TV and RADIO
Elizabeth Bano
TELEVISION and radio programme planners have acknowledged Holy Week by slipping a number of religious programmes into the schedules. These range from Jesus, a major drama series on Radio 4, in which Jesus and the Galileans all have Yorkshire accents, to daily broadcasts of Peter Barkworth narrating St Matthews Gospel, on BBC!.
St Matthew's Gospel, 12.20 p.m. BBC', March 24. Peter Barkworth narrates "The Gospel According to St Matthew" in a series of seven daily programmes beginning today and ending on Easter Sunday. It was filmed entirely on location in Israel and among the places visited are the Wilderness of Judea, the Sea of Galilee, the Mount of Olives and Jerusalem.
Edward Elgar: The Apostles, 7.30 pm, Radio 3 March 24. The first of two Elgar oratorios to be broadcast for Holy Week. The concert comes from the Royal Festival Hall with the Philharmonic Chorus, Royal College of Music Girls' Chorus and Philharmonic ...Orchestra conducted by Andrew Davis.
Jesus, 2 pm, Radio 4 March 25. A four-part dramatisation (broadcast Tuesday to Friday) of some of the main events of the Gospel narrative set against the turbulent social, religious and political background of the time. To highlight the importance of regional differences in the story, Jesus and the Galileans speak with Yorkshire accents and the Romans with Southern accents. Patrick Troughton plays Caiphas, Michael Deason is Herod and Brian Glover takes the part of Malachi, a blind beggar.
Choral Evensong, 4 pm, Radio 3 March 25. Choral Evensong for the Wednesday of Holy Week comes direct from Guildford Cathedral. Brainwaves, 7.45 pm, Radio 4 March 25. This current affairs programme on education looks at religion in schools.
Encounter, 2 pm, ITV Sunday March 23. The story of Michele Guinness's conversion from Judaism to Christianity. Songs of Praise, 6.40 pm, BBC! March 23. The Catholic Cathedral of Christ the King in Liverpool is the setting for a special Palm Sunday programme. In Praise of God for Passiontide, 8.30 pm, Radio 4 March 23. A programme of music and readings devised and presented by Dom Henry Wansborough, biblical scholar and editor of the New Jerusalem Bible. Hidden Glory, II pm, Radio 4 March 23. Final episode of Richard Harries series on C S Lewis.
All Stations to the Cross, 10.30 am, Radio 4 Monday March 24. This series of talks by Robert Foxcroft will be broadcast at the same time each morning from Monday to Friday. The speaker compares our pilgrimage through life to an old-fashioned train journey destination unknown but with serious encounters and hazards on the way. Daily Service, 10.45 am, Radio 4. For the first time the Daily Service (from Monday, March 24 to Friday March 28) is broadcast from the Chapel of Lambeth Palace. His Grace the Archbishop of Canterbury will lead the service on Monday and Saturday, his Special Adviser Terry Waite leads the service on Wednesday. Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius, 2 pm, Radio 3 March 27. The second of Elgar's oratorios to be broadcast on Radio 3 during Holy Week. Sir Adrian Boult conducts the London Philharmonic Choir, the John Alldis Choir and the New Philharmonic Orchestra. The Crucifixion, 7.55 pm, Radio 4 March 27. A repeat of Sir John Steiner's Meditation on the Passion of Jesus, first transmitted in 1984. Recorded in the Church of Holy Trinity, Brompton, it features the members of the BBC Symphony Chorus and BBC Chorals, conducted by Barry Rose.
Litany and AnteCommunion. 10 am, Radio 4 March 28. Live broadcast from Hereford Cathedral of the service of Litany and AnteCommunion, sung by the VicarChoral, the Rev Philip Barrett and the Cathedral Choir, Our Lady of SOITOWS. 12.30 pm, ITV March 28. Special Good Friday programme of music and reflection presented by Donald Reeves, rector of St James's, Piccadilly, London. In the Yorkshire Television area. The ten minute meditation before closedown will be presented by the Bishop of Leeds, The Right Rev David Konstant, during Holy Week.