacob thinks it may be a case of possession by a saint and not a demon; the first in all of recorded church history. Cardinal Bukovak begins to take a more active role in stopping Father Jacob's pursuit of performing exorcisms.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Father Jacob: Martin Shaw
- Cardinal Bukovak: John Shrapnel
- Sister Ruth: Siobhan Finneran
- Michael/Astaruth: Rick Warden
- Father Daniel: David Gyasi
- Cory Wardell: Stephen Wight
- Governor Lassiter: Neil Pearson
- Kim Portman: Elizabeth Berrington
- Mrs. Wardell: Linda Holmes
- Fiona: Mia Fernandez
- Alessandro Serenelli: Federico Natoli
Episode 4
First Broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD, 4 December 2008 at 21:00
Father Jacob investigates two mysterious pregnancies at an abortion clinic. One is a seventy-year-old woman and the other is a young girl that shows signs of demonic possession.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Father Jacob: Martin Shaw
- Sister Ruth: Siobhan Finneran
- Michael/Astaruth: Rick Warden
- Dr. Janice Greely: Claudia Harrison
- Zoe Dayton: Karen Bryson
- Craig: Andy Dear
- Simon: Adrian Bower
- Lisa Sengrath: Jo Woodcock
- Pietro Fonti: Vernon Dobtcheff
- Rosa Fonti: Ruth Posner
Episode 5
First Broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD, 11 December 2008 at 21:00
Father Jacob investigates when a teenager claims to have visions of the Virgin Mary and sweats blood. The boy's family is Muslim and he is convinced that his father is in Hell and only by forcing someone to do a reverse exorcism can his father be freed from Hell. Father Jacob also learns more about Michael's mysterious past. Meanwhile, Cardinal Bukovak arrives to rein in Father Jacob.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Father Jacob: Martin Shaw
- Cardinal Bukovak: John Shrapnel
- Sister Ruth: Siobhan Finneran
- Michael/Astaruth: Rick Warden
- Monsignor Vincenzo: Luigi Diberti
- Zaid Kopavic: Jamie Blackley
- Imam Ahmed: Hassani Shapi
- Misal Kopavic: Patrick Knowles
- Sana Kopavic: Brana Bajic
Episode 6
First Broadcast simultaneously on BBC One and BBC HD, 18 December 2008 at 21:00
Possessed now and unable to pray, Jacob is stalked by Michael. Cardinal Bukovak assigns an atheist psychologist Dr. Elaine Errison, to assess Jacob, who believes that his religious beliefs (and Christianity) are a kind of mental illness. After being relieved of his duties, Jacob leaves the seminary and stays in a hotel where a mysterious woman tells him that anyone who attempts to exorcise him will be killed. With Jacob, Daniel and Ruth all reciting the prayer, Michael is vanquished, but in his final moments puts a bullet into Cardinal Bukovak, who is subsequently promoted for apparently attempting to defend the Pope. As he departs he makes it clear that he will continue to work to destroy the practice of exorcism, and Jacob implies that he is ready for Bukovak’s efforts.
Cast (in order of appearance)
- Father Jacob: Martin Shaw
- Cardinal Bukovak: John Shrapnel
- Sister Ruth: Siobhan Finneran
- Michael/Astaruth: Rick Warden
- Father Daniel: David Gyasi
- Monsignor Vincenzo: Luigi Diberti
- Dr. Elaine Errison: Claire Price
- Girl: Antonia Whillans
- Woman: Cherie Lunghi
- Soprano: Josephine Amankwah
Ratings
The figures quoted on Digital Spy for the first showing on BBC 1 (who use Attentional for their ratings data) are as below:
- Episode 1 (Thursday 13 November 2008): 4.62 million (20.6% of audience share for the time slot) [2]
- Episode 2 (Thursday 20 November 2008): 2.88 million (12.6%) [3]
- Episode 3 (Thursday 27 November 2008): 2.71 million (11.6%) [4]
- Episode 4 (Thursday 4 December 2008): 3.12 million (13.2%) [5]
- Episode 5 (Thursday 11 December 2008): 3.01 million (14.1%) [6]
- Episode 6 (Thursday 18 December 2008): 3.08 million (14.5%) [7]
Average for all 6: 3.23 million (14.4%) - down around 25% on the average viewing figures for this time slot (for example, the previous week's concluding episode of Silent Witness got 6.1 million viewers in the same time slot)[7]
Title sequence
The opening credits sequence, designed by Simon A. J. Cox, shows a weeping statue of Mary against a background of London with cars passing.
References
- "Apparitions - Episodes from 2008". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 20 January 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- "Apparitions, Episode 1". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 18 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- "Apparitions, Episode 2". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- "Apparitions, Episode 3". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 2 January 2009. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- "Apparitions, Episode 4". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 11 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- "Apparitions, Episode 5". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 25 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- "Apparitions, Episode 6". BBC One Programmes. United Kingdom: BBC. Archived from the original on 26 December 2008. Retrieved 31 December 2008.
- ↑ Martin Shaw has a devil of a job in Apparitions, The Times. November 8, 2008
- ↑ Digital Spy Nov 14, 2008 - 'Apparitions' opens with 4.62m
- ↑ Digital Spy Nov 21, 2008 - 'Apparitions' takes a ratings dive
- ↑ Digital Spy Nov 28, 2008 - BBC's 'Apparitions' still struggling
- ↑ Digital Spy Dec 06, 2008 - Matthews 'Panorama' special draws 5.6m
- ↑ Digital Spy Dec 14, 2008 - 'Little Dorrit' ends run with 4.2m
- ↑ 7.0 7.1 Digital Spy Dec 24, 2008 - Oliver's Xmas special cooks up 3.7m