The Race for Ancient Egypt in Colour: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

The Race for Ancient Egypt in Colour reveals the extraordinary story of Egypt in the years between the World Wars – a time when archaeology became entangled in the politics of a nation striving for sovereignty.  In 1922, Egyptology burst onto the world stage with Howard Carter's discovery of Tutankhamun's tomb sparking global Egyptomania.  But the discovery came amid a period of rapid political change, with Egypt having won partial independence from Britain.  As its leaders sought greater control over foreign excavations, many Western archaeologists resisted, unwilling to relinquish access to a past, and despite the crucial Egyptian contributions that went largely unrecognised, the race for ancient Egypt was on!

The series also addresses other key discoveries made during this era such as Queen Hetepheres' tomb, and Pierre Montet's spectacular yet little-know discovery at Tanis – until World War II brought this golden age of discovery in Egypt to an end.

Series details

• Title: The Race for Ancient Egypt in Colour
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: History
• Premiere date: 2026-03-14
• Status in TVmaze: Running
• Network listed by TVmaze: Channel 4
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 60 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 90750
• TVDB ID: 474991

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2026-03-14; final listed air date 2026-03-21; episode order: 2.

Source and licence

Adapted from The Race for Ancient Egypt in Colour on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.