Good Friday TV could have been better, says BBC

The BBC’s head of religion and ethics has said TV programming for Good Friday last year “could have been better”.

Speaking to the Today programme, Aaqil Ahmed said the BBC had “listened” to complaints and promised this year’s TV programming would be “better”.

Programmes for this Easter include a special from King's College, Cambridge, The Private Life of an Easter Masterpiece and a documentary on Good Friday presented by Bethany Hughes.

“This year there are 164 hours of religious programming,” he said. “If you look at the broader broadcasting ecology whats happening on ITV Channel 5 Channel 4 everyone is turning their backs on religion and the BBC isn’t doing that and the programming goes out on prime time.”

He was joined on the programme by Nigel Holmes, a lay member of the Church of England’s General Synod, who has put forward a motion raising concern over the marginalisation of Christianity and religious broadcasting on the BBC.

His motion, being debated this morning, asks Synod to “call upon the BBC and Ofcom to explain why British television, which was once exemplary in its coverage of religious and ethical issues, now marginalises the few such programmes which remain and completely ignored the Christian significance of Good Friday”.

Mr Holmes said: “1.7 million people every month worship in Anglican churches. Frankly there is in our heritage and culture it is imbued with Christianity.

“I would maintain that given that number of people who proclaim themselves to be Christian is actually 10 times the number that actually go to church, it is important that we do reflect the religious life of the nation.

“In our nation we are crying out for a moral and ethical dimension of so many aspects of social life.”