BOLTON teen heart-throb Paul Nicholls is set to star in his most controversial role to date.

The Smithills acting sensation takes the lead role in a powerful three-part drama about the staging of The Passion Plays.

But BBC bosses were so concerned that some of the scenes might offend, they have privately shown noted theologians scripts and rough cut episodes.

Suffering

In the series, which is due to be screened this Easter, Paul plays an actor hired to portray Jesus in a village drama about the suffering and death of Christ.

Scenes that have worried Beeb bosses are those that link Jesus with adultery. Unofficially The Passion is scheduled to be screened on BBC1 at Easter, but, at present, not on Easter Sunday.

Paul's character Daniel falls in love with the local dressmaker Ellie, played by Our Friends in the North star Gina McKee. She is married with two children and news of the affair rocks everybody's lives. But her husband Neil, played by Alastair Galbraith, is all for redemption. Or so it would seem.

Those in the know believe the role is a breakthrough for Nicholls, who found fame playing the disturbed teenager Joe Wicks in Eastenders.

And fans of the actor, who used to be a member of the Octagon's youth theatre, will see him romping with his mistress and skinny-dipping in a lake. Paul has been compared with former Brookside actress Anna Friel, who also made a successful crossover from soaps to film.

Paul is in two films, Somme and The Clandestine Marriage, at the Cannes Film Festival in May.

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