BBC takes Jesus to Manchester

[Amelia]

BBC takes Jesus to Manchester

The BBC is to mark Easter with an hour long procession through Manchester featuring the city's pop stars and music.

Manchester Passion will feature members of The Stone Roses and Happy Mondays and songs by The Smiths and New Order.

Jesus will sing Joy Division's Love Will Tear Us Apart before dueting with Judas on New Order's Blue Monday, according to Media Guadian.

The climax sees Jesus sing the Smiths' Heaven Knows I'm Miserable Now as he is flailed by Roman soldiers.

He will then come face-to-face with Pontius Pilate with the two of them singing a duet of the Oasis hit Wonderwall and its chorus: "I said maybe, you're gonna be the one that saves me."

The event will end with the resurrected Jesus singing an as yet undisclosed song from the top of Manchester's town hall.

Former Happy Monday and Celebrity Big Brother winner Bez will play a disciple. He will be accompanied by former Stone Roses frontman Ian Brown and Black Grape saxophonist Martin Slattery.

The BBC plans to show the event live on BBC3 on Good Friday and says the idea was inspired by "the way Bach and other composers fused music and the Passion story".

Canon Robin Gamble, canon evangelist at Manchester Cathedral, commented: "I wouldn't know a Buzzcock from a ballcock so I couldn't really comment on the music."

But he said it would bring the story to people in a new way, adding: "It is going to be challenging and shocking and is going to get things rumbling - it's going to be brilliant."