The Nativity BBC Miniseries: airtimes announced

The air-dates for the new BBC Nativity, written by Tony Jordan, have now been announced over on the Red Planet Pictures website:

This Christmas on BBC One - Monday 20th to Thursday 23rd December 2010 at 7pm

Here is the rest of the blurb over on their website:

Tatiana Maslany and Andrew Buchan star as Mary and Joseph in Tony Jordan's adaptation of The Nativity for BBC One this Christmas.

Over four half-hour episodes the drama tells the traditional tale known to millions from a very human perspective.

With Mary and Joseph's enduring love story at the centre this familiar story is given a contemporary twist, as the drama follows Joseph and Mary from their initial courtship – Joseph desperate to win the heart of Mary – to his emotional turmoil at her unexpected pregnancy.

Tony Jordan said: "The challenge for me was to retell a story that has been told countless times before, a story that everyone knows intimately, yet to do so in a way that will still surprise and move you, to see parts of the story you'd never seen before.

"I really think that we've achieved that and I'm incredibly proud to have been asked by the BBC to be involved in such a wonderful project."

This gripping and vibrant adaptation shows the Nativity from a fresh viewpoint, highlighting how seemingly ordinary people reacted to the extraordinary and miraculous events that befell them.

Rich in colour and humour, the remarkable events that led up to Jesus's birth will unfold across the four nights, from the epic journey of the wise men to the poignant tale of Thomas – a poor shepherd – whose waning faith in God is revived as he kneels beside the crib of the newborn king.

Jordan's Nativity is a spectacular Christmas treat for the whole family.

Andrew Buchan as Joseph, Tatiana Maslany as Mary and Peter Capaldi as Balthasar are joined by an impressive cast including: Jack Shepherd as Melchior; Obi Abili as Gaspar; Art Malik as Nicolaus; Vincent Regan as Herod; John Lynch as Gabriel; Claudie Blakley as Anna; Frances Barbour as Elizabeth; Neil Dudgeon as Joachim; Al Weaver as Thomas the Shepherd; Ruth Negga as Leah and Gawn Grainger as Levi.

'The Nativity' is a Red Planet Pictures, K Films and Temple Street production for BBC One and CBC. It is distributed by BBC Worldwide.

It's nice to see that Mary's parents are Joachim and Anna, the names they have in the Protevangelium of James.  I am also pleased to see that the distribution is by BBC Worldwide.  For The Passion, the BBC partnered with HBO.  It is now nearly three years later and the miniseries has still not made it to the HBO channel or to DVD in the US.  Hopefully The Nativity will make it much more quickly to other territories as a result.