I was pleased to see that Rory Bremner will be performing at the Courtyard in Hereford in a few weeks’ time.

Rory Bremner’s brand of humour has always appealed to me.

Similarly, I’ve been enjoying Tracey Ullman’s show on television. Satirical imitations of leading politicians and others provide an antidote to much that’s in the news that is sombre and depressing. With the aid of astonishing make-up, she has everyone from Angela Merkel to Dame Judi Dench absolutely right.

But what has also interested me in Tracey Ullman’s show has been her character who describes herself “as a Christian”. One writer has described this as “both faith-positive and offering a critique on the marginalisation of the faith in modern Britain.”

The character is a bright, successful woman, who gets on well until she says her catchphrase, “as a Christian”. That is a signal for everything to change and for her to be treated with contempt and described as “a bit weirdo”.

So, in one sketch she is having a very good interview and is about to be offered the job when she says “as a Christian” and it’s all put into reverse until she withdraws her application.

In another one, it’s a baptism in a church. Tracey Ullman is playing the part of a godmother and this time “as a Christian” alarms the parents to such an extent that they sack her as godmother. They make it clear that they weren’t seeing the baptism as a religious ceremony.

I must admit that to begin with I didn’t get the irony. I thought that Tracey Ullman was just having a go at Christians, but then the penny dropped: the joke is actually on those who are ridiculing the Christians. Unlikely as it may seem, Tracey Ullman is a modern defender of the faith.

One writer has said, reflecting on the Tracey Ullman show, “Lots of very normal, very likeable, intelligent people are Christians, yet British culture in 2017 has quietly branded us as nutters and weirdos.”

I think that is rather to overstate things – outside my own family I rarely feel branded in such a way. It’s important not to over-react: there are parts of the world where Christians are persecuted and killed for their faith.

But there is a serious point underlying Tracey Ullman’s sketches: you really can be a fully alive human being and be a Christian.