# Ben Hur (2010)

> Two childhood friends from Jerusalem are torn apart when one's loyalty to Rome collides with the other's family and faith.

Canonical page: https://ember.film/tv/37010

## Facts

- Seasons: 1
- Episodes: 2
- Episode runtime: 90 min
- Status: Ended
- Genres: drama, history
- Created by: Lew Wallace
- Network: CBC Television
- Cast: Joseph Morgan, Stephen Campbell Moore, Kristin Kreuk, Emily VanCamp, Alex Kingston, Art Malik, Hugh Bonneville, Lucía Jiménez
- TMDB rating: 6.3/10
- IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2009776/

## Ember's analysis

- Pacing: measured
- Intensity: moderate
- Complexity: accessible
- Violence: moderate
- Tone: earnest, sombre, sweeping, tense, melancholic

## What critics say

Audience reception is mixed, with viewers finding the two-part adaptation of the classic Roman-era story middling in its handling of the source material.

## Synopsis

Ben Hur (2010) is a Canadian and British historical drama miniseries created by Lew Wallace and broadcast on CBC Television. Set in first century Jerusalem under the Roman Empire, it follows Judah Ben-Hur (Joseph Morgan), a Jewish aristocrat whose boyhood friendship with the Roman officer Messala (Stephen Campbell Moore) is shattered when political loyalties split them apart. Judah's family, including his sister Tirzah (Kristin Kreuk) and mother Ruth (Alex Kingston), is caught in the consequences, while Pontius Pilate (Hugh Bonneville) presides over a province on the edge of revolt. The engine of the story is a man trying to protect his family and his faith while the empire he is forced to navigate closes in around him. Told across just two ninety-minute episodes, it is a compact, sweeping limited series with the scale of a classical epic. Its tone is earnest and sombre, foregrounding betrayal, devotion and the cost of occupation. Fans of Spartacus, Rome and The Bible will find resonance in its ancient setting, its grand spectacle and its focus on personal bonds under imperial pressure.

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- [Tut (2015)](https://ember.film/tv/55944)

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