Ian McShane: 5 Awesome Performances And 5 That Sucked

3. Judas Iscariot - Jesus of Nazareth (TV, 1977)

In my article on Willem Dafoe last month, I spoke about the challenges of playing Jesus Christ. The fact is, however, that playing any of the characters in the Gospels can be a tall order: there's not always a wealth of material to work from, and it's easy to make a given part dull by over-egging the religious significance of his or her actions. If, as Sherlock says, "every fairy tale needs a good old-fashioned villain", so a compelling Jesus must have a convincing Judas - and with McShane in Jesus of Nazareth, we have one of the best. Directed by the great Italian auteur Franco Zefferelli, Jesus of Nazareth explores the life of Jesus (Robert Powell) in enormous detail, working from the four gospels as well as extra-Biblical sources. Co-written by Anthony Burgess (author of A Clockwork Orange), it depicts many of Jesus' most famous miracles as well as the calling of the individual disciples and of course the Crucifixion. The series features an all-star cast, including Anne Bancroft as Mary Magdelene, Laurence Olivier as Nicodemus and Christopher Plummer as Herod. Just as The Last Temptation of Christ focussed on a different aspect of Jesus' character, so Jesus of Nazareth makes an interesting departure in the depiction of Judas. Rather than portray him as a money-obsessed coward or disillusioned follower, he begins as a well-meaning man of good intentions who is ultimately duped into his betrayal by a non-Biblical character, Zerah (Ian Holm). McShane rises to the challenge in his second Jewish portrayal on this list, emphasising Judas' desire to do good for his people and his conflicted feelings towards Jesus as Holy Week unfolds. Clocking in at just over 6 hours, this miniseries is not for the faint-hearted, but if nothing else it's worth seeing for McShane and Powell going toe-to-toe in their scenes together.