Tutankhamun

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

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.

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.