Editing Channel 4 (section)

=== Religious programmes ===
From the outset, Channel 4 did not conform to the expectations of conventional religious broadcasting in the UK. John Ranelagh, first commissioning editor for religion, made his priority 'broadening the spectrum of religious programming' and more 'intellectual' concerns.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal |last=Wallis |first=Richard |date=27 January 2016 |title=Channel 4 and the declining influence of organized religion on UK television. The case of Jesus: The Evidence |journal=Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=668–688 |doi=10.1080/01439685.2015.1132821 |s2cid=147313606 |issn=0143-9685 |url=http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/22578/4/Wallis._01_02_2016_Channel_4.1.pdf |doi-access=free |access-date=5 July 2019 |archive-date=24 February 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224020832/http://eprints.bournemouth.ac.uk/22578/4/Wallis._01_02_2016_Channel_4.1.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> He also ignored the religious programme advisory structure that had been put in place by the BBC, and subsequently adopted by ITV. Ranelagh's first major commission caused a furore, a three-part documentary series called ''[[Jesus: The Evidence]]''. The programmes, transmitted during the Easter period of 1984, seemed to advocate the idea that the Gospels were unreliable, Jesus may have indulged in witchcraft, and that he may not have even existed. The series triggered a public outcry, and marked a significant moment in the deterioration in the relationship between the UK's broadcasting and religious institutions.<ref name=":0" />