User reviews

Despite the inaccuracies, this miniseries is still watchable fascinating and well made. The story of the greatest discovery is so good that it makes up for the faults. The discovery itself is quite thrilling and one can really feel the joy.

One of the best points is the detail shown. There are lots of details about the financial, political difficulties regarding the dig. It does give some historical context to the time of the discovery. The question over what Egypt gets to keep and what the discoverer gets as a reward is interesting. It's not right that foreigners take away the historical treasures of any country yet the discoverer needs some compensation for their expenses.

Dealing with the faults: It wasn't filmed in Egypt and the sand and valley are darker and don't look like Egypt. It would have been tough to film in Egypt with all the instability since 2011 anyway. The romances with a Met Museum woman and Lady Evelyn Herbert are a little distracting but I guess if they didn't blow these up it would have been kind of like a documentary. There are some bad American accents of a few characters. Also Max Irons is too young looking at the time of the discovery - bit like Jonathan Rhys Meyers in the Tudors. But so what - he is watchable and actually is quite good here if you ignore the age thing - I can't think of another young actor who could have done a better job.

A little more of the factual elements of the curse could have been shown besides Lord Carnarvon's death. Some strange things did happen. Better than showing the romances.

If you enjoyed this - highly recommend a 1980 TV movie "The Curse of King Tut's Tomb", an excellent and exciting movie about the discovery and the curse. Forget about the more recent one with Casper Van Dien.

Quite a pleasure to watch despite it's faults.

The harshest reviews here have been by people criticizing the series historical inaccuracies, but all I know about the discovery of King Tut's tomb I know from a little light reading after watching the series, so I really don't care if there were no Rolls Royce's in Egypt at the time.

But purely as a historical drama, the series isn't especially well constructed. I don't mind the romance between Carter and Lady Evelyn because it most likely never happened but rather because it overshadows the actual story of the tomb. The problem is that the script never makes me care about that relationship, yet focuses on it so much that I feel the science is completely underserved.

I was also a little bothered by the portrayal of the Egyptian government as officious, soulless bureaucrats. I'm not saying they weren't, but I think the history of Egypt, Britain, and artifacts is a rather complicated one and this strikes me as a simplistic approach.

Overall, this feels like a script written by someone who wasn't convinced that Carter's discovery of the Tomb was particularly compelling, and thus ginned it up with romance and conflict and attempted to shape it into a conventional and fairly forgettable little drama.

On the other hand, the story is scenic, the actors are likable, there are good moments, and overall the series kept me entertained until it fizzled at the end.

Lots of the other reviews here are quite critical of this show for some of its liberties with the details to the point of one criticising the colour of the stone!!

Not being someone who intimately knows about this subject I wont pretend to question their reasons for so much hate but I will say that I found it both interesting and entertaining as did my 10 year old son who is very excited to see the final episode when it airs.

I found the acting acceptable, but not exceptional, I have certainly seen far worse in some other recent prime time shows. I think the show hit the balance between the history lesson and entertainment so that all ages could be drawn into the story and learn something in the process.

Isn't that the sign of a good show? No hate here, I thoroughly enjoyed watching this.

It is strange to expect historical accuracy from an artistic serie. And it is, in same measure, bizarre to blame a romance slice in that serie. Because the purpose is well known, because the target must be large. I love this serie because it gives me one of the most fascinating stories of my childhood. For the performance of Max Irons, growing up role by role. For costumes and atmosphere and all "the spices"- from tension to love, from ambition to political context. In same measure, it is a real joy to see Sam Neill doing what you expect to do . A beautiful historical serie. And inspired expression of huge ambition to recreate a world in its essence defining it.

There are a lot of bad reviews for this programme and I feel I have to say something. I actually joined IMDb to post this review. It is a TV dramatisation, not a reenactment. Not every detail will be accurate, because they want to make it accessible to the main stream public who are not experts in the story and who want to be entertained as much as educated. I'm not an expert, just an ordinary member of the public, and perhaps if I was an Egyptologist I would be disappointed by this version of the Howard Carter story, but as an ordinary member of the public, I absolutely love it! It is atmospheric, beautiful, intriguing, and gripping. I love the actors, I love the scenery I love the costumes and of course the storyline. Who wouldn't love a story set in a vibrant and colourful part of the world, at an exciting time period, about a treasure hunt? And it makes me want to find out more and educate myself about the real story, which surely should be the aim of any good drama about a real historical event.

