This old Pyramid. 1x90
(PBS NOVA) Director/Writer

This Old Pyramid aka “The Pyramid Builders” 1x60 (BBC) gained the third highest audience figure ever for a BBC Horizon programme: 5.1 million viewers on 22 February 1993.

“Pyramid” breathed new life into the archaeology documentary and created a format for the genre which has since been emulated by hundreds of films. With engaging protagonists, and experimental archaeology approach the programme was enthusiastically endorsed by audiences and critics. Eventually academics came on board.

Egyptologist Mark Lehner describes how, “When I did the first film, ’This Old Pyramid’, and I walked into the hallowed halls of the Oriental Institute of Chicago, a few of my colleagues looked at me like I had committed a sex crime. But as they actually looked at “This Old Pyramid’, and as some of those very people started using the film to show students that these are real human achievements. It’s not extraterrestrials. It’s not totally up for grabs. There’s a body of evidence”.

The ambitious accompanying website and teacher’s guide are widely used by schools and universities.

"Compelling television...an entertaining foray into the distant past" The Times of London

The popularity of This old Pyramid’s experimental archaeology approach led to the creation of a series exploring ancient engineering: Secrets of Lost Empires.

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