We’re in a golden era of television. A host of new streaming platforms are releasing new programs each week, and there’s something on offer for nearly everyone. There’s one genre, however, that has been mostly overlooked – Biblical stories. With that in mind, we’ve
GALILEE GIRLS
Derry Girls is a show that follows the funny exploits of a group of teenage Catholic girls growing up in Northern Ireland in the 1990s. So how about a show that follows the lives of four girls coming of age in Galilee during the time of Jesus?
Miriam, Susannah, Tabitha and Anna are from the same village, and are at an age where their parents are looking to marry them off. While Tabitha and Anna dream of married life and spy on the local boys, Miriam and Susannah have different dreams – to see the world beyond their village. Meanwhile, there’s an itinerant preacher who’s stirring people up and drawing followers, and the ever-present threat of the occupying Romans.
The story starts when a local Samaritan woman shares her story of encountering Jesus at the well and starts telling them about his teachings. Is this what the girls have been looking for?
JERUSALEM PARANORMAL
In the vein of the X-Files and Wellington Paranormal, we have an idea for a show where two Roman soldiers investigate mysterious happenings around a preacher named Jesus.
Claudius and Priscus are commissioned by the Roman governor to investigate Jesus’ followers and work out how he’s managing to convince people he’s a miracle worker. Claudius is a firm believer in miracles, but Priscus is a sceptic.
Beginning with a detailed interrogation of all those involved in the wedding at Cana, the two soldiers take a deeper look at each of Jesus’ miracles to see if there’s a real explanation for them – or if he might really be the Son of God.
MARY’S KITCHEN MIRACLES
People love a cooking show, so how about a show that follows the culinary adventures of a disciple of Jesus?
Mary is a young Hebrew woman who joins Jesus and his disciples as their travelling cook. As well as helping feed her travelling companions (with the occasional help of the wife of a tax collector or friend of Jesus), Mary has a front row seat to listen to Jesus’ teachings at meal times (and share some of her own home-cooked wisdom with the upstart disciples).
There are also plenty of cooking challenges that she’ll need to overcome. What can she make with figs from a cursed tree? What wonders can she create with just five loaves and two fishes?
PRODIGAL
Family dramas are all the rage – particularly shows centred around a patriarch and their squabbling children (see Succession and Yellowstone). Well, how about the story of a son who returns to his family farm after squandering half of their family’s fortune?
Ten years ago, Lucas took half his father’s fortune and set off dreaming of adventure. Now he’s returned to the family farm, penniless. His brother John wants his father to send Lucas away, but instead his father welcomes him back by throwing a party.
What happens next? Can Lucas and John learn to live together? Will Lucas’ financial hardships fall on the rest of the family? Can their father reconcile the brothers? This is where this story begins.
BREAKING BREAD
Breaking Bad is one of the most acclaimed shows of this TV era. It follows the saga of Walter White, whose decision to ‘break bad’ (ie, cook meth) sends him, and everyone around him, on a path to destruction. Well, how about a show about someone who decides to ‘break good’?
Cyrus is a crime lord in Biblical Jerusalem and everyone in the underworld fears him. However, his life is upended when his brother is captured by the Romans and executed next to a man named Jesus. As he watches his brother die on the cross, Cyrus is perplexed to see him exchange words with Jesus – and to hear Jesus promise his brother that he’ll be with him in paradise.
Shocked and grieving, Cyrus seeks out one of Jesus’ followers, a man named Peter. Not only does Peter offer him God’s forgiveness for the sins of his past life, he convinces him to go back among his former associates to preach God’s word. Can this former criminal really go from breaking legs to breaking bread?
Michael McVeigh is head of publishing and digital content at Jesuit Communications, publisher of Australian Catholics.