Imagine for a second that you're in church blissfully imbibing the word of the Lord via the lips of one of his cassocked flock. All of a sudden the preacher, a fleshy radio tower of Christian virtue, is struck by some type of space oddity and erupts into a sticky red mist.As a watching congregant, that sight would compel me to live a life of piety, because being blown into chucks by the physical manifestation of God's wrath is likely to be hell on the carpets.Opening with this scene, new television series Preachermakes an attention-grabbing first impression.Based on the ultra violent eponymous comic book series, the show tracks the life of a preacher (played by Dominic Cooper) from the American South who looks more like a young Colin Farrell stuffed into a cassock than any cleric you have ever met.As can be expected with such a disreputable-looking fellow, his evangelical powers are about as strong as a 65-year-old man's erection, and much like said erection when applied to a failing marriage, his heart is not in it.What follows is a hearty froth of violence, vampires and religious self-doubt, and in that sense Preacher is an interesting project.If you are not a comic book nut then there's a good chance that the last decent troubled pastor troupe you came across was Keanu Reeves in Constantine in 2005 (the 2014 television adaptation is best left unmentioned).Indeed, it seems to have been a while since someone successfully aimed a kick at the three-headed dog of religion, drugs and vampires in a church setting.So, expectations are high going into the show and, as we've come to expect from Hollywood, the results are an entertaining mix of neither here nor there.In the tradition of shows like Banshee, Preachertakes pride in the ridiculousness of its premise; in this case a space entity of some variety flying around Earth possessing religious spokesmen and causing some of them to explode and it has no problem with adding a complimentary side of goofiness to your main order of gratuitous violence.Sadly the series doesn't run a fine-toothed comb through the idea of religious belief, teasing the knots out. As a result Preacher is little more than a jaunty, violence-filled romp through the American South.You'll find no complex introspection here and perhaps that's a good thing. Sometimes television is just meant to be a collection of flickering images for you to ooh and ah at without taking on board some life-changing message. Preacher is filled with oohs and ahs and that is good enough for me. BOX POPSBAD EDUCATIONJack Whitehall plays England's most incompetent but most entertaining high school teacher. Perfect for anyone who liked The InBetweeners. - Available on NetflixROOTSBased on the book by Alex Haley, the iconic show that follows the story of a family's experience of slavery has been reimagined. - Wednesdays at 8:30pm on DStv channel 186RAY DONOVANThe ass-kicking male version of Olivia Pope is back with all his inner demons in tow. - Starts June 27 at 2am on DStv channel 102 - Yolisa Mkele..