A.D. – The Bible Continues

seriesAD

Andrew Gower played Roman emperor Caligula in three episodes of the NBC biblical drama A.D. – The Bible Continues. It is a sequel to the NBC hit TV show The Bible by producers Roma Downey and Mark Burnett and picks up immediately after the Crucifixion of Jesus Christ and shows the impact his death had on his disciples as well as the religious and political leaders of the time.

Caligula enters the scene in episode 7 as part of his uncle’s entourage visiting Jerusalem. Caligula is an arrogant and dangerously ambitious young man, a sexual predator with a quick temper and violent nature, who can’t wait to succeed his uncle Tiberius (Kenneth Cranham) as ruler of the Roman empire.

His presence at Pontius Pilate’s (Vincent Regan) palace causes all kinds of unrest for all members of the household but as the nephew and heir to the emperor, he is untouchable, a fact that he is very well aware of. When his uncle tried to send him back to Rome, Caligula kills him and ascends to the throne himself and starts a reign of terror over those in his immediate vicinity in Jerusalem.

Feeling that he isn’t given the appropriate respect and love from his subjects, he demands that statues of him are erected all over the Roman empire, including one inside the Temple of Jerusalem. Before the statue arrives, he returns to Rome, leaving Jerusalem at the brink of a riot which Pilate and High Priest Caiaphas (Richard Coyle) have to deal with.

05_Graded_AD_EP07_01.19.15_D8S0041

Filming for A.D. – The Bible Continues took place in Morocco in late 2014 / early 2015 and the first episode aired on NBC on Easter Sunday, 5 April 2015 in twelve weekly one-hour episodes. Unfortunately, ratings did not prove to be as strong as were hoped for and NBC cancelled the series after only one season. However, producers Burnett and Downey announced plans for future biblical productions on their OTT digital channel.

Read about the historical Caligula and watch some of Andrew’s scenes as Caligula here:

Trivia:

  • On the way to the set of A.D., Andrew Gower and Stephen Walters discovered their mutual interest in the Beatles and Tommy Quickly which would eventually result in their short film Humpty Fu*king Dumpty.

Episode Synopses: