Simon McBurney

This potentially final series has been brilliant. The last two episodes in particular, featuring Tom Hollander's Adam Smallborne's crisis of faith, have been truly spectacular. With Adam's resignation at the end of episode five, St Saviour's was demolished and the former vicar was now left looking for a new job.

James Wood's brilliant script perfectly demonstrated Adam's breakdown as he started to stay in bed all day and ignore the cries of his own daughter. In a lovely narrative twist we heard the thoughts of Alex (Olivia Coleman), Nigel (Miles Jupp) and Archdeacon Robert (Simon McBurney) as they all spoke to God; which is a plot device usually only saved for Adam.

Rev is one of those programmes that I wasn't instantly entranced by but I've grown to love over the years. This last series has been particularly brilliant and is a testament to all involved particularly Hollander, Wood and director Peter Cattaneo.

Does a sitcom actually need to make me laugh? That's the question I asked myself during the first episode of the third series of BBC Two's Rev. I certainly was glad to be given another opportunity to return to Saint Saviours and follow the exploits of the Reverend Adam Smallborne (Tom Hollander).

Once again Rev looks at the way that different people deal with faith by showing how many more people attend the local Mosque every week than come to Adam's church. James Wood's script is brilliant at combining this fairly deep subject matter with a light-handedness that makes it easy to like. Rev also excels due to its fantastically decent central characters Adam and Alex who are surrounded by a cavalcade of oddballs and mercenaries. Tom Hollander is brilliant in the lead role as he plays Adam as thoroughly down-to-Earth chap albeit one who constantly is worried about something or other. The brilliant Olivia Colman adds a bit of gravitas to her role of Alex whilst Simon McBurney and Miles Jupp continue to provide the laughs as Arch Deacon and Lay Preacher respectively.

As a fan of Getting On, I'm ecstatic that Scanlan and Pepperdine have joined the cast as a brilliant double act who may end up closing St. Saviour's. Even if the church does indeed close I hope that doesn't mean the end of what is brilliantly written and extremely well-acted series.

While it never makes me laugh out loud, Rev still provides plenty of good humour and that's sometimes all you need.

Radio Times review

An approach from Archdeacon Robert is like being addressed by an urbane python, but the black-gloved cleric has a sensitive side. Yes, he delivers another dire warning to vicar Adam Smallbone about St Saviour's lack of funds. (Hugh Bonneville is back briefly as Roland Wise, the Dale Carnegie-like motivational cleric.) But when rumour spreads that Adam has conducted a gay wedding, maybe the Archdeacon (Simon McBurney) will exercise a little understanding.

With same-sex weddings now legal it's a timely story handled with humour (of course), compassion and without preachiness. Adam (Tom Hollander) is torn when two friends want a [forbidden] church ceremony. He agrees to say prayers for their union as long as there are no rings, confetti or any walking down the aisle...

There's a ripped-from-the-headlines quality about tonight's episode. Same-sex marriages became legal in England and Wales on Saturday, but the Church of England has stipulated that it won't be carrying them out, although it will stretch to prayers for newlywed couples.

And tonight, we see the dilemma that could typically pose for vicars when two gay friends of Adam's announce that they're getting married and want him to do the honours ("No confetti!"). St Saviours has never seen such a turnout, but Archdeacon Robert (the fabulous Simon McBurney) doesn't reckon this is any cause to celebrate. He does, however, have some good advice for Adam who wants to take his wife Alex (Olivia Colman) on a mini-break. He says, mystifyingly: "You can always tell a good pub hotel by whether the bedrooms have got logs in them."

And you can always tell a good non-wedding by the hangovers the next day. A drunken Alex, who is working her way through the Smallbones' drinks cabinet, is a real highlight.

And so is Hugh Bonneville, who pops in again as Roland, the media-friendly cleric who's now running training courses to save churches all over the world.

The wonderful thing about Rev. (BBC Two, Monday) is that it is meant to be funny and it is genuinely hilarious. Tom Hollander and Olivia Colman play the leads but it is more an ensemble comedy with top performances, too, from Simon McBurney as the Archdeacon, Miles Jupp as Nigel and Steve Evets as Colin.

In fact dear Colin provides all the jaw-dropping, non-PC moments; not least for his fundraising efforts for St Saviour's which amounted to supplying drugs to the estate. He knows his market.

