BBC to examine Britain's 'new Christianity' in Holy Week

Documentaries about the changing face of Christianity in the UK and about Judas Iscariot are to be at the heart of the BBC's Easter broadcasts.

The first, due to be shown on Tuesday 22 March, will examine the ways in which immigration, conservative morality and charismatic worship have reshaped churches in the UK. In the second, to be broadcast on Good Friday, Church of England priest Kate Bottley travels to Jerusalem to investigate the story of Judas.

The Pope’s Urbi et Orbi blessing will be broadcast live on BBC1 on Easter Sunday, as will a service from St Albans Cathedral.

Music forms a large part of the Easter schedule with a service from King’s College, Cambridge, to be broadcast on Holy Saturday on BBC2. Radio 3 will mark Palm Sunday with a day of performances of Easter music from across Europe. Special editions of Songs of Praise will be broadcast on Palm Sunday and on Easter Sunday.

Provisional listings for ITV and Channel 4 on Easter Sunday indicated that neither had scheduled  religious-themed programmes.