The Nativity
Taking place around the turn of the millennium, this four part series follows three entwining tales based on the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ. In Nazareth, Joseph, a carpenter, courts teenager Mary. Meanwhile in Bethlehem, a shepherd called Thomas struggles under heavy taxation. And somewhere to the East, Magi gather to discuss the signs of a great event they see foretold in the stars. All their lives are brought together when Mary is visited by an angel and told she will give birth to the son of God.
- 2010-2010
- 1 season
- Drama
Taking place around the turn of the millennium, this four part series follows three entwining tales based on the Biblical story of the birth of Jesus Christ. In Nazareth, Joseph, a carpenter, courts teenager Mary. Meanwhile in Bethlehem, a shepherd called Thomas struggles under heavy taxation. And somewhere to the East, Magi gather to discuss the signs of a great event they see foretold in the stars. All their lives are brought together when Mary is visited by an angel and told she will give birth to the son of God.
Season 1 Episode Guide
4 Episodes 2010
Episode 1
Part 1
Mon, Dec 20, 2010 31 mins
In Nazareth over two thousand years ago sixteen year old old Mary is seen by rabbis to be of an age to wed.Her parents Joachim and Anna reject an elderly,rich widower in favour of Joseph,a poor but hard-working young carpenter. The couple are betrothed and,as Joseph builds their marital home,they fall in love but one night Mary is visited by Gabriel,an angel, who tells her that she is the 'chosen one'. Meanwhile Babylonian astronomers Caspar,Melchior and Balthasar anticipate the appearance of the long prophesied Balaam's star,said to herald the birth of a new king whilst in Bethlehem young shepherd Thomas and his wife Leah struggle to pay their taxes to Herod. Thomas and his rabbi agree that a leader should come from God to ease their burden.
Episode 2
Part 2
30 mins
Mary is bewildered by Gabriel's proclamation that she will be the mother of the son of God but begins to believe him when she learns that her middle-aged and long barren cousin Elizabeth has also had a divine visit to say she will give birth to John the Baptist. She is,however,scared and unsure as to how to tell Joseph. Gaspar persuades the other Magi that they must follow the star to its zenith over the birth-place of a new king. Elderly Melchior is convinced that there is a religious connection. King Herod feels under-mined on learning that the Roman emperor Augustus has ordered a census as he too has heard that a messiah may dethrone him. Joseph must register in Bethlehem,where he was born,but he is more concerned with the fact that Mary is pregnant and he knows he is not the child's father.
Episode 3
Part 3
30 mins
Mary finds it hard to convince anybody,particularly Joseph,how she fell pregnant and,after she is attacked in the street as an adulteress,Joachim asks Joseph to take her to Bethlehem with him for her own protection. He reluctantly agrees but on the journey he has a dream which makes him more amenable to her explanation. The astronomers camp their caravanserai in the Judean desert and are visited by a wily envoy of Herod,who tries to trick them into leading him to the messiah. However they are cautious and fool him into believing they are returning home before heading for Bethlehem where a frustrated Thomas is considering violent revolt.
Episode 4
Part 4
29 mins
By the time Joseph reaches Bethlehem, he has found peace with standing by Mary, however unlikely her story. Even his own family refuses to put them up, so she ends up given birth in the full inn's manger, at the exact time of the royal conjunction. Desperate Thomas robs a soldier but neither stabs him nor gets caught, and joins the shepherds party which the archangel Gabriel summons to go worship the newborn Messiah in the city of David. The magi arrive on their own accord, bearing precious gifts of gold, myrrh and frankincense.