The Eroticism of the Church of England

There are really two Church of Englands. One is found in the headlines, and features women bishops and the privileges of establishment. The other is found on the streets, and features a flotilla of clergy, in parishes across the land, attempting to care, to preserve, to bless. If you ever go to church, it is striking how little the one has to do with the other. But it's this difference that BBC 2's new sitcom, Rev, appears to have realised and exploited to witty, and moving, effect.

Tom Hollander plays Adam Smallbone, new to a mixed London parish. And although the press previews wrote about the storyline in the first episode that concerned "school whores" – parents who appear in church to get little Sebastian or Sophie into the local church school – the element that struck me when I watched on Monday was the eroticism associated with priests.

Sex, and sexuality, featured a lot. There's the woman in the congregation who is rumoured to orgasm during good sermons. There's the slippery, local MP who imagines that Smallbone has women chasing him all the time. And then there's Smallbone's wife. When he comes on to her, at the end of the day, she retorts: "If you think you're going to shag me in your dog collar…", and advises him to go next door and bash the bishop

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