An amazing , timely and thrilling story very well set in Egypt , though actually filmed in South Africa . On the whole this colorful series results to be a pretty good yarn. The essential story of the chance meeting that transformed ostracised archaeologist Howard Carter (Max Irons) into a household name following his discovery of the tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamun , in the so-called Valley of the Kings . As penniless Carter is hired by British sponsor aristocrat , Lord Carnarvon (Sam Neill) , to do just that. But the hard walk to the surprising discovery is full of troublesome obstacles , such as : WWI outbreak , fake news , Arab uprising against the British rule fighting for complete independence, new Egyptian laws that abolished their right to a finder's fee , bankrupts and anything else . Along the way , backer Carnarvon's charming rebellious daughter, Evelyn (Amy Wren) befriends and seduces somewhat ingenuous Howard . Finally , Carter achieves his greatest dream. The past isn't a game !.

Decent and breathtaking series about Egypt , ancient discoveries , mysterious tombs , Pharaons and anything else . It results to be a workmanlike and sometimes moving flick that just lacks the surges of real excitement that might have turned into an adventure classy . An amazing , timely and thrilling story very well set in Egypt , at the mythological Valley of Kings . On the whole this TV series shot in the South African outdoors turn out to be a frankly good tale formed by 4 episodes . Filmed on location in South Africa desert , Egypt-alike , as the natural backdrop is riveting and look mighty hot and to add refreshing touches of romance to those parched desert sands . Main and support cast are pretty fine . Max Irons gives an adequate acting as the young , stubborn , good-natured archaeologist Howard Carter whose main obsession is to find the legendary tomb of the boy-king , while veteran Sam Neill is top-notch as the wealthy sponsoring patron . Along with Howard Carter's lovers , Amy Wren as Evelyn and Catherine Steadman as Maggie ; eventually Jonathan Aris plays alrightly his helper Herbert Winlock . The series was professionally directed by Peter Webber (Hannibal , The girl with a pearl earring , Emperor). This true life story was one worthy of television treatment .

The series based on actual events , these are the following ones : Tutankhamun was buried in a tomb that was unusually small considering his status. His death may have occurred unexpectedly, before the completion of a grander royal tomb, causing his mummy to be buried in a tomb intended for someone else . This would preserve the observance of the customary 70 days between death and burial. His tomb was robbed at least twice in antiquity, but based on the items taken (including perishable oils and perfumes) and the evidence of restoration of the tomb after the intrusions, these robberies likely took place within several months at most of the initial burial. The location of the tomb was lost because it had come to be buried by debris from subsequent tombs, and workers' houses were built over the tomb entrance. In 1907, Howard Carter was invited by William Garstin and Gaston Maspero to excavate for George Herbert, 5th Earl of Carnarvon in the Valley. The Earl of Carnarvon and Carter had hoped this would lead to their gaining the concession when Davis gave it up but had to be satisfied with excavations in different parts of the Theban Necropolis for seven more years. After a systematic search, beginning in 1915, Carter discovered the actual tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62) in November 1922 . By February 1923 the antechamber had been cleared of everything but two sentinel statues. A day and time were selected to unseal the tomb with about twenty appointed witnesses that included Lord Carnarvon, several Egyptian officials, museum representatives and the staff of the Government Press Bureau. On 17 February 1923 at just after two o'clock, the seal was broken . The discovery by Howard Carter of Tutankhamun's nearly intact tomb, in excavations funded by Lord Carnarvon, received worldwide press coverage . With over 5,000 artifacts, it sparked a renewed public interest in ancient Egypt, for which Tutankhamun's mask, now in the Egyptian Museum, remains a popular symbol. The deaths of a few involved in the discovery of Tutankhamun's mummy have been popularly attributed to the curse of the pharaohs. He has, since the discovery of his intact tomb, been referred to colloquially as "King Tut". Some of his treasure has traveled worldwide with unprecedented response. The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities allowed tours beginning in 1961 and all around the world. This exhibit featured Tutankhamun's predecessors from the 18th Dynasty , including Hatshepsut and Akhenaten , but did not include the golden death mask. The artifacts were returned to Egypt with future plans to display them at the Grand Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The new museum will mark the first time that the full Tutankhamun collection, gathered from all of Egypt's museums and storerooms, is under one roof.

Well...

Definitely romanticized. Fairly accurate historically. Carter is a bit changed to be as much like Brandon Frasier's/ Nicolas Cage's archaeologist characters as they can get away with, to make this more interesting. Other characters are altered to be pretty eccentric to peak interest, to enrich the story.

As long as they stick to the actual history, I don't mind them taking such poetic license.

It is historically accurate so far as I said. The actual story is there. They didn't show that early on Carter really was in charge of practically everything. They kind of showed him as simply an archaeologist who lost his permit. He was actually in charge of the whole area when he lost his title, over a dispute with arrogant French tourists. They also didn't emphasize that because of his willingness to fight for his workers, they were very loyal to him. I hope that comes out.

