Tutankhamun

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.