It was especially touching to see him present Adam (the Rev), with some oversize track pants from Sports Direct for his new baby as part of his campaign to be "godfather". Who knows what that term means to him?

Rev also pushes the boundaries or let's say, gives them a nudge. Last week, Adam bumped into Yousef, the local Iman, who had a sense of humour, "within limits". I could not understand why Adam did not jump at the chance of attending one of the Iman's "Jihadi barbecues". The mind boggles.

The best line, however, came from the archdeacon who said he was off to hear "Rageh Omaar giving a talk on Djibouti pirates". I was gutted to have missed that one. If only the Church of England could harness the power of Rev., it would have no trouble filling the pews.

Radio Times review

St Saviour's Church is under threat as we return to east London and the pastoral care of the Rev Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander), who's now dad to a sweet baby daughter. As he changes nappies, the new Area Dean and Diocesan Secretary (Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine) drop dark hints of closure.

There aren't any belly laughs in Rev., but that doesn't matter as there are plenty of smiles, because it's that rarity, a good-hearted sitcom without guile or meanness. Adam is a genial pragmatist (except when it comes to fixing the church's dangerously faulty wiring), devout, of course, but without any of that off-putting zeal. He wants to improve his community's grim children's playground and launches a fundraising campaign with the local imam (Fonejacker Kayvan Novak).

All of Rev's great characters are back, notably the terrifying Archdeacon (Simon McBurney) and the decrepit Colin (Steve Evets).

Series 3 gets off to a quite unforgettable start tonight as we witness the sudden birth of Adam and Alex's baby daughter in the back of a black cab. But what will burn this scene forever into your memory is the unlikely member of the cast who has the honour of acting as midwife.

Fast forward several months and while Adoha and Colin (Ellen Thomas and Steve Evets) are both desperate to be godparents to baby Katie there's a much less welcome arrival in the shape of two church officials.

The new area dean and diocesan secretary (the great double act of Joanna Scanlan and Vicki Pepperdine) will put the future of St Saviour's in doubt. Adam (Tom Hollander) has to go all out to convince them that his church is thriving, even if it struggles to achieve even a tenth of the turnout of the nearby mosque. So he teams up with the local imam (Fonejacker's Kayvan Novak) to raise funds to pay for a children's playground.

Apart from that terrific opening set piece, Rev isn't a comedy that tends to go in for grand gestures, preferring instead for the humour to bubble up gently from the depth of its wildly assorted characters ranging from Archdeacon Robert (Simon McBurney) at the top all the way down to Mick (Jimmy Akingbola).

Aw, I want to pull Rev into a warm embrace; it's such a kind, sweet, life-affirming programme and this final episode in the series (a Christmas special is on its way) is just fuzzy with goodness.

You'll even end up feeling sympathy for the something-of-the-night-about-him Archdeacon (Simon McBurney) when he admits to a big secret about his personal life. Hint: Adam and Nigel spot him choosing a bed with a handsome friend called Richard (guest star James Purefoy). Which could put an end to the Archdeacon's dreams of becoming Bishop of Stevenage.

There is a rare moment of accord between the Archdeacon and Adam (Tom Hollander), who has much to contemplate. His unhappy wife Alex (luminous Olivia Colman) has gone on a walking holiday to think about their future. Such is our emotional connection with these people, you'll be willing their marriage not to fail.

There are further un-Christian goings-on in the east London parish tonight in this gentle comedy that never fails to hit the spot. Lay reader Nigel (Miles Jupp) grabs an opportunity to prove he'd be a better priest than Reverend Adam Smallbone (Tom Hollander) while Archdeacon Robert (Simon McBurney) tries to climb further up the greasy pole. The mild-mannered Adam, meanwhile, ponders his future.

The Archdeacon (Simon McBurney) is hovering like a big grey owl because there's a glaring hole in church accounts and he's ready to exact retribution - on hapless vicar Adam Smallbone, of course.

But it looks like there could be a ready-made solution to St Saviour's problems - the arrival of a wealthy City financier (played by Richard E Grant). He's at church to attend a meeting of Alcoholics Anonymous. But Adam's thoughts are elsewhere after yet another encounter with the hopeless, forever-cadging Mick. He's the homeless fella who routinely turns up on the vicarage doorstep to scrounge £20. But this week he has a much bigger request, forcing Adam to take a huge risk.