Smithsonian Channel Sets Premiere for The Real Jesus of Nazareth

NEW YORK: Marking the 40th anniversary of the 1977 miniseries Jesus of Nazareth, Smithsonian Channel has slated for Easter Sunday the debut of a four-part series that explores the true story of the man who inspired Christianity.

The Real Jesus of Nazareth will debut on Smithsonian Channel on Easter Sunday, April 16, at 8 p.m. The program features British actor Robert Powell, who played Jesus in the 1977 miniseries from Italian filmmaker Franco Zeffirelli, as he travels to the Holy Land to seek out clues about the historical figure. The Real Jesus of Nazareth combines scenes from the landmark series with Powell’s journey throughout modern Israel, where he meets archaeologists and scholars who help him reconstruct the story of Jesus.

The first hour of the series, The Real Jesus of Nazareth: The Lost Years, will explore Jesus’s early life. The second episode, The Ministry Begins, will air immediately after and will focus on Jesus’s baptism by John the Baptist and other key events in his life. The final two hours of the series, From Galilee to Jerusalem and The Final Days, will air on Monday, April 17 starting at 8 p.m.

The Real Jesus of Nazareth is produced by Impossible Factual for Smithsonian Networks. Executive producers for Impossible Factual are Jonathan Drake and Steve Maher. John Cavanagh, Charles Poe and David Royle serve as executive producers for Smithsonian Channel.