On a positive note, let me congratulate Martin Shaw for finally nabbing himself that sub-Jesus role (since The Professionals he only seems to have accepted parts where he is a heroic superman fighting for right and justice in a sea of snakes). Apparitions has merely pushed the envelope to the extreme.
The Da Vinci Code sped up the process of course, but now whenever any crime show with intellectual pretensions finds a coded clue you can be sure it will lead to the chapel. One might argue that Apparitions is just the logical (if ludicrous) conclusion of contemporary British TV's apparent belief that the Catholic church is a hive of ritualistic killing, child abuse, duplicitous dirty dealings and demonic possession. It's certainly entertaining, in a religious-themed Spinal Tap kinda way, but are we supposed to take it remotely seriously? Perhaps the BBC felt that Waking the Dead had used up every Catholic-related idea with even a foot in barely conceivable reality, and thus gave the green light to a depiction of Catholicism that appears to be equally inspired by The Omen and Father Ted. Is Apparitions the most ludicrous piece of old hokum that primetime BBC1 has ever commissioned? You know the one I'm talking about, Judge John Deed turned exorcist fighting off the devil just like he used to fight off repressive missives from Number 10.