AD/BC: A Rock Opera

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AD/BC: A Rock Opera
AD/BC: A Rock Opera logo
Written by	Richard Ayoade Matt Berry
Directed by	Richard Ayoade
Starring	Matt Berry Julian Barratt Richard Ayoade
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of episodes	1
Production
Producer	Baby Cow Productions
Running time	30 minutes
Release
Original network	BBC Three
Original release	21 December 2004 (2004-12-21)

AD/BC is a parody rock opera with music by Matt Berry and lyrics by Matt Berry and Richard Ayoade. It aired on BBC Three in 2004.

Summary[]

The opera is a pastiche of the life-of-Christ rock operas popular in the early 1970s, such as Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. Sitting at a piano in the late 1970s (1978, several years past the time when Jesus-themed rock operas had been popular), writer Tim Wynde (Matt Berry) introduces his creation as a new telling of the birth of Christ, "told in rock" from the point of view of the Innkeeper.

What follows is a production that parodies early 1970s life-of-Jesus rock operas, including familiar elements such as crowds gathered behind chain-link fencing, 1970s products like chrome floor lamps and telephone booths juxtaposed against the 1 BC Middle Eastern setting; and period-perfect music, clothes, language, and choreography. Repeated comic motifs include the use of poorly synchronized and mixed Dubbing and high, hard-rock-style vocal notes, in the manner of 1970s Robert Plant or Ian Gillan, inserted incongruously and sustained for absurdly long durations.

It was produced by Steve Coogan's production company Baby Cow and features friends and colleagues of the writers, including The Mighty Boosh's Noel Fielding and Julian Barratt, Julia Davis, Rich Fulcher, and Matt Lucas, as well as Berry and Ayoade themselves. It was shown only once on the BBC and was released on DVD in the UK on 19 November 2007.

Cast[]

• Innkeeper/Tim Wynde — Matt Berry
• Tony Iscariot/Roger Kingsmen — Julian Barratt
• Joseph/C.T. Homerton — Richard Ayoade
• God/Caplan Joyce — Matt Lucas
• Ruth/Maria Preston-Bush — Julia Davis
• Shepherd — Noel Fielding
• Shepherd — Karl Theobald
• Shepherd —
• Wise Man — Lucy Montgomery
• Wise Man — Lydia Fox
• Wise Man — Sophie Winkleman
• Townsfolk — Graham Linehan, Rob Tofield, Rich Fulcher

External links[]

• AD/BC: A Rock Opera at IMDb