American Public Television Co-Produces and Syndicates JESUS: COUNTDOWN TO CALVARY with Hugh Bonneville

Co-produced by RTE, American Public Television (APT) and ARTE, and releasing on public television stations nationwide March 1, 2018, "Jesus: Countdown to Calvary" is a new documentary, Syndicated by APT, in which actor Hugh Bonneville (Downton Abbey, Paddington) examines the events leading up to the death of Jesus of Nazareth.

Bonneville, a theology graduate of Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, travels to Jerusalem to explore the historical context of the last six days of Jesus' life. With the help of noted academics and spiritual leaders, he investigates the complex factors that turned a popular PREACHER into a reviled victim of the Romans' most brutal form of execution crucifixion.

Hugh and his guides utilize ancient artifacts, Gospel texts, historical analysis and modern insight to provide a fresh perspective on the social, religious and political tensions at play in first century Jerusalem. The legacies of leading figures like Pontius Pilate, Caiaphas and Judas Iscariot are brought into focus; long-held assumptions, some of which formed the root of centuries of anti-Semitism, are challenged head on.

Featuring state-of-the-art production values, the documentary is framed as a high-stakes political thriller, a clock counting down each critical moment from Palm Sunday to Good Friday.

University of Edinburgh Professor Helen Bond (MTheol PhD) is the principal academic consultant on the project. Other contributors include Prof. Paula Fredriksen (Hebrew University, Jerusalem), author of From Jesus to Christ (1988;2000); Dr. Zuleika Rodgers (Trinity College, Dublin); Prof. Ronny Reich (Hebrew University, Jerusalem); Amit Re'em (Israeli Institute of Archaeology); Fr. Gregory Tatum OP (cole Biblique, Jerusalem) and Amos Oz, the acclaimed Israeli author of Judas.

JESUS: COUNTDOWN TO CALVARY is a co-production of RT (Ireland), American Public Television (APT) and ARTE and will be available for Syndication to public television stations beginning March 1, 2018, from American Public Television.

American Public Television is the leading syndicator of high-quality, top-rated programming to the nation's public television stations. For more than 10 years, APT has annually distributed one-third or more of the top 100 highest-rated public television titles in the U.S. Founded in 1961, among its 250 new program titles per year, APT programs include prominent documentaries, performance, news and current affairs programs, dramas, how-to programs, children's series and classic movies.

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