Chat Ed : Welcome to this evening's webchat with the producer of The Real Da Vinci Code Simon Raikes. Millions of readers have been hooked on Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code, but what do historians think of the book and do its major claims stand up to scrutiny? Has the truth about the Holy Grail been suppressed by the Catholic Church? Simon Raikes investigated this and many more theories in tonight’s programme and he’s joined us here now to discuss the possibilities of it all with you…
Simon Raikes : Hi I'm Simon Raikes and I'm the producer of the programme. I've never been in a chatroom before so please go easy on me!
Carla : Hi Simon
appleseed : :P
jlx : I thought the prog was extremely biased and was out to make jest of it all from the start
Dean Smith : Don’t you think the programme was very one sided
Christian Royal : Hi Simon - Excellent Work.
Jen : yes i agree - the programme appeared one sided and bias
Simon Raikes : We didn't intend to make the programme one-sided, we intended to take a balanced look at the evidence. In fact, when we embarked on the project, a number of the team who had read the book were minded to believe quite a lot of it.
Scottish Knight Temp : A very well made programme, thank you
Tubs : Why did you choose Tony Robinson to present this program?
peterNW1 : I enjoyed the programme - good stuff
Simon Raikes : A very good question. We chose Tony because he has an interest naturally in these things and because he's a jolly good presenter and a thoroughly nice bloke.
lou : it was very well presented. Did Tony have any personal interest in the Holy Grail either before or after the making of programme
shaun lingham : he's very recognisable as a historic presenter with things like time team etc
Simon Raikes : That's more a question for him but as he's not here... absolutely he did. And he contributed to and led many of the most vigorous debates about the editorial line of the film. I think he is probably more interested in the subject now than he was before he started. And Tony, if you're in this chatroom, I hope I got that right! :)
Git : Tony was itching to get his trowel out in that church in Scotland :)
Simon Raikes : Git - he's often itching to get his trowel out ;) But Phil doesn't usually let him.
matthewmjp : has the Catholic Church been working behind the scenes to help to debunk the Da Vinci Code ???
Simon Raikes : I would say they have been working, not necessarily on an institutional level, but we came across many authors from the Catholic church who have written pieces in the press and on the web, and in some cases whole books, challenging the Da Vinci Code. But I stress that we found no evidence of an institutional reaction.
LittleFae : Nice simple question. After what you have seen through making this program, have any of your beliefs changed?
Simon Raikes : Very good question LittleFae. The answer is, I don't think any of my beliefs have changed. But my perceptions of somethings have changed - in particular my understanding of the role of Mary Magdalene in the story of early Christianity has changed. I was one of the people who thought she was a prostitute.
Pete : I would like to have seen more about what the church has covered up. And a little more about the early Christian church - before Rome
Simon Raikes : Pete - in an ideal world, so would I. Any commissioning editors listening? I could do a proposal for you by tomorrow lunchtime! On a more serious note, there was a very good Channel 4 documentary on Christmas Day called Who Wrote the Bible? which went into this area in some depth. Any schedulers listening, can you repeat it please?
bobby : so were they married?
Simon Raikes : bobby - I think the best way to answer that is that there is no definitive evidence either way, but the majority view among biblical scholars is that they were not married. Personally I think it's unlikely that they were.
Tuphonios : Did you enjoy the book?
Simon Raikes : Another very good question… I was frustrated by the book for a number of reasons; I thought the characters were very two-dimensional and the prose very poor, but the plotting was outstanding so I found it “unputdownable”. For me the experience was a bit like eating a giant double cheeseburger - I knew it was something I shouldn't really do, but I really enjoyed it. I would have no truck with Dan Brown were it not for his ludicrous fact page.
merlin10 : I accept that the da vinci code is a work of fiction but isn't the bible also a work of fiction?
Debbie Nocton : Hello - thanks for an interesting programme - will take the debate on - ..... but isn't the faith that has been running for two thousand years based on even less evidence than was the da Vinci code?
Simon Raikes : Good question... I'm not the right person to answer it, merlin. Debbie I'm not sure what evidence the Da Vinci Code is based on and scant though I'm told the original first hand documentary proof of the life of Jesus is, it is at least, for my money, a better read.
