This phenomenally darker, third (and possibly final) series ended, as was mete, on a hanging note of cochineal bittersweet. Tom Hollander's Adam has pretty much lost the parish but regained a few friendships: friendships he didn't particularly want in the first place - archdeacon Rob, and lovely archfiend Colin (Steve Evets), than whom few supporting characters in a "sitcom" have ever been more subtly drawn or well portrayed. But their dogged belief in him, now reciprocated with genuine warmth, has been one of the many lessons on our journey through Rev, and at times it's been a gruelling one. Crucially, of course, he's regained the forgiving friendship of his wife, Alex: Olivia Colman, of course, with that trainstopping smile. "You just stopped being a vicar for Lent."

Never twee, always in surgeon-skilled hands, and it would be a crime greater than all those above [cop shows previously mentioned in the review] not to have someone thinking furiously about the machinations required to get Adam back to our screens for a fourth series.

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.

Godless TV series Rev shows BBC's bias - minister

A free Church of Scotland minister has claimed popular BBC comedy Rev reveals the corporation's "anti-Christian agenda".

Praising at the altar of Rev

Why does a religious sitcom work so well for atheists? Rev is most definitely a sitcom about a vicar, and isn't afraid to get into matters of prayer and the Bible. Somehow, it presents a nuanced view of faith while still being funny.

Rev, the brilliant TV comedy that undermines the church

The hit comedy about an Anglican vicar is a secular take on the sacred, and fails to say anything about belief.

Dark days for the remaining St Saviour in the Marshes parishioners as the church doors close for the final time, leaving Adam without a job. Despite his slipshod attempts to keep the balance sheets in check, he sets his sights on a career in managerial consulting. With his hardy band of congregants left without a vicar and a place of worship, it remains to be seen whether Adam can really discard his vocation and parishioners like a dirty cassock. Does this spell the end for the endlessly comforting comedy series?

Radio Times review

If you thought tormented vicar Adam Smallbone couldn't fall any lower than he did in the last upsetting episode, think again. Adam (Tom Hollander) is debased to the point of hopelessness. He's listless and depressed, and pretends that he doesn't mind being suspended. Who wants to be a vicar anyway, he asks his forbearing wife, Alex, unconvincingly.

Adam feels cut off and alone. Even decrepit Colin has turned on him in the most vituperative way, and his verger, Nigel, the cause of all the trouble, is angry and unrepentant.

As Adam frantically gardens at night, it is clear, in the final episode of the series, that nothing can ever be the same again. It's too, too sad. Much too sad.

Shoreditch church that inspired 'Rev' faces bankruptcy

St Leonard's Church, in Shoreditch, is the real life location used in the comedy but the desperate state of its finances caused by a dwindling congregation could mean closing its doors for good.

How Rev went from sitcom heaven to bleak hell

Rev devotees don't want this; we watch Rev because of its kindness and its imperfect view of an imperfect world. We don't watch to feel despair and helplessness.

Let us pray that that's not it, for ever and ever, for Rev. It may not be the most original, or roll-in-the-aisle-laughing hilarious (I was closer to tears in this one). But it's touching and smart, very human and immensely likable. Amen.