Tutankhamun with Dan Snow
CHANNEL 5, 9.00PM
It’s may seem easy to underestimate Channel 5, but their track record in documentaries is increasingly assured. This latest three-parter, timed for the first month of the exhibition at London’s Saatchi Gallery, of the pharaoh who has had more farewell tours than The Rolling Stones, examines the life and times of Tutankhamun: what he looked like, how he lived and (in particular) how he died at the age of around 19.
Dan Snow is our point man, retracing the steps of Howard Carter, Lord Carnarvon and the men who discovered King Tut’s tomb in 1922, and using new technology to reveal evidence of physical ailments resulting from inbreeding. He also visits the vaults of Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, where thousands of dazzling artefacts now reside. Archaeologist Raksha Dave brings the expertise, visiting a recent tomb excavation that bears astonishing fruit. John Sergeant’s presence, however, remains a mystery; he’s relentlessly amiable, but his sampling of the ancient Egyptian diet feels as redundant as it is lacking in insight. For the most part, however, this is top-notch popular history (which continues across the next two nights). Gabriel Tate children present her with evidence of her new lover’s presumed indiscretions – but with whom will she side? Marsha (Nikki Amuka-bird), meanwhile, reconsiders whether Ted (Alex Jennings) is truly over his divorce, as Marnie Dickens’s intense drama continues to twist.