The three-part miniseries "Tut" that tells the story of the short life and death of the famous ancient Egyptian King Tutankhamun began airing on U.S. cable network Spike on July 19 with its last part to air on July 21.
The six-hour miniseries, which was shot in Morocco with the help of some superb computer animation, is loosely based on the life of the ancient Egyptian pharaoh, who achieved a meteoric rise to fame 3,300 years after his death when his burial chamber was discovered in Egypt in 1922 by Howard Carter.
The series, which stars Oscar winning actor Ben Kingsley and Avan Jogia, follows Tut (Jogia), as he rises to Egypt's throne at 9 years old and tries to rule the Nile's powerful kingdom at this early age while his powerful advisers, including Vizier Ay (Kingsley) and General Horemheb (Nonso Anozie), and his close friends conspire to take him down.
The king is also struggling to choose between Suhad (Kylie Bunbury), the woman he loves and Ankhe (Sibylla Deen), the wife he had to marry who is also his half-sister, which is actually historically accurate.
Although his tomb was discovered almost intact, not much is known about the king's life and the extremely mysterious circumstances surrounding his early death. That's why the story of the boy king behind the golden mask has fascinated Egyptologists, storytellers and audiences for nearly a century.
The lack of an accurate historical record though, was to the series' advantage, as it gave writers the chance to fictionalize events as they please. Like many period dramas, those fictionalizations include epic battle scenes, heart-warming romance and jealousy, power play, conspiracy and some good old-fashioned backstabbing, surely an audience's treat.
The show was well received by audiences after its first episode aired and has an average rating of 7.9 out of 10 on IMDb . Critics praised the casting choices and the solid performances by the leads. However, the show also received negative criticism.
Robert Bianco from USA today said the show "begins as an entertaining adventure" but "devolves into a silly overstuffed Tut fest," adding that the talented cast wasn't "particularly well-served."
Variety 's Brian Lowry said that while the miniseries "isn’t bad to look at," it is "finally, pretty forgettable," adding that the show's first night was "filled with so much silliness that it’s difficult for the story to recover its bearings."
Mike Hale from the New York Times said that the miniseries "doesn’t reach camp-classic status," adding that "like a lot of period dramas, it settles for being slightly silly and mostly dull."