It concerns the realisation of humble video store worker Steve Baxter (played by Christopher Eccleston) that he is in fact the Son of God, and has just a few days to find the human race's Third Testament and thus avert the Apocalypse.

Davies and Red's founder Nicola Shindler took the project to the BBC, who quickly turned it down; it found a home on ITV, a channel that had gained a reputation for producing mainstream, unchallenging, "middle-of-the-road" drama in recent years.

[1] Screened over two successive evenings in prime time on Sunday and Monday, 9–10 February 2003, The Second Coming gained viewing figures of over six million.

Steve escapes and decides to indicate he is really the son of God to humanity by turning night into day over the football stadium at Maine Road, advertising the feat on the internet and attracting the attention of the world's media.

He states that humanity needs to start taking responsibility for their actions, and that everyone, regardless of their religion or origin, needs to begin again and forget past conflicts.

There is also media frenzy surrounding the events, especially after a tape is leaked of Steve saying that the world will end if the testament is not found, and he is taken into police protection.

Also during this time Judy and Steve's relationship grows deeper, and they have sex.Steve himself has no idea what the third testament will be; he receives too many candidates to figure out which one is the real one.

Judy, who is filmed 24 hours a day by cameras from the world's media around her house, makes spaghetti and laces it with rat poison, but announces this to Steve before presenting it to him.

Steve is persuaded by Judy that he must die, and moreover make it permanent (in the sense of ceasing to exist rather than returning to heaven), so that humanity fights for itself rather than relying on the evils of fundamentalism.

An earlier draft of the script features a twist ending in which Judy is married to Steve, who has simply given up his divinity and become human again, with only her recognising him.

However, Davies was advised against ending the story this way by his friend and fellow writer Paul Abbott, who felt that it cheated the audience.

[1] Davies originally conceived the idea for the programme while on a car journey from Manchester to Liverpool with his friend, the television producer Tony Wood.

[3] The Second Coming has also been shown in other countries – BBC America broadcast the drama in the United States in late 2003; it has also been seen in Canada on Showcase, in Australia on the ABC, and in New Zealand by TVNZ.

The Observer newspaper's reviewer, Kathryn Flett, said that "the boldness of the subject matter was complemented by a script of considerable depth and humour, and there were performances of Bafta-grabbing brilliance from everybody involved".

"[5] Writing in The Guardian to preview the drama before it aired, Mark Lawson said that: "Transmuting different genres like wine made from water — comedy into romance into thriller — Eccleston, Sharp, Davies and his director Adrian Shergold have created a world in which it soon ceases to seem odd that God chose Manchester.

"[6] Commenting on the US showing on BBC America, New York Magazine reviewer John Leonard called it "...an interesting argument about the cost benefits of the possible death of God.