21st July 2008, 12:01 PM
I asked a colleague (a museum worker but not an archaeologist)and her view of episode 1 would be unprintable even here. The trailers were a bit of a giveway that this was not going to be exactly intellectually challenging. Nor would one expect strictly accurate portrayals of archaeological techniques. It's a few years since I picked up a trowel mind, but I saw nothing that even passingly resembled a real dig. However, what is most dispiriting about this kind of thing is not the Dan Brown type adventure stories, but the assumption that everything has to be done at breakneck pace in order to keep viewer interest. I got nauseous just watching the constant cuts to a new scene, let alone the content. On the plus side, if the viewing figures continue to plummet, one series might be all we are inflicted with.