TALES FROM THE MADHOUSE. Video, pound;14. Pack (video and teaching notes) pound;16 plus pound;2.50 pamp;p. BBCBible Society. To order tel: 01235 465612.
From East to West - with a stop in the West Midlands - Terence Copley takes a journey through secondary RE resources
The disturbing and dark visual setting of a decaying lunatic asylum, conveniently incarcerating a well-known cast, forms the backcloth to these BBC television programmes.
They are presented here for use in RE, collective worship, advanced VCE, BTec and City and Guilds media studies. They also form an appropriate part of the Bible Society’s aim of “making the Bible heard” - in this case, seen as well - without necessarily bashing away at the text.
The characters are people who appeared in Jesus’s life, but without the togas and sandals. They reflect on their role, with a judicious bit of poetic licence. Tony Robinson’s Judas is a must-see. Helen Baxendale as a skivvy in the asylum telling her story as the serving woman who challenged Peter in the courtyard of the high priest, complete with West Midlands accent and a good bit of plausible fiction about her history, is one of the best cameos.
The teaching notes are detailed and include internet gateways. The media notes explore the negative media images often bestowed on “madness” and religion.
These programmes are a creative approach to gospel narrative, also offering plenty of implicit challenge to viewers to consider why sincerely religious people are often deemed to be not quite normal. Just who is in the mad house?
