Son of Man is a television play by British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 playwright Dennis Potter

Dennis Potter

Dennis Christopher George Potter was an English dramatist, best known for The Singing Detective. His widely acclaimed television dramas mixed fantasy and reality, the personal and the social. He was particularly fond of using themes and images from popular culture.-Biography:Dennis Potter was born...

 which was directed by Gareth Davies

Gareth Davies (director)

Gareth Davies is a British television director and actor.Davies began his career as an actor with stage roles at the Royal Court Theatre in London and a recurring role in the early BBC soap opera Compact. It is though as a television director where Davies made his greatest impact...

. It premiered in The Wednesday Play

The Wednesday Play

The Wednesday Play was an anthology series of British television plays which ran on BBC1 from October 1964 to May 1970. Every week's play was usually written for television, although adaptations from other sources also featured...

slot on 19 April 1969 starring Irish

Irish people

The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...

 actor Colin Blakely

Colin Blakely

Colin George Blakely was a Northern Irish character actor. He was considered an actor of great range.-Early life:...

 and was an alternative depiction of the last days of Jesus

Jesus

Jesus of Nazareth , commonly referred to as Jesus Christ or simply as Jesus or Christ, is the central figure of Christianity...

, leading to Potter being accused of blasphemy

Blasphemy

Blasphemy is irreverence towards religious or holy persons or things. Some countries have laws to punish blasphemy, while others have laws to give recourse to those who are offended by blasphemy...

 by Mary Whitehouse

Mary Whitehouse

Mary Whitehouse, CBE was a British campaigner against the permissive society particularly as the media portrayed and reflected it...

.

It was also adapted for the stage and played at the Roundhouse, London, with Frank Finlay

Frank Finlay

Francis Finlay, CBE is an English stage, film and television actor.-Personal life:Finlay was born in Farnworth, Lancashire, the son of Margaret and Josiah Finlay, a butcher. A devout Catholic, he belongs to the British Catholic Stage Guild. He was educated at St...

in the leading role.