"Miracles On The Set of The Bible?

Blockbuster miniseries The Bible has fast become one of the biggest hits on American TV, landing more than 13million viewers for its first episode.

But while its runaway success has taken the entertainment world by surprise, it has not come as a shock to its creators.

The producers have revealed that during its production, the show seemed to be marked by mysterious omens which they claim are evidence of 'the hand of God'.

These apparent miracles included a a sudden swarm of snakes around the base of the cross where Jesus was to be crucified, and a boy who emerged from the desert with part of Christ's costume which had been lost for four days.

British-born producer Mark Burnett told Entertainment Weekly that the series' success seemed almost preordained while it was being made.

'The hand of God was on this,' he said in an interview before the show's premiere last Sunday. 'The edit came together perfectly, the actors came together perfectly, it just comes to life.'

However, he claimed that it was not just the fact that filming in North Africa went smoothly that convinced him his production was blessed.

Mr Burnett, who is most famous for creating reality shows such as Survivor and produced The Bible along with his actress wife Roma Downey, described a number of 'weird things' which drew the attention of cast and crew during filming.

In one scene, filmed during a still night on the edge of the desert, Jesus tells the priest Nicodemus, 'The Holy Spirit is like the wind.'

According to Mr Burnett: 'At that moment, a wind, like as if a 747 was taking off, blew his hair, almost blew the set over and sustained for 20 seconds across the desert.

'Everyone just looked at everyone like, "What just happened?"'

Another notable occasion came during the filming of Jesus' crucifixion - one of the most risky scenes,
ue to the dangers involved in the mock execution.

The production had hired a 'snake wrangler' to keep the set free of dangerous reptiles, and he usually found one of two snakes per day.

But on the day the crucifixion was filmed, according to Mr Burnett, the handler found an unprecedented 48 venomous snakes crawling around the mountain.

Perhaps the most inexplicable happening came while they were filming the baptism of Jesus in a reservoir.

The producers were terrified when part of the actor's irreplaceable costume came off and floated away - but help came from an unlikely source.

'Four days later, a kid showed up from many, many, many miles away, who had been seeking us through the desert to return this to us,' Mr Burnett told EW.
'He didn't know what it was why he should seek us, but he felt he had to return it.'

The Bible is airing on the History Channel in two-hour chunks on Sunday nights, and has been the surprise winner in its timeslot. - Daily Mail