The Cutprice Guignol

It’s at least somewhat still close to my birthday, and what I’ve apparently taken that to mean is that I should write about some of my favourite (and least favourite) British TV shows. And one I realised I’ve never appropriately rhapsodised on this blog (pun intended) is Rev.

Rev, set in a small church in London follows Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander), the parish priest, as he navigates the place of the church in modern society, as well as his marriage to his solicitor wife, Alex (Olivia Coleman). A sort of antidote to the kind of sweet country parish church shows in the British canon prior to this, the drama-comedy broadcast from 2010-2014.

In terms of comedy, Rev is and remains one of the best examples of that slightly maudlin but ultimately earnest comedy that Britain seems to do so well. Tom Hollander is such an appealing lead, and I’m sure I don’t need to tell you about the talents of Olivia Coleman, but it’s the supporting cast that really land the comedy beats best. Simon McBurney as the acerbic archdeacon is exactly the right kind of rude that always makes me cackle (the running gag of him pouring away every cup of tea that’s made for him catches me off-guard every time), and Miles Jupp as the pencil-pushing Nigel is precisely the kind of annoying your least favourite colleague is, except funny, too. Steve Evets (also of the excellent Brassic) is deeply offputting and oddly charming in equal measure, and Ellen Thomas is exactly the kind of busybody you’d duck at family gatherings.

But beyond the comedy, I think what I love most about Rev is how it handles the serious stuff, too. A lot of the final season deals with Adam going through a severe depressive episode after the birth of his first child, and it’s one of the depictions of depression that has most stayed with me out of any I’ve seen on TV. Tom Hollander crafts this incredibly likeable, flawed, and endearing character, and then takes us to his worst moments in a way that really feels painful to watch. Even in the supporting cast, there are these more serious episodes, the most impressive example of which is the archdeacon trying to come to terms with what it means to be gay in his position in the church.

The way the show handles his faith, too, is something I really enjoyed – I’ve had a complicated relationship with my own faith, and I found a lot of that reflected in Adam’s inner conversations with God. The show ends with one of TV’s single best cameos, as Adam encounters Liam Neeson as a slightly mystical figure in the middle of a foggy London morning, and it’s the perfect bittersweet ending to send it out on.

Rev is such a special little show, and it’s one I can’t recommend enough; the premise might read as a bit toothless, but it’s memorable and distinct and genuinely funny, punched through with affecting dramatic storylines. Even for the lapsed amongst us.

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(header image via British Comedy Guide)