William Friedkin's 1973 film The Exorcist set the bar impossibly high for subsequent horror directors. Often parodied, never bettered, Linda Blair's head-turning projectile vomiting – not to mention her character's enterprising use of a crucifix for a sex toy – have led others to the painful realisation that they are only ever going to be trapped in slavish imitation of this ground-breaking hardcore horror classic.
You may be forgiven, then, for hearing demonic cackling at the news that BBC1 has made a prime-time drama series in which the central character is a Vatican exorcist. Our man with the rosary is to be played by Martin Shaw – the former Professionals beefcake turned crusading barrister Judge John Deed. But even more eye-catching is that for Shaw, Apparitions is not just another acting gig – the six-part series is his brainchild. Furthermore, it's one he hopes will inject some "positivity" into our lives. Scary stuff indeed.
"I had the idea and thank God the BBC went along with it," he says, without irony. "It came out of what is now 45 years in the business and my sense of what ought to be done and what was missing. I thought there was too much law, too many cops and too much medicine, so let's do something else'.
A priest, though, and one without a romantic backstory. This isn't going to be The Thorn Birds. "No, it isn't. We definitely didn't want that. But it has to be dramatic and at the same time I wanted to see if there was a way of putting across a message of positivity. It coalesced into the idea of a priest because that would give a reason for positivity, for faith, for goodness...."
All of which might suggest that Shaw has quietly turned into the slightly crackers lovechild of Mary Whitehouse and Cliff Richard, but he seemed perfectly sane when I met him. It's just that he feels that most drama these days is a "bit of a downer".
"Apparitions evolved out of wanting to do something different and something positive," he says. "Then it was just a question of handing it over to Joe Ahearne, who is a national treasure as far as I am concerned, and it is unbelievable what he has done."
That could be the masterstroke. Ahearne, who combines credits as both writer and director on Apparitions, cut his teeth on This Life, BBC2's fondly remembered (until an ill-advised belated return) nineties saga of young urban professionals. His first solo credit, Ultraviolet, became something of a cult item with its tale of modern vampires, and more recently Ahearne has found a natural home in the creative hot house of Doctor Who.
"The original idea for Apparitions was of a priest who is working to promote candidates for sainthood," says Ahearne. "I discovered in research that the issues in exorcism and possession were much more exciting than the usual horror approach to them. I loved the idea that extreme sanctity and extreme evil were interwoven."
The opening episode begins strikingly with the exorcism of Mother Teresa on her deathbed in Calcutta. "It's true. Mother Teresa was exorcised before she died in 1997, and I don't think that's as unusual as it sounds," says Shaw. "Because the Catholic church would say – and it makes sense to me – that the more holy somebody is the more likely they are to come under attack from the Devil."
Shaw plays Father Jacob, whose day job is promoting candidates for sainthood, but who's also a dab hand at driving out demons. The actor says exorcisms are more common than most people believe: "While we were filming, someone brought in a newspaper cutting reporting that Pope Benedict was asking for there to be an exorcist in every parish; clearly he feels it's necessary."
Apparitions begins on BBC1 in mid-November.
Full story:
Comments
Log in or create a user account to comment.