BBC to retell Jesus Christ's last week

The BBC is to retell the story of Jesus Christ's last week in The Passion, an HBO co-production to be shown next year.

Joseph Mawle will play Jesus in the production, starring alongside James Nesbitt, Paul Nicholls, Ben Daniels, Laura Fraser, Denis Lawson and David Oyelowo. Bleak House's Nigel Stafford-Clark will produce the series, which will be stripped across Easter week on BBC One.

"The Passion is a gripping, multi-stranded dramatisation of not just the most familiar but arguably the greatest story ever told," said Stafford-Clark. "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."

In addition to Jesus' point of view, the story will also be told from the view of the religious authorities and the Romans.

"Challenging and bold programming and scheduling that you would only find on the BBC, The Passion is an example of BBC Drama's commitment to deliver ambitious and distinctive projects," BBC Fiction controller Jane Tranter said. "It is a privilege to be making such a major piece of drama from the brilliant Frank Deasy, directed by Michael Offer with an amazing cast.

"We are delighted to be collaborating once again with HBO, continuing our strong creative relationship which has seen us working together on many projects, most recently Five Days, Stuart: A Life Backwards and Einstein And Eddington."