Egypt

I very much enjoyed this classy, dramatic and involving BBC series on TV and having just watched the UK DVD set from beginning to end I can say that it definitely bears repetition. The best thing is that the series sheds light on characters (notably Belzoni and Champollion) who were fundamental to the rediscovery of Ancient Egyptian civilisation but whose stories are not well-known. I had no idea, for example, until I saw the wonderful last two episodes on Champollion and the race between the English and the French to translate hieroglyphs that it was Napoleon's invasion of Egypt that re-awakened European interest in the country and indeed started a craze for all things Egyptian. Even in the opening episodes telling the better-known story of Carter discovering King Tut's tomb the series seems to bring a freshness to the story and the character that makes it better than previous versions. All in all, this series seems destined to become a classic.

I cam here second time beause i forgot just to tell you that this is my 1st ever review on imbd..other than that i m one of biggest fan of imbd around padt 10 years. My favorite passtime is to read reveiws on differnt sections of different people,origin.

I was not expecting to enjoy "Egypt" as much as I did - Egyptian history was never my thing. But the series started out well, with the relatively well-known story of Howard Carter and the discovery of King Tutankhamun and then got even better as it went on. If you'd told me that I would have been entranced by two hours of drama on the race in the 1820s to translate hieroglyphs I would have laughed - but that's exactly what the concise and intelligent scripts by Jonathan Rich that ended the series managed to achieve. I don't think there's another broadcaster in the world who would attempt something this bold, a series in which the educational content matches the entertainment value and which doesn't talk down to its audience. This is the BBC at its very best and I was delighted to learn that a 2-DVD set of the series will be out in February 2006. This is a series I will want to watch again, and savour.

I concur with the user reviews that this is a nicely filmed and well acted series. The location shooting makes it even more of a delight. I notice, as of this writing, that the set is still available on DVD from the UK and includes an extra disc about the pyramids. For those who are not used to buying European manufactured DVDs, be advised that you must be able to paly PAL region 2 discs on your machine.

Superb and excellent docudrama series on the rediscovery of ancient Egypt. The B.B.C. make so many great documentaries on Egypt and other ancient civilizations ! However, I really think the B.B.C. should have used a French actor to play Jean Francois Champollion and a Italian actor to play Giovanni Belzoni. I mean I just couldn't get used to hearing Jean Francois Champollion speaking with an English accent !!!! Although Elliot Cowan and Matthew Kelly are both excellent actors. A great pity this series has now been deleted. Egypt would have made a great Christmas present. If there is anyone out there who has a spare copy of Egypt please let me know.