BBC One Unveils Winter Schedule

LONDON, December 4: A co-production with HBO that retells
the last week in the life of Jesus Christ is one of the key titles on BBC One’s
winter schedule, unveiled today by acting controller, Roly Keating.

The Passion, produced
in association with HBO and Deep Indigo, is penned by Frank Deasy (Prime
Suspect 7) and produced by Bleak
House’s Nigel Stafford-Clark. Set to be
stripped across Easter week, wrapping up on Easter Sunday, the drama event is
set in the city of Jerusalem and stars Joseph Mawle as Jesus. Other cast
members include James Nesbitt, Paul Nicholls, Ben Daniels, Laura Fraser, Denis
Lawson and David Oyelowo. Announcing the production today, Stafford-Clark
noted: "The Passion is a
gripping, multi-stranded dramatization of not just the most familiar but
arguably the greatest story ever told. Both truthful and simple, it gives it
back to the audience in a way that will feel as fresh, contemporary and
surprising as if it were happening for the first time."

Keating noted: “The Passion will tell the story of Jesus Christ from three different points of
view, with all the key characters intimately characterized, and will be played
out over one week to create a compelling viewing experience."

The Passion is a key
offering on the new schedule, which, Keating said, “reflects a confident and
innovative channel, with some big names and bold commissions.”

Among the other lead drama offerings is The No. 1 Ladies'
Detective Agency, from Richard Curtis and
Anthony Minghella and based on the best-selling novel by Alexander McCall
Smith. Filmed in Botswana, it stars singer and actress Jill Scott.

Also on the schedule are Sense and Sensibility, Andrew Davies’ new adaptation of the classic Jane
Austen tale, as well as a take on Flora Thompson's Lark Rise To
Candleford, a memoir of her Oxfordshire
childhood at the end of the 19th century, seen through the eyes of a teenage
girl.

Ashes To Ashes is the
next chapter in the life of Gene Hunt, the brash detective in Life On
Mars, which is set in 1981. And Kiss
of Death is a new two-part crime drama.
Other drama highlights include Mistresses, The Last Enemy, Apparitions and Miss Nightingale, telling the story of a critical time in the life of
Florence Nightingale.

On the factual end, meanwhile, Sir David Attenborough offers
Life In Cold Blood, featuring footage of
wild rattlesnakes hunting, anacondas giving birth underwater, a male frog
'giving birth', a mother caiman leading her crèche of babies to safety and
semaphoring Panamanian Golden Frogs. In addition, Meet The Immigrants is a six-part observational documentary following
the stories of migrants living and working in Britain today, while Pope
John Paul II—The War Years is the
story of the five years that transformed the life of Karol Wojtyla and set him
on the path to the Vatican.

Saturday nights will feature a new entertainment show, The
One And Only, hosted by Graham Norton. This
series features tribute acts vying for viewers' votes in order to win a
three-month performing contract in Las Vegas with Legends In Concert, one of
the world's longest-running celebrity impersonator shows.

—By Mansha Daswani