TV Blog: Rev
Whilst summertime is blockbuster season at the cinema, it’s regarded as something of a graveyard slot in the TV world. Holidays, sunny evenings and festivals all drain audiences away from the small screen and, apart for a few big name launches (more about those in subsequent blogs, dear reader), schedulers often use the summer months to burry something they are ashamed of or that they think won’t pick up a following.
This is clearly what’s happened in the case of BBC2’s new comedy Rev. Admittedly on the surface it’s a hard sell – a sitcom about a mild-mannered inner city vicar trying not to get distracted from his calling doesn’t leap of the page as something likely to capture a mainstream audience. But while it’s sunk beneath the waves in terms of publicity, the show is a gem, picking up strong word of mouth and gaining buzz in the TV world as one of this year’s sleeper hits.
Eschewing Father Ted’s surrealism and The Vicar of Dibley’s shitness, Rev works by being both grounded in the real world and, though mocking church inconsistency and bureaucracy, neither patronising nor sidelining the protagonist’s beliefs - instead mining the gap between his need to maintain a public persona of certainty, humility and generosity and his private moments of doubt and selfishness. Bang on characterisation and excellent performances give Rev a universality that reaches well beyond the audience of disillusioned Christians that may have been its primary target. Funny, sweet and deserving of a big viewership, here’s hoping that the commissioners can find the faith to put a second series out when more people will be watching.
The whole 1st series of Rev is available to watch on iplayer.