Army of God (Bonekickers)
Encyclopedia
Army of God is the first episode of the BBC
archaeology drama, Bonekickers
, airing on July 8 2008. It was written by Life on Mars
creator Matthew Graham, and filmed in the City of Bath. A small amount of the episode, as with the following episodes, relies on a flashback to the time that the archaeologists are studying.
Dr. Ben Ergha - Adrian Lester
Professor Gregory "Dolly" Parton - Hugh Bonneville
Vivian "Viv" Davis - Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Professor Daniel Mastiff - Michael Maloney
Edward Laygass - Paul Rhys
"James" - Paul Nicholls
"Colm" - Oliver Jackson Cohen
Gillian and the rest of the team proceed to excavate the second place, now distinctly forming a crucifix
shape when looked at from above. Before long, a skeleton is found, with more dirhems scattered around. This leads to much speculation, as the crusades happened in the Holy Land, not in England.
Before long, however, Gillian and Ben have to leave to go to the launching of a book written by the head of the archaeology department, Daniel Mastiff, entitled Sex Rites of the Ancients. After a few witty remarks on Gillian's part, the two head back to the dig site.
Meanwhile, however, Viv has been looking through the earth, when she finds a 13th century sandal, and proceeds to show it to the hospice nurse that she has been talking to. The nurse quickly points out another mound, and after inspection, they both proceed to pull a cut of wood out. A splinter from the wood gets stuck in the nurse's finger, as Viv takes the wood back to the lab.
After Gregory "Dolly" Parton completes a test on a scrap of material, the body found is revealed to be a Knight Templar, due to the distinct red cross revealed by the UV light. This raises further questions about Templars in England, with the only explanation being the exile of the Knights by King Philip I of France.
Viv gives Gillian the piece of wood that she found, and after sending Ben to do a dendrochronology test on it, the rest of the team discuss what could have happened. Before serious speculation took place, however, the dendrochronology test was complete, with the wood dating back to 32AD, and with blood soaked into it with metallic traces. Thoughts arise here about whether the wood could be part of the True Cross
.
Meanwhile, two Christian fanatics named Jack and Colm prepare themselves with swords for what they call a 'war', and make their way to an Islamic church, where they pray to God in the sunlight. Four young Muslims enter the building, and after Jack threatens to kill them with his sword, they run away. Jack and Colm leave the place.
While Viv is looking for spare clothes for Gillian, she finds a piece of paper on the back of a picture of Gillian's mother, which has a picture of a sword on it. However, after one of
BBC
The British Broadcasting Corporation is a British public service broadcaster. Its headquarters is at Broadcasting House in the City of Westminster, London. It is the largest broadcaster in the world, with about 23,000 staff...
archaeology drama, Bonekickers
Bonekickers
Bonekickers was a BBC drama about a team of archaeologists, set at the fictional Wessex University. It debuted on 8 July 2008 and ran for one series....
, airing on July 8 2008. It was written by Life on Mars
Life on Mars
Scientists have long speculated about the possibility of life on Mars owing to the planet's proximity and similarity to Earth. Fictional Martians have been a recurring feature of popular entertainment of the 20th and 21st centuries, but it remains an open question whether life currently exists on...
creator Matthew Graham, and filmed in the City of Bath. A small amount of the episode, as with the following episodes, relies on a flashback to the time that the archaeologists are studying.
Characters
Dr. Gillian Magwilde - Julie GrahamJulie Graham
Julie Graham is a Scottish television and film actress.-Career:Graham's television roles have included The Houseman's Tale BBC TV Series , Alison McGrellis in Casualty ; Alice in Harry ; Alison McIntyre in Life Support ; Lisa Kennedy in The Bill ; Megan Hartnoll in...
Dr. Ben Ergha - Adrian Lester
Adrian Lester
-Personal life:Lester was born in Birmingham, England, the son of Jamaican immigrants Monica, a medical secretary, and Reginald, a manager for a contract cleaning company. He sang as a boy treble in the choir of St. Chad's Cathedral, Birmingham...
