The premise of The Unchosen and casting of Christopher Eccleston created great hope. A cross between The Handmaid’s Tale and The Leftovers. The idea of a closed-off cult receiving an unexpected visitor. It even started with that potential being met. Partially deaf child Grace is saved from drowning by a mysterious man who suddenly disappears. Is he Jesus?

No. He’s a cross between the lead singer for Pearl Jam and Jon Snow. He also happens to be an escaped convict. The closed-off Christian community has strict rules around contact. No phones. No internet. No TV. And for Grace’s mum, no qualms about jumping into bed with the newcomer, Sam.

The strong start loses steam when the writers stop building suspense, drop impressive characters once they have been used as plot devices (Grace), and ask the audience not to apply logic or reason. It’s the same formula used for cheap, easy-to-read Kindle novellas.

People ask: who watches soaps nowadays? It must be the viewers who will find The Unchosen highbrow.

If it was genuinely trying to raise debate or awareness of any number of serious issues it touches upon, it fails in the cheap execution.

It has been set up for a second season. I have unchosen it from Netflix’s My List.

4/10