A new miniseries titled The Bible has begun airing on the History Channel. The show premiered on Sunday March 3, and subsequent episodes will air each Sunday in March, with the last episode coming on March 31, also known as Easter Sunday.
The series is being produced by Mark Burnett and his wife, Roma Downey. Burnett is best-known for network reality TV shows such as Survivor, and Downey found fame in the 90s for playing an Angel in the series Touched by an Angel.
According to The Bible‘s website, the show will depict dramatizations of some of the best-known stories from the bible, including Noah’s ark, the Israelites’ exodus, and the birth of Jesus. The role of adult Jesus in the series will be played by Portuguese actor Diogo Morgado.
Despite being on the History Channel, The Bible will not be an examination of the historicity of the Christian bible. Instead, the series is a docu-drama based on various popular stories from the book. Also, some of the stories depicted have been altered to “create a moving story” within the series’ time constraints.
Rather than historical documentaries and research, the History Channel in recent years has been characterized by its pseudoscientific programming, such as Ancient Aliens, and reality TV shows such as Ax Men and Pawn Stars.