REVIEWS

A fascinating glimpse into the pressures and pleasures of modern archaeology

Certificate: PG Director: James Tovell Executive Producers: Richard Bradley, Caterina Turroni Released: Out now

There’s a moment during Secrets Of The Saqqara Tomb that stands out as being particularly thrilling. It’s strangely not a moment that takes place at the dig site, despite all the incredible objects and artefacts the team finds over the course of six weeks in the spring of 2019. This moment happens in a lab, presumably many miles away, over the mummified remains of a very large cat-like creature. As the team X-rays the bundle of bones in front of them an electricity seems to enter the air. Watching these experts become giddy as school children as they realise what it is they have in front of them sent a little thrill down our spines too. It’s these personal moments the film excels at capturing.

We won’t spoil the exact details of what the X-ray