The New Pope
Sky Atlantic

Into the hectic life of the television reviewer there occasionally arrives a programme that is just not that reviewer’s cup of tea. The New Pope, for me, is that. I tried not to approach Paolo Sorrentino’s sequel to his 2017 series, The Young Pope, with too many preconceptions – but I didn’t like his much-lauded film, The Great Beauty. That was a surreal, dreamlike canter through the decadence of wealthy Italians but even rooftop swimming pools full of flamingos didn’t stop me nodding off.

Sorrentino’s Pope dramas, both “Young” and “New”, are also surreal and dreamlike – so if that’s the kind of thing that floats your boat, then you will probably like them more than I did. There are certainly some lovely visuals: a panoply of cardinals, all in their red of course (no dressing-down in a Sorrentino flick), for example, meeting for a secret conclave in what looks like a bamboo grove; glimpses of red among slender green stems – gorgeous. But then, the way I see it, so is beautiful wallpaper.