I'm pretty sure I still have VHS copies of these from when they were originally broadcast. I play them from time to time - they're still watchable albeit over 25 years old now.

My tape of 'The Passion' also has Bill Bryden's 'The Holy City' on it which was his resetting of the passion to (then) modern-day Glasgow with David Hayman as the Jesus character, Fulton McKay (Mr McKay from 'Porridge') as Doubting Thomas and Richard Wilson as the Pontius Pilate character. Several of the cast of 'The Mysteries' also appeared in various roles as well as the Home Service. Some of the music later appeared on their 'Alright Jack' album.

At the time John Tams said that he wasn't happy with the TV productions - they were too brightly lit on account of the cameras and the sound wasn't good enough. I think he was probably right. At the time there was a BBC documentary about the National that focused on 'The Mysteries' and the excerpts that were filmed for that were much more atmospheric. I would guess that the footage is probably still in the BBC archives somewhere. The archive used to be in Windmill Road in Brentford.

I saw the original Cottesloe productions several times, including the last performance of 'The Nativity' before the theatre closed in the spring of 1985. The production then did a further run that year at the Lyceum Theatre across Waterloo Bridge, although several cast changes were necessary due to the original actors having other commitments.

Over the years many actors took part in Bill Bryden's promenade productions, though for me the greatest performance in the cycle was probably Derek Newark as Abraham in 'The Mysteries'. Edna Dore was also one of the stalwarts - she was getting on even then and was still acting in 'Gavin And Stacey' just before her death a couple of years ago.

About a year later, I was coming home from meeting a mate for a drink near the LSE when I passed by the Lyceum, which was closed for refurbishment. I came across an old glass hoarding with a 5 foot poster for the production. Figuring it was only going to get thrown away I put it under my arm and walked with it all the way to Waterloo Station. Who should I meet at the station but Howard Evans, the trumpet player with the Home Service. I said something inane to him like 'Hello Howard, remember this?' He looked at me like I was mad. I took the thing home on the train and kept it for years.