Monthly column on the arts

David Porter  |  Features
Date posted:  1 Jul 2001
Share Add       

Launched with relatively little kerfuffle, BBC2's new imported cartoon series God, The Devil and Bob features God (said to resemble Gerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead, but to my eye a dead ringer for Steven Spielberg) and the Devil (played as camp and English).

God has become disillusioned with humanity and wants to wipe it out and start again (there goes Genesis 8:21, for a start). The devil objects: they decide that if one human being can demonstrate that humanity is worth saving, God will abandon his plan. The devil chooses the human being at random - Bob, a family man, fond of beer, pornography and sport.

The show was created by American TV giant NBC, nine of whose affiliates promptly refused to screen it. Possibly they were put off by NBC's promises of dance nights in hell, a beer-swilling God, and a girlfriend for God. BBC2, however, had no such scruples.

Share
Read more articles by David Porter >>

Monthly arts column

Somebody's going to have to help me out on this, but I think that the author of a small book …

Monthly arts column

The memory of John Bunyan the Tinker is surrounded by myths, not least the myth of his uniqueness. The old …

Need to advertise?

We can help you reach Christians across the country.

Find out more

Looking for a job?

Browse all our current job adverts

Search