Pick Of The Week

Since the demise of small-screen titans such as Dennis Potter, it is rare that contemporary TV drama writers turn their attention to the big questions in life. Mostly - and I speak of serious drama here, rather than the many variants of the wish-fulfillment genre - we are fobbed off with the whining descendants of kitchen-sink drama, in the form of obsessively detailed accounts of the petty frustrations and small joys of ordinary folk. The Second Coming must be welcomed because it has the nerve to tackle the (second) biggest story ever told.

Christopher Eccleston, an actor who would be truly exceptional if he could get in touch with his or someone else's sense of humour, plays Steven Baxter, who is one of life's losers, forever sitting on the kerbstone of life and wondering how it all passed him by. Just when it seems like a good woman might come to his aid, Steven disappears for the significant period of 40 days, and is eventually found wandering in a dazed and confused fashion on the edge of Saddleworth Moor. At some point during this experience of the wilderness, Steven has come to the realisation that he is the Second Coming, the second sighting of the Son Of God.

Those of you of a secular bent should not be dissuaded from switching on, because this is the most secular of religious tales. Suspension of disbelief is required in the early stages when Steven is identified by those devilishly clever folk in the Vatican as something special in the religious line, and handsome young priests with mad eyes and digital cameras are sent to bring him into the fold. But if you can get through that, there is the chance to watch Steven performing modern miracles, notably at Maine Road football ground. And no, it does not involve Kevin Keegan's hair.

Russell T. Davies, the man who created Queer As Folk and Bob & Rose, has cleverly perceived that the Bible lacks a third act, and has produced a thoroughly convincing version of how it all might pan out. Where we have the new Jesus, we must also have the latest version of the devil, and who needs watered-down tosh like Lord Of The Rings when the greatest story ever told has the eternal shoot-out to end them all?

As well as Eccleston's bravura performance as the man next door who just happens to be the Son Of God, I should like to heap special praise on Lesley Sharp, who plays Judith, the woman with whom Steven might have enjoyed some uncomplicated earthly pleasures before fate stepped in and recast her as a cross between the Virgin Mary and Mary Magdalene.