MUMBAI: The BBC Board of Governors will hold a seminar on Friday 13 May in the UK to examine the broadcaster's religious programming.

The Governors will be joined at the seminar entitled Taking Belief Seriously by BBC DG Mark Thompson and senior executive and editorial staff; the Central Religious Advisory Council; and a panel of invited experts. The seminar will focus on four key questions

-Does belief really matter to the BBC's listeners and viewers? 

- How complete a picture can BBC News deliver?

- Could belief join History in the broadcasting mainstream?

- drama and comedy: untapped potential?

The expert panel has been chosen to reflect a wide range of voices, ensuring diversity of opinion and a broad range of views. Speakers include Karen Armstrong, author of A History of God and The Holy War; Professor Ian Linden of the School of Oriental and African Studies; the Muslim Council's Inayat Bunglawala, historian, author and broadcaster Dr Tristram Hunt, writer and broadcaster Armando Iannucci and actor and comedian Omid Djalili.

Last year the BBC had been forced to pull the plug on Popetown. The animated series had featured the pontiff as a fame-hungry nun. The animation featured corrupt cardinals and an infantile pope who bounced around the Vatican on a pogo stick. Not surprisingly Church going Christians cried foul.