Seen on BBC America: 'The Passion'


By Larry Jaffee


There's life beyond EastEnders for at least two of the series' castmembers.

That's obvious to anyone who was lucky enough to catch the three-part BBC mini series The Passion, which appeared on BBC America this past spring.

Ostensibly a star vehicle for Paul Nicholls, whom we know as the troubled "Joe Wicks," The Passion also features a winning performance from Roberta Taylor, EastEnders' "Irene Hills."

The Passion deals with a rural theatre group that annually puts on the story of Jesus over the course of several days. Nicholls, apparently a drifter who never lets on where he come from, miraculously stumbles upon the group just as Taylor's character, the troupe's manager, is labouring over poor auditions for the title role. He lies about prior acting experience. Despite Nicholls' relative youth at 20, the company for the most part all agree that he looks the part.

Romantic sparks fly when Nicholls catches the eye of the 35-year-old costume designer, played by one of the best and most attractive actresses working in British film, Gina McKee, who made a big impression in Wonderland (about three sisters in London). McKee's character is happily married to a musician whom everyone likes, and also is mother to a teenage daughter. But something (i.e., maybe his good looks and body?) draws her to Nicholls, who, as it turns out, feels the same way (no big surprise). They first become friends, but the more time they spend with each other at the costume fittings, the more it becomes impossible for them to deny their lusty impulses. A particularly funny moment occurs when Nicholls tells McKee that he can't strip at the moment because he's not wearing underwear. Something tells me she wouldn't have minded if he did.

Nicholls' character is pretty much oblivious to the effect he has on the women in the town, much in the same way the actor is in real life. He told the Walford Gazette's Tim Wilson two years ago that he ignores all the press attention about him being a babe magnet: "I try not to read all that rubbish. It causes too much needless aggravation."

In The Passion, Taylor's character early on suspects that something might be happening between her "Jesus" and her costume designer. She says, "I was afraid of that." Well-cast as a surrogate mother to the company, Taylor attempts to keep everything together amid extreme adversity.

The Passion ends rather melodramatically, with a rehearsal of the crucifixion scene when a friend of McKee's character's husband really pounds a nail into Nicholls' hand to avenge the affair, which eventually is known to all in the village.

While somewhat predictable, The Passion does ably capture guilt over infidelity, and also the group dynamics at work in a small theatre group.

My only complaint is that The Passion didn't get to be seen by a bigger audience. I was only able to see it because someone who had taped it off BBC America and gave it to Esta Asteroff, who thought (rightly) I might want to borrow it.

I was also disappointed to find out that a soundtrack CD wasn't released even in the U.K. because The Passion features mesmerizing theme music that was reprised throughout the three segments when it went to commercial breaks.

Hopefully, The Passion will be repeated on BBC America, or better yet, picked up by PBS.




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