Manchester Miracle Play wins award

Published: 02 June 2009

The search for raw talent amidst the run-down Manchester estate of Harpurhey won the Sandford St Martin Trust’s Premier award for religious television with 'Miracle on the Estate' made by BBC Religion and Ethics and broadcast on BBC 1 on Good Friday 2008.

The Bishop of Manchester makes an appearance in the programme which was described by Tim Gardam, chair of judges, as “drawing its viewers into the lives of others by the artless authenticity of the characters on the estate”, as, guided by a poet, a composer and a producer they constructed, rehearsed and performed a play about Noah and the flood.

Presenting the awards, the Trust’s new Chairman, the Bishop of Croydon, Nick Baines, urged broadcasting commissioners to take seriously the place of religious programmes in their schedules. “Contrary to some of the simplistic caricatures we frequently encounter, good religious broadcasting is not about massaging the prejudices or affections of a few odd people who do odd things; rather, it involves taking people and the world seriously”.

Programme details

Broadcast on BBC One on 21 March 2008 (BBC Religion and Ethics). Producer/Director: Chris Salt; Executive Producer: Hugh Faupel; Researcher: Nick Holden-Sim; Writers: Michael Symmons Roberts and James Atherton.

The residents of a tough Manchester housing estate join forces with a poet, a composer and a director to produce their own Mystery Play based on the story of the flood, uncovering in the process a sense of community and untapped talent.


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