Professor Gregory "Dolly" Parton - Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Bonneville
Hugh Richard Bonneville Williams, known professionally as Hugh Bonneville , is an English stage, film, television and radio actor.-Education:...
Vivian "Viv" Davis - Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw
Gugu Mbatha-Raw is an English actress.- Life and career :Gugu Mbatha-Raw was born Gugulethu Sophia Mbatha in 1983, in the John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, England. Her name, "Gugulethu", means pride in Zulu. Her mother, Anne, is an English nurse, and her father, Patrick Mbatha, is a South African...
Professor Daniel Mastiff - Michael Maloney
Michael Maloney
Michael Maloney is an English actor.Born in Bury St. Edmunds, Suffolk, Maloney's first television appearance was as Peter Barkworth's teenage son in the 1979 drama series, Telford's Change....
Edward Laygass - Paul Rhys
Paul Rhys
Paul Rhys is a British television, film and theatre actor.Rhys was born in Wales and studied at RADA, leaving with the Bancroft Gold Medal in 1987. While there, he obtained his first major screen role, in Absolute Beginners . Since then he has seldom been off the stage and screen...
"James" - Paul Nicholls
"Colm" - Oliver Jackson Cohen
Oliver Jackson Cohen
Oliver Jackson-Cohen is an English actor. His had a role in the television series Hollyoaks, and he later appeared in the ITV series The Time of Your Life in 2007...
Plot
The episode is set in the City of Bath, and Gillian Magwilde and her team have been called out to a building site, after builders found Arabian dirhems buried in the site. After being told off briefly by Ben Ergha, Vivian Davis is revealed to be the student archaeologist studying with the team. Gillian has a cold, snubbing attitude towards Viv in the beginning, telling her to simply get on with some cataloguing. But after further inspection of the computerised earth scanner, Viv notices that there is more to the dig site.Gillian and the rest of the team proceed to excavate the second place, now distinctly forming a crucifix
Crucifix
A crucifix is an independent image of Jesus on the cross with a representation of Jesus' body, referred to in English as the corpus , as distinct from a cross with no body....
shape when looked at from above. Before long, a skeleton is found, with more dirhems scattered around. This leads to much speculation, as the crusades happened in the Holy Land, not in England.
Before long, however, Gillian and Ben have to leave to go to the launching of a book written by the head of the archaeology department, Daniel Mastiff, entitled Sex Rites of the Ancients. After a few witty remarks on Gillian's part, the two head back to the dig site.
Meanwhile, however, Viv has been looking through the earth, when she finds a 13th century sandal, and proceeds to show it to the hospice nurse that she has been talking to. The nurse quickly points out another mound, and after inspection, they both proceed to pull a cut of wood out. A splinter from the wood gets stuck in the nurse's finger, as Viv takes the wood back to the lab.
After Gregory "Dolly" Parton completes a test on a scrap of material, the body found is revealed to be a Knight Templar, due to the distinct red cross revealed by the UV light. This raises further questions about Templars in England, with the only explanation being the exile of the Knights by King Philip I of France.
Viv gives Gillian the piece of wood that she found, and after sending Ben to do a dendrochronology test on it, the rest of the team discuss what could have happened. Before serious speculation took place, however, the dendrochronology test was complete, with the wood dating back to 32AD, and with blood soaked into it with metallic traces. Thoughts arise here about whether the wood could be part of the True Cross
True Cross
The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a Christian tradition, are believed to be from the cross upon which Jesus was crucified.According to post-Nicene historians, Socrates Scholasticus and others, the Empress Helena The True Cross is the name for physical remnants which, by a...
.
Meanwhile, two Christian fanatics named Jack and Colm prepare themselves with swords for what they call a 'war', and make their way to an Islamic church, where they pray to God in the sunlight. Four young Muslims enter the building, and after Jack threatens to kill them with his sword, they run away. Jack and Colm leave the place.
While Viv is looking for spare clothes for Gillian, she finds a piece of paper on the back of a picture of Gillian's mother, which has a picture of a sword on it. However, after one of