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Alastair Sooke tells the story of Ancient Egyptian art and how it reflected the civilisation's religion, through thirty extraordinary masterpieces.

Alastair Sooke explores the sumptuous treasures of the Golden Age of Egyptian art, starting with troubling psychological portraits of tyrant king Senwosret III, and ending with the golden mask of boy-king Tutankhamun.

Alastair Sooke looks at how, despite political decline, the final era of the Egyptian Empire saw its art enjoy revival and rebirth. From the colossal statues of Rameses II that proclaimed the pharaoh's power to the final flourishes under Queen Cleopatra, Sooke discovers that the subsequent invasions by foreign rulers, from the Nubians and Alexander the Great to the Romans, produced a new hybrid ar

Exploring fresh archaeological excavations that shed new light on the lives of those who worked tirelessly on the pyramids.

Archaeologist Richard Miles presents a series charting the history of the breakthroughs and watersheds in our long quest to understand our ancient past. He begins by going back 2,000 years to explore how archaeology began by trying to prove a biblical truth - a quest that soon got archaeologists into dangerous water.

Archaeologist Richard Miles shows how discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries overturned ideas of when and where civilisation began, as empires competed to 'own' the past.

David Attenborough tells the story of the discovery and reconstruction in Argentina of the world's largest known dinosaur, a brand-new species of titanosaur. Measuring 37m long - close to four London buses put end to end - and weighing 70 metric tons, it now holds the record as the biggest animal ever to walk the earth.

In a brutal world where nature is both friend and foe, the ancient powers are just beginning. They must use all their skill and ingenuity to shape their territory and establish their cultures.

In an unpredictable world, the ancient powers must lay down the foundations of their societies to show their strength, protect their people and ultimately build their way to glory.

To pay for armies and other costs, the ancient powers had to tax territories and monetise their assets. But in this world of commerce, ancient societies stored their wealth in different ways.

In a world where enemies watch for weakness, the ancient powers must use all their strength and cunning to defend their people, conquer new lands, and rise to the challenge of the battlefield.

In an unruly world, the ancient powers must lead their people, create ways to govern and keep rebellion at bay. To achieve this, they may invent caste systems, organise gladiatorial games or turn to gods.

Though the ancient powers have endured for centuries, their destruction is close at hand. However, some will leave lasting legacies that will continue to shape the world long after their downfall.

Part 1/3. As life starts evolving in the oceans, our bizarre earliest ancestors battle against 3m long sea scorpions and giant carnivorous fish. Their ability to survive will determine the shape of life on Earth and whether humans will exist at all. As our amphibian ancestors struggle onto land the monsters they face are even more deadly.

Part 2/3. Millions of years before the dinosaurs, a world full of giant sabretooth reptiles and huge armoured herbivores was obliterated when global temperatures soared and vast deserts blanketed the land. As the environment recovered, populations of one species of tough reptile exploded until it alone dominated the planet, but its reign was short-lived.

Part 3/3. The struggle for survival moves onto land in the shape of early reptiles such as Petrolacosaurus. In the Carboniferous swamps, insects and arthropods have taken over and grown into giants, from the giant spider Mesothelae to millipede-like monsters. As the swamps dry up, the world becomes dominated by the first ever giant reptiles - the huge, sail-backed Edaphosaurus.

Scientists investigate the meteorite impact responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs. According to a theory, the event was triggered by a comet hitting the present-day Gulf of Mexico.

Historian Dr Michael Scott unlocks the secrets of a mysterious tomb containing over 2,000 bodies unearthed within one of the catacombs of Rome. The bodies are found to have been wrapped in elaborate plaster and cloth shrouds, liberally sprinkled with ground up amber. Working with an international team of archaeologists, Scott gathers clues to identify who these men and women were and how they died

Part 1/4. David Attenborough shows us how ancient creatures have come to be preserved as fossils and how those fossils can shed light on characteristics of these creatures' lives, and even their death.

Part 2/4. Could pterodactyls fly? And why did trilobites have such good eyes? David Attenborough investigates the secret lives of animals from the past, as told in the fossil record.

Part 3/4. David Attenborough uncovers dinosaur bones in the Sahara desert and visits the biggest, most spectacular dinosaur displays in the world.

Part 4/4. David Attenborough uncovers bizarre creatures of the earliest seas, tiny horses the size of spaniels and an animal that's half bird and half reptile - the rarest of them all.

Exploring fresh archaeological excavations that shed new light on the lives of those who worked tirelessly on the pyramids.

Archaeologist Richard Miles presents a series charting the history of the breakthroughs and watersheds in our long quest to understand our ancient past. He begins by going back 2,000 years to explore how archaeology began by trying to prove a biblical truth - a quest that soon got archaeologists into dangerous water.

