At first glance the publicity material for The Young Pope (starts 27 October with a double episode) does not inspire much confidence; it is that word “young” that jars. Lenny Belardo, played by Jude Law, is a 47-year-old American cardinal who is an unknown whippersnapper going into the papal conclave, but emerges as Pope Pius XIII.

As a scene setter, the idea of a rank outsider parachuted in to head the Catholic Church may be awash with plot lines and possibilities but, as every Catholic knows, popes, with the exception of John Paul II, get elected at an age when everyone else is collecting their pension.

Stop being pedantic, I tell myself as I settle into my seat to watch the first two episodes of Sky Atlantic’s glossy new 10-parter, set in a fictional current-day Vatican. And I have just about got there, as far as letting the minutiae go when, minutes in, the famously good- looking Law is trotting round the papal bedroom stark naked before reaching into his wardrobe for his white cassock as the camera lingers to capture the tableau. Suddenly I am anticipating a rom-com … but no, this is just the start of Italian writer and director Paolo Sorrentino’s masterclass in playing with his audience and their assumptions.