Yearning is a lost art. In today's world, keeping people apart for passion to grow is challenging. Once formidable obstacles—distance, marriage, hidden sexualities—no longer suffice. Religion, however, offers a new barrier: the love between a nun and a priest bound by celibacy. Catholicism provides this, along with guilt about sex even for non-clergy.
In Falling, written by Jack Thorne, Keeley Hawes plays Anna, a nun who took vows 20 years ago and has lived a sheltered life under abbess Francesca (Niamh Cusack). Paapa Essiedu portrays Father David, a dynamic young priest striving to transform lives in Easton, a deprived Bristol area. The series feels odd from the start, largely because neither character speaks or acts like an adult human being. Anna, a nun who regularly shops and delivers produce from the convent garden, lacks consistency. David, a priest immersed in the real world, seems equally unrealistic. When a grocer compliments Anna's crops, she replies, "YOU are lovely, Graham! THESE are vegetables!" This exchange epitomizes the inauthenticity pervading the romantic storyline.
Thorne, known for heavy state-of-the-nation works like This Is England and dramas on disability rights, the pandemic, and misogyny (Adolescence), seems unsure of his emotional ground or religious life. Rarely do Anna and David's moments ring true. Their first touch occurs when she burns herself cooking for him; he helps her run her hand under a tap. This is enough for her to leave the convent, catch a bus to his church, and confess her love: "I have never felt the way you make me feel!" David replies, "Does the convent know you're here?" looking like a deer caught in headlights for three episodes before an unconvincing volte-face. Anna moves in with parishioner Muriel (Rakie Ayola) and quickly adapts to secular life with a haircut, long-sleeved T-shirts, and shaved legs. The abbess mentions formal deconsecration, but the narrative skips this.
Anna's behavior toward David is unreasonable; Thorne conflates naivety with infantilism, offering neither consistency nor relatability. David's backstory and sorrow are revealed piecemeal, as he clashes with Bishop Peter (Jason Watkins), who prefers funding underfloor heating over needle exchanges or food banks. The series jars frequently, despite talented actors, preventing yearning, romance, or passion from flourishing. The question of breaking vows is barely addressed, as if outside Thorne's comfort zone.
However, around the edges—David helping a troubled teenager, witnessing a daughter's pain during last rites, handling past problems, and his fractious yet loving relationship with sister Susan (Sophie Stone)—Thorne returns to form on steadier ground. The rest is a swing and a miss, but Thorne will return with something better soon. Falling airs on Channel 4.
