the pain and exhaustion Jesus felt when he did it. Contrary to traditional depictions of the crucifixion, where Jesus is shown nailed to the cross by his hands, production designer Simon Elliot chose to show Jesus in the foetal position, with the nails through his arms. Mark Goodacre advised that this was the most common and effective method of crucifixion used by the Romans, and Elliot believed that "the Victorian image" did not match historical evidence; The Passions interpretation was based on a skeleton of a crucified man that was discovered near Jerusalem in the 1960s. 3,000 extras participated in the trial scenes in Episode 3. The first episode was given a preview screening by the BBC at the Apollo West End cinema on 28 February 2008. The episode was introduced by BBC controller of fiction Jane Tranter to an invited audience of press and religious leaders. The producers delivered the final cut of Episode 4 on 11 March. Cast Jesus and followers Paloma Baeza as Mary Magdalene Thomas Buchanan as James, son of Alphaeus Lewis Clay as Thomas Tom Ellis as Phillip Daniel Evans as Matthew Eoin Geoghegan as Andrew Dean Lennox Kelly as James Stuart Kidd as Simon Joseph Mawle as Jesus Darren Morfitt as Peter Steve Morphew as Thaddeus Paul Nicholls as Judas Vinette Robinson as Mina Jamie Sives as John Penelope Wilton as Mary Eugene Wood as Bartholomew At the Temple Ben Caplan as Yehuda Ben Daniels as Caiaphas Laila El Mrabti as Caiaphas' daughter Laura Fraser as Abigail Simon Kassianides as Temple guard Munir Khairdin as Second Temple guard Denis Lawson as Annas John Lynch as Sagan David Oyelowo as Joseph of Arimathea Elif Yeşil as Nita, Caiaphas' servant Romans Roger Ashton-Griffiths as Syrian prefect Mansour Badri as Roman sergeant at Golgotha El Housseine Dejjiti as Centurion at bakery Karim Doukkali as Garrison Centurion Robin Floriant as Rufus, tax collector Matthew Flynn as Third Roman soldier Esther Hall as Claudia, Pontius Pilate's wife Martin Hutson as Pilate's secretary Mark Lewis Jones as Marcus Gerard Monaco as Capito David Maybrick as First Roman soldier James Nesbitt as Pontius Pilate Ross O'Hennessy as Second Roman soldier Driss Roukhe as Roman soldier at procession Mohammed Taleb as Robe centurion People in Jerusalem El Jirari Ben Aissa as Simon of Cyrene Daniel Catlagirone as Eban Stephen Graham as Barabbas Mercedes Grower as Neta Jamila El Haouni as Widow Johnny