I do feel they could have easily started with his boyhood and added a few episodes to this.

They also didn't show that for years he survived on his art, selling it to tourists. And his art was good! Find an original Howard Carter, you've got something.

Other than that...it's pretty darn good.

Added:

Wow did this go off the rails eventually. It's one thing to create a couple of characters in a historic story, for romance and intrigue, like Titanic did. It's another thing to take a real 21 year old woman, and put her in a romance with a real 48 year old guy! Libel, I would almost suspect? Are there living relatives who might be kind of offended? They've got this fantasy romance effecting decisions and outcomes of historic importance. Jack and Rose's fantasy romance didn't effect the steering of the Titanic, or other real events. They're making things happen because of this fake hook up.

Loved the show, I've been to the valley of the kings and I remember travelling up the road to get there and you pass carters house. Didn't enter Tut's tomb because it cost extra, but there are so many great tombs to see. Anyway all the stuff is in the Egyptian museum in Cairo which I did see

This mini series was bit of a disappointment. Started off well, the location was breathtaking and characters were interesting. We are waiting for Howard Carter to finally come across one of the most famous archaeological discovers of all time after all the struggles. When he finally does find his long awaited treasure, they don't even show it? I was waiting for them to pan over all beautiful treasure but it never happened.

Could have had less of the relationship between Evelyn and Howard since I can't even get a glimpse of bloody sarcophagus!

Parts of the series were interesting and but felt disappointed with how it ended. There's was so much potential for this to be so much better.

I am actually a relative of Dr Howard Carter as he is my great, great, great uncle. I loved this show and really enjoyed the added excitement of the affair.

A lot of critics say that the affair is annoying and did not happen but really know one knows if it did or did not happen so disregard this as a critic of the show. Also, the fact that the sand or stone is not the right colour is just silly as this would have been extremely hard to replicate and is such as minor detail.

Overall, the show was amazing and captivating to the audience. It really showed the hardships Carter went through and why it was such an brilliant find.

It is sometimes understandable why historical dramas based on long-ago events are tampered with in order to add a love story or whatever. But to present the story of Carter's discovery which fascinated the world in such an inaccurate way is inexcusable. It is pathetic. The producers and writers should be ashamed. There is no evidence of the love affair between Carter and Carnarvon's daughter. Carter was 48 yrs old at time of Tut's discovery not some stud in 20s or thereabouts as depicted in this fantasy plot. Carnarvon and his daughter were not in Egypt at the time. They had to travel from England before Carter was prepared to investigate his discovery further - a situation entirely contrary to the warped plot of this TV series. The point is that the incredible story of Carter's discovery already has the ingredients for a spectacular cinematic portrayal. Shame on those responsible for this butchered presentation of the facts.

I have researched and read the story of Howard Carter and the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamen since I was a child. I wasn't expecting historical accuracy but I wasn't expecting to enjoy it as much! It was a great depiction of possible events and I liked all the cast, especially Sam Neill. Sets, costumes were pretty accurate and I could think of worse ways to while away a few hours.

I would like to address the review by "lukemanning from London" who probably thinks every American accent is a valley girl accent. As a Canadian, our accent is very close to the American accent, so I feel pretty qualified to say that Catherine Steadman's American accent was very good, I didn't realize she wasn't American. Very good for a modern American accent that is, I wouldn't know whether this was accurate for early 20th-century America.

I am originally Egyptian (Egyptian who grew up in Canada) and I have been looking into the actors of the Egyptian characters in Tutankhamun and I have been quite disappointed. Only one of them (Selim) seems to have Egyptian origins, but even he is actually ethnically mixed and doesn't look completely Egyptian, and his Arabic accent wasn't great. The rest didn't seem to be Egyptian. Egyptian cinema is booming, there is no shortage of Egyptian actors, and all Egyptians learn English in school, so there really is no reason why they couldn't have used Egyptian actors rather than British actors who look like they could pass for Egyptians. The Egyptian economy definitely needs all the help it can get right now, so it feels a little bit of an affront that they would make a movie set in Egypt and benefit off Egyptian history, and yet choose the filming and the Egyptian characters to have nothing at all to do with Egypt, thereby avoiding benefiting Egypt in any way.

I am enjoying the show and find it entertaining, but I am disappointed with how it was not Egyptian in any way. I hope that this show at least makes people more interested in visiting Egypt and brings back some of the tourism that has died in the last few years.

When I saw the title "The Mummy of Tutankhamun", I immediately thought of Boris Karloff.

