In the tiny poor town of Asa Branca, in the middle of Brazilian Northeast, Roque Santeiro is worshiped as a saint. He was supposedly killed by a bandit, 18 years ago, trying to save the local church.
With Adriana Esteves, Ary Fontoura, Claudio Marzo, Eva Wilma. Roque Santeiro is a Brazilian primetime telenovela produced and broadcast by Rede Globo. It premiered on 24 June 1985 and ended on 22 February 1986, replacin.
After his disappearance, local leaderships such as landowner Sinhozinho Malta and mayor Florindo, took profit on that to control the humble population. They even make up a widow, Porcina, who should have married Roque secretly before his death. What they don't expect is that Roque is alive, and he's back to, allegedly, 'save his people'.
Now Malta, Florindo, Porcina, and others must hold him down and explain the 'truth' to their commoners, in a desperate attempt to save their own bottoms. Meanwhile, mysterious facts surround Asa Branca, such as a Werewolf, a film crew who are trying to shoot a movie about Roque's story, and violent murderers.
Dias Gomes writes about small towns in marvelous satires of local authorities and their hypocrisy. This soap opera is the most magnificent metaphor for Brazilian society, enslaved by religion and the power of politicians and aristocrats. 
This work was censored by the military dictatorship in the 70s, after writing a few chapters. The Brazilians could only feel the full power of creative and critical Dias Gomes almost ten years later, when political liberalization allowed the soap opera was again recorded and displayed. Dias Gomes had the courage to talk about topics that were previously taboo on TV and got an audience that hit more than 90% in IBOPE, which is the index that measures the audience in Brazil. Roque Santeiro is simply the greatest dramatic work of Brazilian TV of all time.