History Radio / TheManBornToBeKing

* BitchInSheepsClothing: When he first shows up Judas appears to be a fairly nice if serious person, but he gradually shows himself to be mean-spirited, greedy and incredibly proud. As Sayers points out in the introduction, the story simply doesn't work if it's obvious from the beginning that Judas is going to become a traitor, because it makes Jesus appear to be a HorribleJudgeOfCharacter.

* ValuesDissonance: Invoked in-universe to explain the conflict between Pilate and the Pharisees. To the Pharisees (being [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Jewish]]) Jesus' claim to be the Son of God amounts to blasphemy and deserves death. To Pilate as [[Myth/ClassicalMythology a Roman]], the notion that a god could have a human son is very much in the realm of possibility, and the gods wouldn't be terribly pleased with you if you killed him.

* BotheringByTheBook: During the court scene, Nicodemus the Pharisee and Joseph of Arimethea (who are followers of Jesus, but too afraid to declare openly for him), do their best to defend Jesus by insisting on everything being done per the letter of the law and pointing out every time Caiphas tries to wrest the evidence or break the rules.

* AnachronismStew: Deliberately invoked: "The general effect aimed at has been rather that of a Renaissance painting, where figures in their modern habits mingle familiarly with others whose dress and behaviour are sufficiently orientalised to give a flavour of the time and place and conform with the requirements of the story." Thus, for example, the wealthy Lord Benjamin is characterized as a cheerful English country squire type, Matthew as a East London Cockney wheeler-deeler, and two Roman soldiers Proclus and Sosius as different levels of English officers in the British Raj, the former being one who respects and understands the local religious traditions and officials, and the latter who tends to lump all the native people together and not be too impressed by supposed miracles.

* AnachronismStew: Deliberately invoked: "The general effect aimed at has been rather that of a Renaissance painting, where figures in their modern habits mingle familiarly with others whose dress and behaviour are sufficiently orientalised to give a flavour of the time and place and conform with the requirements of the story." Thus, for example, the wealthy Lord Benjamin is characterized as a cheerful English country squire type, Matthew as a East London Cockney wheeler-deeler, and two Roman soldiers Proclus and Sosius as different levels of Anglo-Indian, the former being one who respects and understands the local religious traditions and officials, and the latter who tends to lump all the native people together and not be too impressed by supposed miracles.

** Mary Magdalene, Mary of Bethany, and the Woman caught in adultery are treated as the same character, following a tradition in some early church writings. This also helps deal with the OneSteveLimit.

* AnachronismStew: Deliberately invoked: "The general effect aimed at has been rather that of a Renaissance painting, where figures in their modern habits mingle familiarly with others whose dress and behaviour are sufficiently orientalised to give a flavour of the time and place and conform with the requirements of the story."

* AccentAdaptation: Contemporary UsefulNotes/BritishAccents are used to indicate the social standing of various characters. At one point in the script, there is a stage direction warning against the temptation to play a materialistic character with a [[GreedyJew Jewish accent]], as if he weren't surrounded by equally-Jewish characters speaking standard English. Sayers notes that technically, all the Disciples ''and Jesus'' should have a thick back-country accent, because the Gospels mention that they had noticeable Galilean speech patterns. But since no one could figure out how to pick one regional English accent without making all the others feel snubbed, they went with standard pronunciation.

* DoctorsOrders: In "Kings in Judea", Herod's doctor speaks quite firmly with him.

* ValuesDissonance: Invoked in-universe to explain the conflict between Pilate and the Pharisees. To the Pharisees (being [[UsefulNotes/{{Judaism}} Jewish]]) Jesus' claim to be the Son of God amounts to blasphemy and deserves death. To Pilate as [[Myth/ClassicalMythology a Roman]], the notion that a god could have a human son is very much in the realm of possibility, and the gods wouldn't be terribly pleased if you killed him.

-->'''Matthew:''' Judas looked me straight in the eye--too straight--and said he'd bestowed it on a deserving object. I know them deserving objects what you can't put a name to.

* NoSuchThingAsBadPublicity: Religious groups such as the Lord's Day Observance Society and the Protestant Truth Society tried to have the radio dramas banned for irreverence; the protest went all the way to Parliament. Sayers, who had previously worked in an advertising agency, thanked them for the free publicity.

* SmugSnake: Shadrach.

* DearNegativeReader: Many listeners objected to the plays when they were originally aired on the grounds that they were supposedly irreverent because they didn't incorporate the familiar phrases of the Authorised Version. When the plays were published, Sayers added a rather testy introduction that spelled out exactly what she thought about the kind of people who would make those objections.
-->"Let me tell you, good Christian people, an honest writer would be ashamed to treat a nursery tale as you have treated the greatest drama in history: and this in virtue, not of his faith, but of his calling."

* PlotHole: The plays fill in what Sayers saw as one in the scriptural accounts: How did Jesus know so specifically where there was a donkey colt tied up, and what password the disciples should say for its owners to let them borrow it? In Sayers' version, it's [[spoiler:a pre-arranged signal from Baruch the Zealot to let him know Jesus was not interested in leading the Rebellion. If He had been, He would have asked for the white horse that was there instead]].

* CompositeCharacter: Sayers combines a couple of different Roman soldiers from the Gospels into a single character named Proclus, who first appears at Herod's court in "Kings in Judea" and subsequently crosses paths with Jesus a number of times, the last time when he's the centurion supervising Jesus's execution.

* AccentAdaptation: Contemporary UsefulNotes/BritishAccents are used to indicate the social standing of various characters. At one point in the script, there is a stage direction warning against the temptation to play a materialistic character with a [[GreedyJew Jewish accent]], as if he weren't surrounded by equally-Jewish characters speaking standard English.

''The Man Born to Be King'' is a play cycle for radio by Creator/DorothyLSayers. It consists of twelve one-hour plays depicting key events in the life of {{Jesus}}. The play cycle was commissioned by Creator/TheBBC and first aired in 1941-1942, with the first play broadcast on 21 December 1941 and subsequent plays following at four-week intervals.

* CompositeCharacter: Sayers combines a couple of different Roman soldiers from the Gospels into a single character who crosses paths with Jesus a number of times, the last time when he's the centurion supervising Jesus's execution.