The Story Of God

Season 2 National Geographic (*181) 20:05 Doccie

Actor Morgan Freeman is considered “the god of film narration”, so it’s fitting that he returns for season 2 of investigative doccie series The Story Of God (2016 -current). “I have three major subjects that we’re going to examine [this season] and they all have to do with us and God, death, redemption and a form of reincarnation that we embrace, which is the idea of what happens when you die, and where do you go?” says Morgan.

The three-episode season follows the 79-year-old around the world to Egypt, India and Tibet, where “the pinnacles of faith began”. Morgan adds that “we are searching for commonalities, basically, within religions and then there are all these ideas that people alive have asked themselves. ‘What happens when I die? Should I be good or is it okay for me to be evil? What does God look like?’ We took those ideas and explored those in different faiths around the world.”

The show doesn’t just look at major religions, but also other belief systems and the people who’re leading them, like in episode 1 when Morgan finds out more about people who consider themselves “chosen ones” – vessels who have been picked by their gods to lead the congregations. In episode 2 (9 April) the team discovers how different religions see the world after death as well as how religions decide on good and evil. In the season finale episode 3 (16 April), Morgan asks everyday people on the street how they embrace religion when there’s no definitive proof of God existing. And while the producers wanted him to avoid the topic, Morgan adds that “if you’re going to talk about God and Heaven, you’re going to have to talk about evil. We wondered about the existence of evil and why is it here?”