Actually, in spite of misgivings, this turned out to be better than I was expecting. The mistake in the first series was that it was probably a little too Queer as Folk meets sci-fi. There’s still that slightly adult edge, but the second series had a stronger focus on silly sci-fi than relationship-of-the-week-as-a-consequence-of-misused-alien-tech quandaries which featured in the first series. The second series is stuff that I could show to Class 16.
James Marsters (aka Spike in Buffy the Vampire Slayer) turned up as one of Jack’s former partners (in all senses of the word); Jack was reunited with his long-lost brother, but not in a good way; and Toshiko and Owen got written out of the series, although I don’t know why. Perhaps the actors thought their characters were a little too nerdy. Toshiko, in particular, had been lumbered with the role of the techno-babble babe, but really didn’t have anything much else to do.
Perhaps panto was more alluring.
This was a BBC docudrama which came out in 2005. It’s about key moments in Egyptian archaeology – the discovery of the tomb of Tutankhamun; the decipherment of hieroglyphics; and the discovery of Egyptian monuments, especially those built for Rameses the Great, in the early 19th century when Egyptian artefacts were in demand in Europe.
A short-lived, but fascinating series.
