TV’s most shocking drama ever
THE BBC is facing a backlash over a shocking new TV drama featuring gay sex, murder and Mother Teresa.
The six-part series about exorcism, called Apparitions, was the idea of housewives’ favourite Martin Shaw, who also stars in it as a Roman Catholic priest. [>
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Graphic scenes in the prime time drama, to be screened next month, include a man possessed by the devil and being skinned alive in a gay sauna. [>
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In another episode, a father is shown threatening a sexual assault on his daughter. Mother Teresa is seen on her death bed, her mind seemingly inhabited [>
by demons. [>
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“I don’t want this drama to offend, it’s just a story,” said Shaw but when asked whether the Mother Teresa scene depicted her being exorcised, he said: “She was exorcised before she died. [>
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“I don’t think that’s as unusual as it sounds. The Catholic Church would say, and I agree, that the more holy they are, the more likely they are to come under attack. [>
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“Christ spent 40 days in the desert and was hideously attacked by Satan. The scene is not against Mother Teresa or her message.” [>
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Catholic bishops advised the scriptwriters and production company, to help them portray the exorcism accurately but last night they denounced the finished version as “shocking”. [>
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A spokesman for the Catholic Bishops’ Conference said: “I will not watch the drama myself, it is not tasteful. [>
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“I haven’t seen it but people might well be shocked. I have to stress, it is a work of fiction. The Catholic Church would not have chosen the drama form to explain the issue of exorcism.” [>
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Mediawatch-UK, formerly the National Viewers’ and Listeners’ Association which was run by Mary Whitehouse, warned that the graphic sexual and religious scenes will cause outrage. [>
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“This series is likely to be a clear breach of the Broadcasting Code,” said Mediawatch-UK director John Beyer. [>
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“I’m surprised the BBC consented to a show like this as a way of depicting the battle between good and evil. There must be better ways of doing that. [>
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“They’ve got people sitting on crucifixes. It will cause very serious offence. This will create the same type of furore the BBC caused when it screened Jerry Springer The Opera.” [>
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There were 55,000 complaints when that show, an irreverent treatment of religious issues, was broadcast on BBC2 in 2005. [>
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The organisation Christian Voice led street protests at nine BBC offices across the country and threatened to bring blasphemy charges against senior executives. [>
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The row ended up at the High Court when another group of protesters, the Christian Institute, tried but failed to bring a private prosecution for blasphemy against the BBC. [>
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In Apparitions, directed by Joe Ahearne, Shaw plays Father Jacob, a priest running a Roman Catholic seminary in London. [>
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One of his students, a young gay Italian man called Vimal, is expelled and then seen visiting the sauna in a gay club where he is attacked by a homeless man possessed by a demon. [>
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Viewers are shown the two men fighting naked and flesh being sliced from Vimal’s arm before the camera lingers over the ghastly image of blood oozing from his skinned corpse. [>
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Shaw said he realised that Apparitions would be controversial. “The more the better,” he said. [>
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“I’m not going to pretend this is the most positive show on Earth. We’re talking about the end of all things but the message is that love conquers all. [>
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“It doesn’t show a wholly positive message, otherwise it would be Songs Of Praise and people would switch off. It is going out at nine, an acknowledged watershed.” [>
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A BBC spokeswoman said: “Apparitions is a post-watershed drama and the scenes are a vital part. [>
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“Representatives of the Catholic Church were invited to ensure accurate depiction of all religious rituals. They read all the scripts.” [>