Barny : Obviously you have hours of footage how did you choose what to show the audience?
Simon Raikes : The editing process is a black art. I can't begin to describe how we edited the material down. We had more than thirty hours of material to cut into two hours and only five weeks to do it in. We were still filming in week three of our five-week edit. A bit like an accident - I seem to have blotted out the detailed memory so I can't tell you how we did it.
Anthony Lee : Are you in anyway influenced by religion in your production of the documentary?
Simon Raikes : We were not influenced by religion in our documentary - the team comprised a mixture of atheists, Christians, Jews and Muslims; all devout but none evangelical.
bycroft2001 : a good programme to initiate debate, I have never before felt the need to take part in a live or even dead TV internet chat
Simon Raikes : I'm delighted the programme had such an effect on you.
mrh : Simon, do you think that John is a female in the painting?
Edward : Simon, in your opinion, was the figure in Da Vinci's picture mary magdalene or indeed john the baptist?
Simon Raikes : I must be honest, on that day I was in the cutting room not with the film crew, so I have no direct opinion. But, what Tony said in the film was an accurate reflection of the views of the film crew. My own opinion from having seen photographs of the painting is I think it looks like a woman, but I'm not sure whether that's very significant.
Irish-heretic : The program was the longest ad for a book yet.......
emilymce : Has Dan Brown seen the programme, or made any contact with you about it?
Simon Raikes : He has not.
drcarpenter : I thought the programme was quite cruel to Dan Brown
garcia : I didn't!
Simon Raikes : I didn't either. I think this programme, for Dan Brown, will have the same impact as a map on the backside of an elephant.
daveo : Good programme, but do you not feel that maybe the societies involved would have the ability to stop you gaining access to information
Simon Raikes : It is theoretically possible that something like the Priory of Sion does exist and has manipulated us in the same way that we allege it manipulated the authors of the books we discussed. But I don't for a minute to believe that to be the case because there is not only no evidence for the existence of such a society there is no reason for such a society to exist or any reason to believe that such a society does exist.
Shinji : yeah I bet there is at the very least something good buried under that Scottish church
psaf : Are you planning any future programmes?
Simon Raikes : I'm sure there's some fascinating stuff buried underneath the Scottish church, particularly if you are an osteo-archaeologist! We are planning some other programmes. I am personally involved in a big Time Team Live event later this summer - it's called The Big Roman Dig and it has a page on the Channel 4 website which will explain how you can become involved, so go for it. (shameless plug!) The address is: www.channel4.com/timeteam.
ianheavy : If you had had more time is there anything else you would've included?
Simon Raikes : Lots and lots of stuff, ian. Personally I am quite interested in Opus Dei, the early history of the Christian Church and I would have liked to have done more on that.
mumofamonster : im afraid that the knights templar were not explored fully enough
Simon Raikes : I find Leonardo Da Vinci a fascinating character and would like to have done more on him. However, we had only two hours!!
Andro : Did you research in the Vatican Library?
Simon Raikes : We did, Andro, but we did not find what we were looking for. But we did not suspect a cover up!
kells : why not explore the knights templar and the free mason connection?
Simon Raikes : We did in our research, kells, but unfortunately that was a detail for which we could not find room. Incidentally, we found no evidence of any link between the Scottish Free Masons and either the Knights Templar or Rosslyn Chapel.
Meanie : why are there so few detailed arts documentaries? I would love to see a proper documentary on Leonardo...
Charlotte : Yes - more on Leonardo - I'm much more interested in him since your program
Simon Raikes : Delighted to hear it. Commissioning editors??!!
grailseeker : Thanks for a great show Simon! All the best for the future!
gertrude : good luck with time team hope you find something real all the best
pebbles : thanks Simon
nmcdonagh : good luck
kerry : thnaks simon
ckv : all the best
littlemink : all the best simon:-)
Simon Raikes : Thank you everyone that asked questions or just listened to the answers. I've now lost my chatroom virginity and it was a wonderful experience - thank you!
Draco : hope for a DVD :)
Simon Raikes leaves the room.
