David Suchet is to present a documentary about St Peter this Easter, a journey which he says helped him to better understand the person of Jesus.
'In the Footsteps of St Peter' sees the Poirot actor travel to Rome, then along the Sea of Galilee from Bethsaida to Capernaum, and then to Jerusalem and back to the Italian capital where Peter became the first Bishop. Though the disciple is renowned as one of the greatest figures in Christian history, Suchet says he found Peter to be "a flawed, wonderful, simple, fisherman who tried to get his faith right to please this person called Jesus...I found the most wonderful, sensitive, flawed human being that allows us all to do our best and fail."
In an interview with the BBC, Suchet – who last year made an audio recording of the entire NIV Bible – says he became "fascinated by the character of St Peter" while presenting an earlier documentary about St Paul.
"The appeal to Peter for me was that he was so diametrically opposed to Paul," Suchet explains. "Going around Israel and moving around Galilee, I really felt I could get close to the man, especially when I was out on the fishing boat, on the lake of Galilee itself where I knew he fished."
Suchet was shown a preserved fishing boat thought to be about 2,000 years old, and likely to be very similar to the one Peter would have worked in. "That gave me such a feeling of closeness to him and his world," he says.
The documentary features biblical scholars, archaeologists and historians, all of whom give the audience insight into the life of St Peter. Suchet says he was most drawn to take part in the documentary because he wanted to "disentangle...the human Peter from what history and 2,000 years of tradition say about him."
"Although Peter straddles the New Testament story, it is silent on his enduring connection with Rome and the Catholic tradition. Peter is a man of shifting identities and, for me, this is what makes him a compelling and controversial character," Suchet says.
"Behind Peter's celebrity status is a rich and complex character striving to make sense of his profound encounter with Jesus Christ that would radically change his life forever. He in turn would change the lives of others as the first Bishop of Rome and the first Pope."
Speaking just after his return from filming last year, Suchet told Christian Today that he enjoyed making the documentary. "We don't hear much about Peter in the Protestant Church, other than as someone who made mistakes, but he was a glorious person and a very charismatic leader of the disciples," he said.
Part one of 'In the Footsteps of St Peter' will air on BBC One at 9am on April 3.
