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Fern Britton lined up to present Preston Passion
The BBC has confirmed it is to stage a retelling of the Easter Passion story in Preston to celebrate the city’s Guild year.
It has lined up Fern Britton as the presenter of "a contemporary and dramatic re-telling" of the Passion story.
It will feature a combination of live performance and pre-recorded drama.
Britton will anchor the event on Good Friday (April 6), while introducing three short pre-recorded dramas, which will be shown simultaneously on a big screen in Preston and on BBC One.
The BBC is planning to involve 3,500 local residents as performers and spectators.
In addition to local choirs singing traditional Easter music, crowds will form "human crosses".
It will also involve contemporary dance and local brass band music. And, to close the performance, M People’s Heather Small will sing the Candi Staton classic, You Got The Love.
Britton said: “I am delighted to be such a key part of The Preston Passion. I am sure the programme will be a brilliant experience for both BBC One viewers and residents of Preston alike.”
Aaqil Ahmed, commissioning editor Religion and Head of Religion & Ethics, said: “I am really proud of this unique partnership with Preston Guild and BBC North which has enabled us to deliver a contemporary take on the universal story of the Passion, which will be brought live to BBC One audiences.
"This stand-out programme is the centre piece of our religious output this Easter and promises to not only be must see television, but also offers local residents a once in a lifetime opportunity to volunteer to become part of this fantastic live event.”
The three 13-minute pre-recorded dramas are the culmination of detailed research into the history of Preston and its community undertaken by the writers Colin Heber-Percy and Lyall Watson (Casualty 1909, BBC One).
Directed by Daniel Wilson (32 Brinkburn Street, Land Girls) and entitled Pilate, Mary and Jesus the three dramas are inspired by the themes of the Passion Of Christ and are based on the real lives of Preston residents. All three dramas will be filmed in Preston and the North West of England in the coming weeks.
The Preston Passion follows similar performances in Manchester and Port Talbot.
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Cold dead eyes of a killer, that one. Don't mess.
Could have been a lot worse...Ferne Cotton !!!!!!!!!!!!
All I can say is thank fook it's only every 20 years....
Still bitter about Fern's gastric band I see.
Christ...low-brow hardly begins to describe this. For the lack of a rod in their back, the BBC plunges downmarket to make it "ACCESSIBLE". Maybe one day they will have the courage to tell a very simple and powerful story - simply. A faux-intellectual, smug, self-satisfied jerk off of the worst sort that will satisfy no-one except the box tickers in Salford. I sincerely hope it rains on them.