''Tutankhamun'' is a 2016

adventure An adventure is an exciting experience or undertaking that is typically bold, sometimes risky. Adventures may be activities with danger such as traveling, exploring, skydiving, mountain climbing, scuba diving, river rafting, or other extreme spo ...

drama Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance: a play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the dramatic mode has been ...

serial produced by

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

and Tall Story Pictures which is based on the

discovery Discovery may refer to: * Discovery (observation), observing or finding something unknown * Discovery (fiction), a character's learning something unknown * Discovery (law), a process in courts of law relating to evidence Discovery, The Discovery ...

of Tutankhamun's tomb by

Howard Carter Howard Carter (9 May 18742 March 1939) was a British archaeologist and Egyptologist who discovered the intact tomb of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tutankhamun in November 1922, the best-preserved pharaonic tomb ever found in the Valley of the K ...

, directed by

Peter Webber Peter Webber (born 1968) is a British film and television director and producer whose debut feature film as a director was '' Girl with a Pearl Earring'' (2003). He subsequently directed ''Hannibal Rising'' (2007). Early life Webber took a one ...

from a screenplay by BAFTA award-winning writer

Guy Burt Guy Burt (born 14 July 1972) is an English author and BAFTA award-winning screenwriter who has worked on series such as ''The Borgias'', and ''Wire in the Blood'' and is currently working on adapting the ''Alex Rider'' TV series. Early life ...

Plot

Archaeologist Howard Carter (Max Irons) stumbles upon evidence of an undiscovered tomb of one of Egypt's forgotten Pharaohs, Tutankhamun. His peers, however, dismiss the idea, save for one man: the wealthy

Lord Carnarvon Earl of Carnarvon is a title that has been created three times in British history. The current holder is George Herbert, 8th Earl of Carnarvon. The town and county in Wales to which the title refers are historically spelled ''Caernarfon,'' havi ...

(Sam Neill), a born gambler and thrill-seeker, who agrees to fund Carter's digs.

Cast

Max Irons Maximilian Paul Diarmuid Irons (born 17 October 1985) is an English-Irish actor and model. He is known for his roles in films such as ''Red Riding Hood'' (2011), '' The White Queen'' (2013), '' The Host'' (2013), '' Woman in Gold'' (2014), ''Th ...

Sam Neill Sir Nigel John Dermot "Sam" Neill (born 14 September 1947) is a New Zealand actor. Neill's near-50 year career has included leading roles in both dramas and blockbusters. Considered an "international leading man", he has been regarded as one o ...

* Susan Danford as Lady Carnarvon *

Amy Wren Amy Wren (born 14 October 1989) is an English actress. Personal life Wren attended ''Parsnips Youth Theatre'' in Harborough for four years. She was featured in the ''Mail'' in July 2006, when she and two others from Parsnips were chosen to be ...

as Lady Evelyn Herbert *

Catherine Steadman Catherine Steadman is a British actress and author. Career Steadman trained at the Oxford School of Drama and made her screen debut playing Julia Bertram in '' Mansfield Park''. Since then she has appeared in television series such as ''The Tu ...

as Maggie Lewis * Nicolas Beaucaire as

Pierre Lacau Pierre Lacau (25 November 1873 – 26 March 1963) was a French Egyptologist and philologist. He served as Egypt's director of antiquities from 1914 until 1936, and oversaw the 1922 discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun in the Valley of the King ...

Jonathan Aris Jonathan Aris is a British actor who has appeared in films, television and the theatre. He has narrated three TV documentaries produced and aired by the National Geographic Channel, and appears as Philip Anderson in the BBC television series ...

Herbert Winlock Herbert Eustis Winlock (February 1, 1884 – January 27, 1950)Note: ''Who Was Who'' notes death on January 27, Spring 1998 ''KMT magazine'' article states January 25. was an American Egyptologist and archaeologist, employed by the Metropolitan Mu ...

Rupert Vansittart Rupert Nicholas Vansittart (born 10 February 1958) is an English character actor. He has appeared in a variety of roles in film, television, stage and radio, often playing comic characters. He is best known for his role as Lord Ashfordly in the ...

Flinders Petrie Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Flinders Petrie, was a British Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egypt ...

Vincent Grass Vincent Grass (born 9 January 1949) is a Belgian actor. He has appeared in a number of both European and American film and television productions, the first being the Belgian television production ''Siska Van Roosemaal'' in 1973. Grass played Fian ...

Gaston Maspero Sir Gaston Camille Charles Maspero (23 June 1846 – 30 June 1916) was a French Egyptologist known for popularizing the term "Sea Peoples" in an 1881 paper. Maspero's son, Henri Maspero, became a notable sinologist and scholar of East Asia. ...

* Anthony Higgins as Theodore Davis * Leon Clingman as Arthur Mace * Vere Tindale as Harry Burton * Adam Neill as Arthur Callender

Episodes

Home media

The series was released by ITV on DVD on 7 November 2016. The soundtrack by

Christian Henson Christian Henson (born 25 December 1971) is a British composer, primarily working on television and film soundtracks. He has also soundtracked video games, and is the co-founder of Spitfire Audio with fellow composer Paul Thomson. Henson has been ...

is available on CD and streaming services.

Reception

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

found the series "not 100% historically accurate, ... It’s just a bit of fun." and recommended it for fans of

Downton Abbey ''Downton Abbey'' is a British historical drama television series set in the early 20th century, created and co-written by Julian Fellowes. The series first aired in the United Kingdom on ITV on 26 September 2010 and in the United States on P ...

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

also commented on the lack of historical accuracy of the series, which portrayed an affair between Carter and Lady Evelyn, the Telegraph quoting the 8th Earl of Carnarvon as saying "there was no romance, it just did not happen that way".

References

External links

Official ITV page
*
Video of composer Christian Henson overseeing a real-time recording session in AIR Studios for the ''Tutankhamun'' soundtrack
*
''Gramophone'' article about the video
2016 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings 2010s British drama television series ITV television dramas Television series about the history of Egypt 2010s British television miniseries Historical television series Television series by ITV Studios English-language television shows Films directed by Peter Webber {{Adventure-film-stub