Less than a year after demanding seven virgins from his local congregation to serve in his household, the 19th-century preacher John Wroe was accused by two of them of " indecency and things not fit to be spoke of" . Jonathan Pryce stars as the self-styled Prophet of the Christian Israelite church in Ashton, in this extraordinary tale unearthed by writer Jane Rogers in her home town of Ashton-under-Lyne. Nothing is known of the fate of the virgins, so Rogers decided to tell the stories of four of them.
Last year's four one-hour dramas are being re-shown as two 90-minute episodes. This week, the sensual Leah and the saintly Joanna find their lives become inextricably linked when they start living together under the eccentric cleric's roof.
Producer John Chapman ; Director Danny Boyle
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