The idea of these series - to show development of art in ancient Egypt is quite good but the implementation by Alastair Sooke was too shallow. We see Alastair traveling around to very beautiful places both in Egypt all along the Nile, the desert and in museums of Cairo, London and Berlin. This part is quite good, and scenery is picked well. However the commentary is too basic and the opinions expressed are sort of flat and simplistic. So the series benefit from Alastair's energy for climbing and entering dark tunnels but it would have been better to add expert in Egyptian history and art who would have provided more interesting and more thought provoking commentary. There are plenty of historical BBC series which have done it in the past without being boring or too academic (ex. those by Michael Wood or John Romer).
The second film from the series was probably the most watchable one, the golden age of Egypt is hard to spoil.
The second film from the series was probably the most watchable one, the golden age of Egypt is hard to spoil.