Archaeologist Richard Miles shows how discoveries in the 18th and 19th centuries overturned ideas of when and where civilisation began, as empires competed to 'own' the past.

Richard Miles shows how 20th-century attention turned from civilisation and kings to the search for the common man against a background of science and competing political ideologies.

Dan meets the mummies of Tutankhamun's parents at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and discovers that they were actually brother and sister. CT scans reveal how this incestuous relationship could have been responsible for Tutankhamun's poor health. Raksha heads underground to a rare tomb excavation in the Valley of the Kings which has never been seen before on television.

Picking up the story in 1323BC, the pharaoh sustains the injury that would eventually kill him. On a scan of Tutankhamun's skeleton, Dan sees a break to his thigh bone which could have been a battle injury. John visits Howard Carter's house and probes the 1920s craze of `Tutmania', when the Western world went crazy for all things Egyptian.

Dan discovers a series of curious anomalies in Tutankhamun's burial, and spots that the faces on his coffins and canopic jars do not match that of the famous golden mask. Raksha looks at Seti's tomb, which shows how low quality and hurried Tutankhamun's was in comparison. John learns how to dance like an Egyptian at a funeral, and investigates the truth of the `Curse of Tutankhamun'.

Scientists investigate the meteorite impact responsible for the extinction of dinosaurs. According to a theory, the event was triggered by a comet hitting the present-day Gulf of Mexico.

Historian Dr Michael Scott unlocks the secrets of a mysterious tomb containing over 2,000 bodies unearthed within one of the catacombs of Rome. The bodies are found to have been wrapped in elaborate plaster and cloth shrouds, liberally sprinkled with ground up amber. Working with an international team of archaeologists, Scott gathers clues to identify who these men and women were and how they died

Part 1/4. David Attenborough shows us how ancient creatures have come to be preserved as fossils and how those fossils can shed light on characteristics of these creatures' lives, and even their death.

Part 2/4. Could pterodactyls fly? And why did trilobites have such good eyes? David Attenborough investigates the secret lives of animals from the past, as told in the fossil record.

Part 3/4. David Attenborough uncovers dinosaur bones in the Sahara desert and visits the biggest, most spectacular dinosaur displays in the world.

Part 4/4. David Attenborough uncovers bizarre creatures of the earliest seas, tiny horses the size of spaniels and an animal that's half bird and half reptile - the rarest of them all.

The life of the first reptilian carnivores on Earth, told through computer animation.

This programme travels 152 million years into the past to a planet dominated by mighty, long-necked sauropods - the largest animals ever to walk the earth. There were no birds, flowers or grass, and the land was carpeted by fern prairies and coniferous forests.

A look at the world as it was 149 million years ago - in the late Jurassic Period. The old continents have broken up and much of the land is under water. Huge shallow seas have supported a revolution in marine life.

A mind-expanding trip back through time to look at how the skies of 127 million years ago were dominated by huge flying reptiles, some as large as aeroplanes. The programme also follows the extraordinary journey of the pterosaur, which flew for thousands of miles in order to reach its breeding site. Narrated by Kenneth Branagh.

This programme looks at the Cretaceous period, 106 million years ago. Volcanic activity forces the continents apart, and dinosaurs diversify into a range of species to cope with environmental extremes. The landmass that will become Australia and Antarctica is in sunlight for half of the year, and in frozen darkness for the rest.

Looking at the closing chapters of the Cretaceous period, 65 million years ago, when the world is poisoned by massive volcanic activity. Among the fields of burning ash, the dinosaurs struggle for survival, oblivious to the Earth's impending collision with a giant comet.

A journey to discover the legendary lost city of Piramesse, a magnificent ancient capital built 3,000 years ago by the Egyptian pharaoh Ramesses the Great. When it was finally rediscovered by early archaeologists, it opened up a bizarre puzzle because it was in the wrong place.

In the Lambayeque valley in northern Peru lies a strange lost world, the forgotten ruins of 250 mysterious pyramids, including some of the biggest on the planet, colossal structures made out of mud bricks.

This is the story of the formidable Hittites and their long-lost capital, Hattusha, which has recently been rediscovered. Buried in this lost city is one of the greatest libraries of the ancient world, and all the secrets of this mysterious civilisation were written in two codes - one a unique form of hieroglyphs with which we can recreate the lost world of the Hittites.

Dan meets the mummies of Tutankhamun's parents at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, and discovers that they were actually brother and sister. CT scans reveal how this incestuous relationship could have been responsible for Tutankhamun's poor health. Raksha heads underground to a rare tomb excavation in the Valley of the Kings which has never been seen before on television.

