The Bible: will it be a ratings miracle for Channel 5? Photograph: Joe Alblas/AP
It is better known for Celebrity Big Brother and documentaries featuring very long trucks, but Channel 5 will also be home this autumn to a sweeping 10-hour epic, The Bible.
Richard Desmond’s channel announced on Monday it had bought the rights to the show made by Mark Burnett, previously better known for shows such as reality hit Survivor and The Voice.
A big-budget glossy epic, The Bible was a surprise ratings hit in the US this Easter with more than 13 million viewers on The History Channel, one of its biggest-ever shows.
Producers claimed during the making of the show that it had been struck by mysterious omens which indicated the “hand of God”, including a sudden swarm of snakes.
It remains to be seen whether it works any ratings miracles for Channel 5.
The Bible, which stars Diogo Morgado as Jesus, devotes five hours to the Old Testament, and five hours to the new, with a mix of live action and computer generated imagery. It is billed as a production that “tries to stay true to the spirit of the book”.
‘Jesus Christ Superstar’ the reality show: Bonkers or brilliant?
In the finale of every episode of Andrew Lloyd Webber‘s last reality show – BBC One’s ‘Hunt for a Dorothy’ series Over the Rainbow – the failed stage hopefuls were forced to hand back their ruby slippers to Webber and were slowly lifted off the stage delivering a (usually teary) version of ‘Over the Rainbow’.
During Webber’s hunt for a Dorothy, speculation on the Digital Spyforums grew about what musical the West End composer would cast for next. After having money-spinning hits with Maria, Joseph and Nancy, future series were inevitable, but the list of potential shows appeared to be shortening.
The possibility of Webber resurrecting (see what we did there) his Broadway rock opera Jesus Christ Superstar was often thrown around as a joke. The possibility of Webber uttering the lines, ‘you could still be Jesus’/’you are not Jesus’/’you’re more of a Judas than a Jesus’/’do you think you have what it takes to be Jesus?’ sounded hilarious, but unrealistic. Surely the BBC wouldn’t risk making a TV show about finding someone to play Jesus Christ. The Daily Mail would nail them to the cross (see what we did there) for it.
The BBC opted not to take such a gamble, but ITV1 has. Webber has launched his search todayfor “a new Jesus”, who will star in an updated arena tour of his popular stage hit.
Dont forget this weeks Christmas Special is on Tuesday this week – so dont sit down to watch it on BBC2 on the Thursday… unless you like the look of “The Young Victoria”..?
