Season 15, Episode 6: 'Cleopatra's Lost Tomb'
Genre: Documentary, History
Criminal lawyer turned self-taught archaeologist, Kathleen Martinez rejects professional archaeologists theories when looking for Cleopatra's lost tomb in a temple long regarded as not being worth digging at.
Secret Histories is a documentary which shows details of historic events and discoveries about them. It has been airing on Channel 4 since 1991 and is currently on its seventeenth season.
Analysis:
Channel 4
This programme fits with Channel 4's aim, set out when the Channel first began, that educational programmes should be for the more neglected audience of adults as many segments during the show detail Cleopatra's history and explain about the Egyptian gods, Osiris and Isis. There are also maps to show the location where Kathleen Martinez decided to dig, compared to where other archaeologists had previously been digging for the tomb.
However, this could also be considered under the aims set out by the channel for documentaries, as this programme does not run in regular seasons, but instead an episode in shown that is centred on a subject where there has recently been new discoveries or the subject is of some special interest to the public at that time. For example, this year there has only been one episode this year, 'Dunkirk the New Evidence', as there have been new discoveries about that subject, as well as a film released causing more public interest and curiosity.
This programme also features not only a diverse range of content, but also a diverse range of voices, another of Channel 4's aims. For example, this episode was centred on Kathleen Martinez, who is form the Dominican Republic, whereas another ('The Other Prince William') is centred on Zsuzsi Starkloff, who is from Hungary. I think that this important because it exposes the British public to cultures they may not otherwise have the chance to hear the perspective of, especially on a subject such as archaeology, which is normally confined to journals.
John Grierson
However, this is a different type of documentary to the ones Grierson originally made whilst the genre was still developing. Many of Grierson's documentaries showed working Britain which had never been done before, whereas this series, although many are set in Britain and feature British history, seems more interested in keeping the public up to date with new discoveries.
For-Anyone-As-Someone Structures
This programme follows a for-someone-as-anyone structure, as it helps bring discoveries into the public's consciousness by being focused on the different viewpoints centred in each episode. For example, anyone can now follow Kathleen Martinez on her search for Cleopatra, as she posts about it on social media and it is widely covered in the news. This means it can be shared and therefore become a concern to any member of the public, even if they have never had an interest in archeology or Egyptology before.
Review:
Overall, I enjoyed this episode because it was interesting to see how someone like Kathleen Martinez, who had never been on an archaeological dig before, manage to find many artefacts other professional archaeologists had thought would not be at the temple Kathleen decided to dig at, Taposiris Magna. I also liked the segments of the show that chronicled some of Cleopatra's history, as it meant I did not have to know anything about the history of Egypt or it's Gods beforehand to enjoy the show. Although at the ending of the show, Kathleen does not actually find the tomb of Cleopatra which was slightly disappointing, I found out it is because she is still looking for it. According to one of the professors in the documentary, if she does eventually find it, it would probably be the biggest discovery since Howard Carter discovered Tutankhamun's tomb in 1922. However, it is possible to follow along with Kathleen's search for the tomb because of social media and various other articles and news report that have been created for networks such as CNN, and Heritage Key Media using the hashtag Kathleen created, 'In search of Cleopatra'.
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