This episode explains how the 120-million-year reign of the dinosaurs ended when mammals became the fastest and fiercest creatures on the planet.

A look at the science that has proved Darwin's idea that intelligent, sophisticated humans have an ancestral connection with the ape.

Special effects-filled documentary beginning 49 million years ago. The world is heavily forested and birds rule the planet, preying on small mammals. Whales have not yet evolved, and their ancestors walk on the land.

A pregnant basilosaurus, an 18-metre, carnivorous whale which lives in the Tethys Sea, is forced to kill the young of a smaller whale to ensure the survival of her unborn calf.

Going back 25 million years to the time of the indricothere, which was the largest mammal ever to live on dry land, being seven metres high and weighing 15 tons! The only threat to an adult would have been the hyaenodon which was the size of a rhino and had jaws that could crush a rock.

The beginnings of mankind can be traced back 3.2 million years to Ethiopia and the advent of Australopithecus, a type of ape which, like humans, was bipedal. These early members of the human family faced many dangers, including the sabre-toothed cat, malaria, and the 14-tonne delnotherium.

Revealing the exotic, oversized creatures that inhabited South America one million years ago, such as the deadly smilodon, the largest of all sabre tooth cats.

Looking at the depths of the Ice Age, following a group of mammoths who have been forced to travel south with the advent of winter. On a dangerous journey across the Alps, many become trapped in bogs or fall victim to predators. However, their most formidable enemies are waiting for them on their return journey - Neanderthals.

Featured species are the coelophysis and the diplodocus.

Featured species are the ophthalmosaurus and the ornithocheirus.

Featured species are the Leaellynasaura and the Tyrannosaurus.

In a time when monstrous creatures ruled the earth, South America was the land of the giants. Nigel Marven walks among these gigantic creatures, on a quest to witness the largest predator bringing down the largest prey.

Scientists study the perfectly preserved remains of an adolescent allosaurus they call Big Al.

This scientific detective story traces the evidence for Big Al the allosaur's existence, using clues from climate change studies, forensics, and fossil records to bring him back to life.

Nigel Marven journeys back to the sand dunes of Mesozoic Mongolia to track the owner of the largest claws of all time, the Therizinosaurus. His adventure yields a series of surprising clues, a nest, footprints, dung, and more.

Dinosaurs died out 65 million years ago, and we have hardly ever found a complete skeleton. So how do we turn a pile of broken bones into a dinosaur exhibit? Dr Alice Roberts finds out how the experts put skeletons back together, with muscles, accurate postures, and even - in some cases - the correct skin colour.

Professor Challenger leads a party of explorers from the smog of Edwardian London to South America in search of a mythical plateau rumoured to be inhabited by dinosaurs.

The explorers find themselves trapped on the plateau high above the Amazon jungle, surrounded by prehistoric horrors.

Part 1/4. David Attenborough shows us how ancient creatures have come to be preserved as fossils and how those fossils can shed light on characteristics of these creatures' lives, and even their death.

Part 2/4. Could pterodactyls fly? And why did trilobites have such good eyes? David Attenborough investigates the secret lives of animals from the past, as told in the fossil record.

Part 3/4. David Attenborough uncovers dinosaur bones in the Sahara desert and visits the biggest, most spectacular dinosaur displays in the world.

Part 4/4. David Attenborough uncovers bizarre creatures of the earliest seas, tiny horses the size of spaniels and an animal that's half bird and half reptile - the rarest of them all.

Animatronics, computer animation and science re-create the dinosaurs' world.

Part 1/3. As life starts evolving in the oceans, our bizarre earliest ancestors battle against 3m long sea scorpions and giant carnivorous fish. Their ability to survive will determine the shape of life on Earth and whether humans will exist at all. As our amphibian ancestors struggle onto land the monsters they face are even more deadly.

Part 2/3. Millions of years before the dinosaurs, a world full of giant sabretooth reptiles and huge armoured herbivores was obliterated when global temperatures soared and vast deserts blanketed the land. As the environment recovered, populations of one species of tough reptile exploded until it alone dominated the planet, but its reign was short-lived.

Part 3/3. The struggle for survival moves onto land in the shape of early reptiles such as Petrolacosaurus. In the Carboniferous swamps, insects and arthropods have taken over and grown into giants, from the giant spider Mesothelae to millipede-like monsters. As the swamps dry up, the world becomes dominated by the first ever giant reptiles - the huge, sail-backed Edaphosaurus.

Are sparrows and blackbirds the direct descendants of a vicious group of dinosaurs including the velociraptor?