Director
Adrian Shergold

Writer
Russell T. Davies

Main credited cast
Stephen Baxter: Christopher Eccleston
Dave Morris: William Travis
Peter Gupta: Ahsen Bhatti
Judith Roach: Lesley Sharp
Fiona Morris: Annabelle Apsion
Chief Superintendent Lennard Chadwick: Peter Wright
Clive Saxon: John Henshaw
Eileen Saxon: Judith Barker
Frank Baxter: Peter Armitage
Father Dillane: Rory Kinnear
Johnny Tyler: Mark Benton
Jane Morris: Jazmine Franks


Russell T Davies is perhaps best known for writing ground-breaking and often controversial drama serials such as Queer as Folk and this one; The Second Coming. More recently, he has also been instrumental in the revival of Doctor Who and a the related, spin-off series Torchwood.

Stephen Baxter is an easygoing, lager-drinking, working class video-store assistant born and bred in Manchester. But after he disappears for forty days after a drunken night out with friends (during which same night he also shared a drunken kiss with his friend, Judy), he is found on Saddleworth Moor, claiming to be the Son of God returned to the mortality he departed some two thousand years earlier, to once more deliver a profoundly important message to humankind: he has just a few days to find the human race's Third Testament and thus avert the Apocalypse.

A clever, intriguing and well-acted drama, The Second Coming caused a fair amount of controversy when it was first broadcast on ITV in 2003, not least because of its ending (which we're not going to give away here): tune in to decide for yourself...


Synopsis

Part 1
When Steve Baxter, an ordinary Salford lad, disappears for forty days and then returns saying he's the Son of God, his mates fear for his sanity. Judith, an old friend who's on the point of realising that Steve means more to her than just friendship, tries to make him see sense. But Steve summons an internet army of believers, and goes to Maine Road football ground. There, he turns night into day, and the whole world witnesses the miracle. The media frenzy goes into meltdown and Steve is taken into custody for his own safety, but he uses a live television broadcast to make his decree - he demands that the human race writes its own Third Testament, to be delivered to him in five days time. But if God is real, then so is the Devil, and Judith finds herself in danger from sinister strangers, and the mysterious Johnny, as she struggles to believe what's happening. In the rising panic, the threat becomes clear. If the Third Testament can't be found, is the whole world damned..?

Part 2
With only twenty four hours to go before the Third Testament is broadcast, Judith, Pete and Frank become the new disciples and join Steve in custody. Judith admits that Steve has some sort of power, but still won't believe he's the Messiah. Testing him, she provokes Steve into declaring that, if mankind fails him, then Judgement Day is coming but the police station turns into a trap when Johnny's agents tape Steve's revelation. The threat of Judgement Day is broadcast worldwide. The streets erupt in panic and violence, and all Steve's friends suffer the consequences. And Johnny hasn't finished, preying on Frank's public shame and humiliation with shocking results. In the mayhem, Steve and Judith finally declare their love for each other, and Judith believes in him at last but is it too late? With the clock ticking towards Armageddon, the cities are abandoned and people wait in terror. Only Judith holds the key to the human race's survival, but she realises that faith demands the most terrible actions. Will she side with Steve or Johnny?