BC News|March 04, 2013 06:01 EST
Meet Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, Producers of History Channel’s “The Bible” Miniseries
The first episode of History Channel's, "The Bible" miniseries aired Sunday, March 3rd 2013. The 10-hour docudrama will wrap its final episode on Easter, March 31st and will cover the book of Genesis to Revelation.
Roma Downey, Monica from "Touched by an Angel", and husband/"Survivor" and "Voice" producer Mark Burnett created and produced the show. Downey also plays Mary, mother of Jesus.
It was originally Downey's idea 4 years ago to make a miniseries based on the Bible. She suggested it to Burnett who was needless to say, a little shocked.
"Momentarily, I think he thought I'd lost my mind," Downey said of the day she suggested the idea. "He went out on his bicycle and he prayed on it and he came back and said, 'You know what, I think it's a good idea. I think we should do it together.' We shook hands and haven't looked back."
Burnett intended the show to help educate a generation of young people who aren't familiar with the Bible.
"In school, you have to know a certain amount of Shakespeare, but no Bible. So there's got to be a way to look at it from a pure literature point of view. If it wasn't for the Bible, arguably Shakespeare wouldn't have written those stories."
Spending half of 2012 Morocco overlooking the production, Downey never considered herself to play any of the roles onscreen. When they couldn't cast a suitable "Mary", she obliged, to the benefit of not only the project, but also the character. Most of the cast is not even based in America. Portuguese heartthrob Diogo Morgado plays Jesus Christ, while most of the other actors are more recognizable in the U.K.
With the first episode under their belt, critics are claiming the show is too breezy, casually passing through stories that viewers without a Bible-background may not understand. Essentially, good television doesn't always translate to informative Christian content.
All Burnett and Downey can hope for is to provoke viewers to study scripture for themselves. Unfortunately, "The Bible" miniseries may not have enough to capture the full measure of God's word.
