BBC celebrates Easter with religious programming across TV and radio

Published: 14 March 2018

This Easter we’re celebrating this most important date in the Christian calendar across the BBC, with an array of programmes that mark Easter as a special time to reflect and feel inspired.
— Fatima Salaria, Commissioner, Religion and Ethics

Central to this year’s Easter offering on TV will be thought-provoking journeys of discovery, with an all-star cast taking part in BBC Two’s new three-part travelogue Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago, as seven famous faces embark on the spiritual journey of a lifetime, reaching its final stretch on Good Friday. BBC One’s Painting the Holy Land, across Good Friday and Easter Sunday, explores key sites of Christianity through the eyes of artist Lachlan Goudie - as he packs his easel to illustrate how the Easter story has been represented over the ages.

These highlights will join the annual live Easter services from around the country, with Easter from the Chapel of Kings College; Songs of Praise from Bangor Cathedral; and Easter Day from Sheffield Cathedral, together with Pope Francis’ Easter Sunday Message and Blessing - Urbi et Orbi.

Meanwhile on BBC radio highlights include At the Foot of the Cross, an evening of music and reflection presented by Dan Walker to mark Good Friday on BBC Radio 2. On BBC Radio 3, the Reverend Richard Coles talks to Michael Berkeley about his double life as a celebrity priest, and his enduring passion for classical music, in Private Passions on Easter Sunday. On BBC Radio 4, Good Friday Meditation comes from the Reverend Mike Long, the minister for Notting Hill Methodist which stands at the centre of a devastated and grieving community affected by the Grenfell Tower fire. The Reverend Mike was one of the first to respond to the tragedy on the night and his meditation focuses on the role of public lament.

Fatima Salaria, Commissioner, Religion and Ethics, says: “This Easter we’re celebrating this most important date in the Christian calendar across the BBC, with an array of programmes that mark Easter as a special time to reflect and feel inspired.

"In Pilgrimage: The Road to Santiago we do just that. Seven people in the public eye stripped of their everyday comforts living as modern day pilgrims on the famous medieval pilgrimage, the Camino de Santigo. It promises the BBC Two audience a variety of thought-provoking perspectives and insightful moments of self-discovery.

"On BBC One, the artist Lachlan Goudie brings his unique talents to tell the Easter story through the prism of art. These highlights combined with live worship and well-loved music offers a real range of content that I hope our audiences treasure during the Easter period.”

Christine Morgan, Head of Radio for Religion and Ethics says: “Our Easter programmes on Radio this year have a glorious mix of extraordinary stories and profound reflections plus some of the best music to be heard anywhere to convey the Passion story and the Joy of Easter.

"The range includes an evening of words and music based on What Makes for Peace on Good Friday on Radio 2 with the BBC Concert Orchestra and the London Philharmonic Choir and we’ll be enjoying again favourite Easter hymns from St Albans Cathedral on Easter morning on Radio 4. I hope that listeners will find plenty to touch and inspire them this Easter”