As a phenomenon surrounded by mystery and controversy, demonic possession would seem to be made to order for dramatic treatments, especially in the horror realm. Yet except for the novel and film of The Exorcist, it’s a subject area that hasn’t received much prominent attention from writers of fiction. (An informative and rather chilling nonfiction book on the subject is Hostage to the Devil: The Possession and Exorcism of Five Contemporary Americans, by the late Fr. Malachi Martin). The BBC miniseries Apparitions, now playing on the Chiller Network in the United States, is an interesting exception. The series finale will appear Sunday night at 8 EDT, and the prior five episodes will be shown beginning 7:30 that morning and replayed beginning 1:30 p.m. It’s worth watching for a sensationalistic but compelling look at this strange phenomenon. The series, written by Joe Ahearne, benefits from a complex and generally praiseworthy protagonist. Father Jacob (Martin Shaw), a kindly but strong-willed, middle-aged Catholic priest in Britain who has a gift for exorcisms but has left that ministry, is drawn back into that service by the plight of a young girl—not a churchgoer—whose father is possessed by a demon. The girl’s father is a
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