The Passion (TV serial)

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The Passion
Genre Religious drama
Running time 3 hours
Written by Frank Deasy
Directed by Michael Offer
Produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark
Starring See below
Country of origin United Kingdom
Language English
Original channel BBC One
Original run 16 March 2008 – 23 March 2008
No. of episodes Four

The Passion is a British television serial produced by the BBC and HBO in association with Deep Indigo Productions, telling the story of the last week in the life of Jesus. The drama is produced by Nigel Stafford-Clark in a similar format to his successful 2005 adaptation of Charles Dickens's Bleak House. It was screened in the UK by BBC One in March 2008.

Contents

[edit] Story and format

See also: Passion (Christianity)

The serial was screened over four nights during Holy Week, beginning with an hour-long episode on Palm Sunday, a half-hour episode on Monday, an hour-long episode on Good Friday, and finally a half-hour ending with the resurrection of Jesus on Easter Sunday. The first three episodes were repeated in an "omnibus"-style edition on Easter Sunday, prior to the concluding edition. Three separate points of view were presented—those of Jesus, the Romans and the High Priest Caiaphas and his colleagues.[1]

[edit] Palm Sunday

In the first hour long episode, Jesus's arrival in Jerusalem causes a stir among the Jews. The Romans are having to deal with a small rebellion and the High Priest wants to be rid of Jesus, since he is causing a disturbance and challenging his authority.

[edit] Monday

In the second, half hour episode, the High Priest Caiaphas calls a council to determine how Jesus should be dealt with after he is overheard mocking the Temple, and his fate is sealed.

[edit] Good Friday

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Further information might be found on the talk page or at requests for expansion.

The third, hour-long episode related the events from the Last Supper to the Crucifixion.

[edit] Easter Sunday

The final, half hour episode features the Resurrection of Jesus, the sightings of him by Mary Magdalene and others, and his departure from the disciples after impressing upon Peter the importance of spreading his word. Caiaphus' wife gives birth to a son, and Pilate and his wife return to Rome.

[edit] Production

Former controller of BBC One Peter Fincham announced the drama in April 2006 as a continuation of the successful half-hour format adopted by Bleak House in the previous year.[2] Nigel Stafford-Clark, who also produced Bleak House, planned to tell the story of The Passion not, as so often, as though it happened in a vacuum, but firmly rooted in the tangled, vivid world in which it took place.[3] Frank Deasy, who wrote the seventh installment of the Prime Suspect canon, was contracted to write the drama, based on him understanding how Stafford-Clark wanted to produce it. The serial had a £4 million budget attached and was filmed on location in Ouarzazte and Zagora, Morocco in late 2007.[1][4]

[edit] Reception

The series was generally well received. The main review in The Guardian of the first episode was positive, remarking "you could watch The Passion and totally forget that this story was central to a major world religion. And that's a good thing, I think."[5] However, another article in the paper, discussing UK television over Easter 2008, called it "a dramatisation so conventional and reverent that the only harrumphing angle the papers have been able to find has been the position of the hands on the crucifix".[6] The Independent commented that "only the most zealously dogmatic Christian could complain that it was irreverent",[7] The Telegraph 's review of the same episode praised the humanising of Pilate and Caiaphas, and felt Mawle's depiction of Jesus, despite not having the same "spell-binding effect as Robert Powell did in Jesus of Nazareth", nevertheless was "more appealingly human".[8] The Times praised "some nice touches", but was overall more critical, calling Mawle's portrayal of Jesus too "meek, mild and hangdog".[9]

Stephen Green, from Christian Voice, voiced disquiet over the series giving sympathetic portrayals to Caiaphas and Pilate, though press reactions found this unjustified.[10]

[edit] Cast

  • At the Temple[13]
    • Denis Lawson - Annas
    • John Lynch - Sagan
    • Ben Caplan - Yehuda
    • Laura Fraser - Abigail
    • Laila El Mrabti - Caiaphas' daughter
    • Simon Kassianides - Temple guard
    • Munir Khairdin - Second Temple guard
    • Elif Yeşil - Nita, Caiaphas' servant
  • Romans[14]
    • Esther Hall - Claudia
    • Mark Lewis Jones - Marcus
    • Roger Ashton-Griffiths - Syrian prefect
    • Martin Hutson - Pilate's secretary
    • Gerard Monaco - Capito
    • Robin Floriant - Rufus, tax collector
    • Karim Doukkali - Garrison Centurion
    • David Maybrick - First Roman soldier
    • Ross O'Hennessy - Second Roman soldier
    • Matthew Flynn - Third Roman soldier
    • Driss Roukhe - Roman soldier at procession
    • El Housseine Dejjiti - Centurion at bakery
    • Mohammed Taleb - Robe centurion
    • Mansour Badri - Roman sergeant at Golgotha
  • People in Jerusalem[15]
    • Stephen Graham - Barabbas
    • Johnny Harris - Asher
    • Daniel Catlagirone - Eban
    • Richard Katz - Money changer
    • Gary Pillai - Merchant
    • Peter Sullivan - Lawyer
    • Rene Zagger - Bird seller
    • Kiran Shah - Jude
    • Mercedes Grower - Neta
    • David Rubin - Pilgrim
    • Jamila El Haouni - Widow
    • Nadia Sadik - Screaming woman
    • Abderrahim Moustaid - Simon the Leper
    • Abdelouahed Sanouji - Young baker
    • Mustapha Jamal - Unhappy butcher
    • El Jirari Ben Aissa - Simon of Cyrene
    • Craig Parkins - Man at tomb
    • Barnaby Kay - Man on road to Emmaus

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b Brown, Maggie. "From Prime Suspect to The Passion: Deasy tackles last week in life of Christ", Media Guardian, 2006-07-07. Retrieved on 2007-11-06. 
  2. ^ Thomas, Liz. "BBC plans big budget Jesus drama", The Stage, 2006-04-26. Retrieved on 2007-11-06. 
  3. ^ BBC Press Office (2007-12-04). "BBC One and BBC Drama present a new production of the story of The Passion for Easter 2008". Press release. Retrieved on 2007-12-04.
  4. ^ Staff writer. "Morocco's south stage to Michael Offer's 'Passion' TV serial", Maghreb Arab Press, 2007-09-20. Retrieved on 2007-11-06. 
  5. ^ Wollaston, Sam. "The weekend's TV", The Guardian, 17 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  6. ^ Lawson, Mark. "TV matters", The Guardian, 20 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  7. ^ Sutcliffe, Thomas. "Weekend TV", The Independent, 20 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  8. ^ Walton, James. "Last night on television", The Telegraph, 20 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  9. ^ Billen, Andrew. "Weekend TV", The Times, 20 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  10. ^ Sutcliffe, Thomas. "Weekend TV", The Independent, 20 March 2008. Retrieved on 2008-03-21. 
  11. ^ BBC - The Passion - Actors. Retrieved on 2008-03-22
  12. ^ BBC - The Passion - Actors. Retrieved on 2008-03-22
  13. ^ BBC - The Passion - Actors. Retrieved on 2008-03-22
  14. ^ BBC - The Passion - Actors. Retrieved on 2008-03-22
  15. ^ BBC - The Passion - Actors. Retrieved on 2008-03-22
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[edit] External links