The country of Jordan has called for a new Netflix series which looks at how the world would respond to the coming of a Christ like figure in today's society to be banned.

Messiah is produced by Christian couple Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, who previously produced the 10 part series The Bible which was broadcast around the world.

It tells the story of a CIA agent investigating mysterious figure Al-Masih who courts a big following after claiming he was heaven sent.

A petition for it to be banned, which calls the new series 'anti-Islam', already has thousands of signatures.

The series was partly filmed in Jordan with approval granted after the outline of the show was shared, however authorities now aren't happy.

In a statement, the Royal Film Commission (RFC) said: "Having been made aware of the content, the RFC has asked officially the management of Netflix to refrain from streaming it in Jordan.

"The story is purely fictional and so are the characters, yet the RFC deems that the content of the series could be largely perceived or interpreted as infringing on the sanctity of religion.

"While still standing firmly by its principles, notably the respect of creative freedom, the RFC - as a public and responsible institution - cannot condone or ignore messages that infringe on the Kingdom's basic laws."

In response, Netflix said: "Messiah is a work of fiction. It is not based on any one character, figure or religion.

"All Netflix shows feature ratings and information to help members make their own decisions about what's right for them and their families."