But this about the finding of Tutankhamun.

It is marked as a drama and probably is.

One season four Episodes.

I am having fun as Lord Carnarvon is played who better than Sam Neil. It is not some gooey love story or over acted quazi documentary. I was amazed at the accuracy for the historic facts. That they did not try to twist. There may have been a tad of character adjustments but that is what make the movie.

Now we through in WWI, false information, an Arab uprising, a change in Egyptian finder's fees laws, etc. Etc. Just makes for a complex and almost impossible find. But no obstacle will denture Howard Carter(Max Irons.)

Half of the program is after the find.

I would have gone crazy if I could not binge. Each episode had a cliff hanger.

We go a long for the ride and help with some kibitzing.

I am going to disagree with a number of the reviews posted. I honestly didn't find this "drama" as bad as most. I might be more forgiving than others, but I thought it was a good show. I am not a fan of how the "reality" played out and they didn't come close to "reality" on the archaeology done during this time period, but they did capture the human passion aspect of the players/time. When they discovered the tomb it was not a good time in archaeology:they tore apart mummies/sold them and everything had a price. The science wasn't as important as funding the next dig. So- if you want accurate on that part- find a documentary. If you just want a decent show to watch and learn a bit more about the people involved- this is a reasonable start. It was created as entertainment and for me the ending was week, but I don't regret watching it.

Why do film makers always feel the need to re-write history as they wish it to have been. rather than leaving it as it was? This series is replete with historical inaccuracies, geographic inaccuracies, and all manner of other errors. Absolute rubbish. Even the very simplest of historical facts, such as Carter's first opening of and entry into the tomb, are completely erroneous. The impression I have is of writers, directors, and producers who assume or hope that most viewers are too stupid to know the difference ... a total disregard for their audience.

The remarkable story of a chance meeting which transformed penniless, ostracised archaeologist Howard Carter into a household name following his discovery of the tomb of the boy-king, Tutankhamun.

What ISN'T true is the romance between Carter and Lady Evelyn nor the fictitious Miss Lewis from the museum in New York city.

Moreover the age gap was almost 30 yrs in real life between Carter and Lady Evelyn.

Lord Carnarvon's estate formerly protested the myth that there was any romantic involvement between the two.

This story is good enough to stand alone, instead the producers sullied this mini-series with nonsense.

I initially gave 9/10 but rethought it's worthy of 5/10 for such flagrant disregard for accuracy.

I have to agree with the other critics. This is a poor offering. I don't know if finance played a part but the casting just does not fit, and why both Carnarvon and Davis were shown wearing beards mystifies me. They both wore a moustache. I have the photographs to prove it. The location is wrong, trees and bushes in the Valley? Not when I've been there and as others have said the rocks are the wrong colour. They are in fact a creamy white, appearing golden in the sun, not nasty brown. As to where the domestic scenes have been set, true Davis did have a dig house in the West Valley, but as Carnarvon and Davis did not get on I suspect that any visits were brief and they would not have been house mates.

The "romantic interest" looks like an afterthought and although the affair between Carter and Evelyn has been described as "speculative" a more accurate description should be "fantasy".

No, a missed opportunity to give this fascinating affair the exposure it deserves. There are so many other things wrong with this production I would surely run out of space to describe them. The historical facts are there, it's just ruined by all the false, made up stuff, though I did appreciate the Flinders Petrie sketch, that did point to the eccentricity of the man even if it was a burlesque.

Oh, a last observation. It is only a fleeting glimpse but did I detect the modern Egyptian flag being flown in the "Valley? If it was this series is in good company as David Suchet's Poirot also got it wrong in the "Adventure of the Egyptian Tomb" where they also misplaced the Valley of the Kings, this time in Morocco if my memory serves me correctly. Though "Death on the Nile" was filmed in Luxor.

Watched a half hour on a YT 'pirated' site (not worth it) but am interested in recommendations for as-accurate-as-possible depictions of this whole amazing episode in archaeology history please . Was gratified at the details depicted though but didn't need melodrama added .

This isn't a bad series. It's quite good for what it is, economically shot with an adequate script, mediocre acting and Sam Neill. It is hampered by Amy Wren who thinks that Americans talk like pirates, "ARGH!" Her 'r's are so exaggerated, she takes away any authenticity to the series. This was made for Brits so not many would notice this annoyance but on this side of the Atlantic, her poor delivery of the US accent is so pronounced, it's almost comical. Other than that, the series has some good scenery and some decent supporting acting but the story is so slight and the events covered so significant, you can't help but think this trifle is not the work of major filmmakers but journeypeople working on a tight budget.