![\"\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2013\/02\/xxx-television-the-bible-19-4_3_rx512_c680x510.jpg\" "\\"xxx-television-the-bible-19-4_3_rx512_c680x510\\"")
<\/a>But the History Channel\u2019s upcoming Easter presentation is also a labor of love, a long-planned first-time co-production by Burnett\u00a0and his wife Roma Downey \u2013 best known for her nine seasons as Touched by an Angel<\/em> star \u00a0Monica.<\/p>\n Their mission? To bring the Bible to generations who may not know the stories told and re-told so many times over the centuries, says Burnett.<\/p>\n For six long, hot, dusty months, the couple shot the docudrama on location in the Sahara Desert with an international cast of over 400 actors.<\/p>\n Premiering Sunday, March 3, the project spans Genesis through Revelation, presenting more than 30 beloved Bible stories from Adam and Eve to John\u2019s Vision of the Apocalypse, from Noah\u2019s Ark through Jesus\u2019 life. The final segment, scheduled\u00a0for Easter Sunday, includes Christ\u2019s Last Supper, Betrayal, Crucifixion and Resurrection \u2013 with Downey playing Mary, the mother of Christ.<\/p>\n \u201cWe only had ten hours,\u201d sighs Downey, \u201cand we wished we could have had more and we could have told more. There were two ways to handle it. Either we could go through more stories, but tell them more quickly, or we could tell fewer stories and have an opportunity to go deeper into them \u2013 in the hope that we could engage the audience more emotionally with a deeper experience, inviting them to walk in the shoes of these wonderful, historic characters.<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s what we ended up doing,\u201d she says. \u201cIn 10 hours, we knew we couldn\u2019t do a Bible series and not tell the story of Abraham or Moses or David. One of the episodes that was of the most importance to us bridges from the Old Testament to the New Testament.”<\/p>\n \u201cWe did that through the story of Daniel in the Lion\u2019s Den, which, of course, tells how the conquering Persian king saw without a doubt that Daniel\u2019s God is the only true God \u2013 and releases the Jewish people from their exile, allowing them to go back from Babylon to Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s great celebration, but Daniel\u2019s prophecy is such that he knows that the worst is yet to come \u2013 and we fire forward showing the clash of shields and marching of feet of the Roman Empire as we find ourselves in Galilee during the hard times, that oppressed era the Savior chose to dwell among men.\u201d<\/p>\n Were there times when Burnett and Downey wondered why they took on such a massive undertaking?<\/p>\n \u201cOh, there were tough days obviously, but we never really wondered why we were doing it. It\u2019s a project we\u2019ve wanted to do for a long time,\u201d says Burnett. \u201cWe love the Bible and, you know, when you have a couple of hundred people in a difficult location like the edge of the Sahara desert, anything can get difficult.<\/p>\n \u201cWe had a good sense of humor and we surrounded ourselves with an incredible film crew, a special kind of people. They\u2019re problems solvers, not problem creators or complainers. That was the key, surrounding ourselves with the right kind of people to take on such an important project as this which means so much to both Monica and me.<\/p>\n \u201cNothing was that hard when you look back on it,\u201d he said. \u201cIf you asked the same question maybe a year ago on the wrong day, when we were exhausted and we were thinking \u2018Oh, wow, this is so tough–\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt was a little bit like carrying a baby,\u201d interjects Downey. \u201cI think after the point of delivery, most women forget how uncomfortable their pregnancies were and so, here we are on the eve of delivery and we are just so grateful for the experience of making this series together, co-producing as a husband and wife team.<\/p>\n \u201cIt really deepened our friendship and strengthened our marriage.<\/p>\n \u201cYou know,\u201d she says with a smile, \u201cthere were moments during it I\u2019m sure where we felt we might never speak to each other again. It was highly pressured and very hard work. It was hard to be gone from home for so long. We were in Morocco from February to July, but we felt called to do this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe shot in Morocco,\u201d says Mark, \u201cbecause our hope was to achieve an epic, big scale, quality production that would present the grand narrative of the Bible while at the same time allow opportunities for intimate storytelling \u2013 so that we could really make the emotional connection with our audience.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe know as movie makers that this sort of storytelling begins in the heart,\u201d says Roma. \u201cWhen your heart opens up, that\u2019s the opportunity for grace to move in.\u201d<\/p>\n This series is far more than just entertainment, say the couple.<\/p>\n \u201cI believe that people will be able to go back to the Scripture with these images in their minds and be able to engage God\u2019s Word in a whole new and exciting way,\u201d says Downey.<\/p>\n<\/a><\/a>