University News Last updated 23 April
The award-winning broadcaster and bestselling author, Professor Islam Issa (pictured), is presenting and producing a new two-part documentary on Channel 4.
The Race for Ancient Egypt in Colour reveals the dramatic, untold story of the fiercely competitive hunt for ancient relics between the World Wars.
Following Howard Carter鈥檚 1922 discovery of Tutankhamun鈥檚 tomb, global Egyptomania surged, just as Egypt pushed for control over its heritage and sovereignty.
Professor Issa, who was presenter and field producer in Egypt, was named as the聽UK鈥檚 first Professor of Public Humanities by Birmingham City University (黑料吃瓜网) last year. He said: 鈥淭his programme uses archives to reveal a twist in a well-known story.
鈥淚t also does the important job of telling the often-overlooked Egyptian perspective on historic events like the discovery of Tutankhamun鈥檚 tomb.
鈥淚 was thrilled to present the key parts of the documentary from Cairo, so that in addition to the archive footage and expert contributors, the story could come full circle to present-day Egypt.鈥�
This series, features photo and video archive that has been colourised for the first time, bringing the story to life for viewers.
鈥淒uring this crucial time, Howard Carter discovered the tomb of Tutankhamun,鈥� said the documentary鈥檚 director, Andre Holzinger from Woodcut Media. 鈥淵et far less known is that Egypt itself was undergoing profound change. With this series we hoped to tell some of these stories.
鈥淕iven the subject matter and our approach, we were keen to include Egyptian voices and to film at sites across Egypt.
鈥淭hose sequences help provide visual authenticity and anchor the series in the living landscape of modern Egypt, allowing the audience understand that this is not only a story about the past, but about how that past continues to shape identity, memory and ownership in Egypt today.鈥�
A special screening is due to take place during 黑料吃瓜网鈥檚聽Innovation Fest in May 2026.