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In
Ancient Tales' story tantalizingly titled "Deborah and the Headbanger," Tony Robinson traipses through the Israeli desert recounting how the Israelites, having settled for a quiet agrarian life side-by-side with their Canaanite foes, are led back into war by the prophetess Deborah and her leader of choice, the beer-swilling thug of the title. In the second story, which he slyly dubs "Gideon Gets His Woolly Wet," he tells the famous story of the young Israelite's question to God, who answers by alternately soaking and drying his sweater (a "woolly" in Great Britain, where this series was first produced for the BBC). Robinson clearly relishes retelling some of the gory details of these Bible stories and plays to a contemporary audience by using slang--albeit British--to juice things up. Whether describing how an old woman fatally hammers a tent pole into the enemy leader's ear or running through the flames of a burning field, Robinson makes Bible storytelling a hoot.
--Kimberly Heinrichs