God On Trial: a new 90-minute drama for 91Èȱ¬ÌýTwo – Wednesday 3 September 2008, 9.00-10.30pm
Introduction
God On Trial is a 90-minute drama for 91Èȱ¬ Two written by Frank
Cottrell Boyce (Welcome To Sarajevo, Hilary And Jackie, 24 Hour
Party People), his first television project in ten years.
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Cottrell Boyce's script takes as a starting point the story that
prisoners in Auschwitz, their faith tested by their suffering and
the barbarity of the Nazis, put God on trial.
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In the drama the
charge is that God has broken his covenant with his chosen people
to protect and care for them; the trial takes place in a camp
blockhouse over the course of one day around a selection of those
prisoners who are going to be taken to the gas chamber.
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Cottrell Boyce is one of this country's most versatile and prolific
screen writers, with a career that includes spells on both
Brookside and Coronation Street, five films with director Michael
Winterbottom, including The Claim and A Cock And Bull Story, and
Millions for Danny Boyle.
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God On Trial stars Sir Antony Sher – best known as an Olivier Award-winning stage actor but also nominated for a BAFTA for Best Actor for Primo on 91Èȱ¬ Four – Rupert Graves (The Forsyte Saga, Charles II),
Jack Shepherd (The Golden Compass, A Cock And Bull Story,
Wycliffe), Stephen Dillane (The Cazalets, The Hours), Dominic
Cooper (Mamma Mia, Sense And Sensibility, The History Boys),
celebrated Swedish actor Stellan Skarsgard (Mamma Mia, Pirates Of
The Caribbean, Good Will Hunting, Breaking The Waves), Lorcan
Cranitch (Cracker, Ballykissangel, Rome), Rene Zagger (The Bill,
Rome), Eddie Marsan (The Illusionist, Pierrepoint, Vera Drake) and
Blake Ritson (Mansfield Park, The Commander).
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Executive Producer Mark Redhead comments: "With the attacks of
September 11 and the Iraq war, religion is now centre-stage in a
way that has not occurred before in my lifetime; extraordinary
atrocities are being committed in the name of God, while natural
calamities and man-made disasters claim thousands of lives every
year.
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"God On Trial is set in an extreme situation, but it wrestles
with the great questions we all ask ourselves: how can there be so
much suffering in the world, and what kind of a god could let such
things happen?
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"God On Trial attempts to look at some of the most
perplexing metaphysical issues, but it is also a drama about what
keeps the human spirit alive even when faced with the worst
suffering and impending death."
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God On Trial was filmed on location in Glasgow over a two-week period.
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The director is Andy de Emmony (Filth: The Mary Whitehouse Story;
Recovery, Fantabulosa!), the producer is Jemma Rodgers (Wedding
Belles, Murphy's Law) and the Executive Producers are Mark Redhead
(Bodies, Fairy Tales, Bloody Sunday) and 91Èȱ¬ Scotland Head of Drama
Anne Mensah.
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God On Trial was commissioned by 91Èȱ¬ Fiction
Controller Jane Tranter and Roly Keating, Controller of 91Èȱ¬ Two.
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It is a Hat Trick production for 91Èȱ¬ Scotland.
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