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I AM one of those unlucky people who recall little of their childhood. But I do remember, at the age of 11, seeing the Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs exhibition. It was the first time I felt wonder at the sheer age of the history in front of me, connecting me with the millions who have shared this emotion since Howard Carter and his team discovered Tutankhamun鈥檚 tomb.

Since then, many falsehoods have sprung up around the pharaoh, his treasures and the man who uncovered them. Tutankhamun鈥檚 Secrets, an episode in the BBC 2 documentary series Raiders of the Lost Past With Janina Ramirez, joins a long list of attempts to unravel the myths.

Some are well known, such as the curse that supposedly killed the Earl of Carnarvon, Carter鈥檚 backer, shortly after the tomb was opened. This, as many viewers will know, was the invention of a rapacious global press. But there are newer revelations.

Like Tutankhamun, Carter has been mythologised, coming to symbolise the wonders of archaeology without giving any sense of who he really was. While the boy king remains unknowable, his health and reign subject to endless academic contention, unravelling Carter鈥檚 life is easier.

The son of an artist, he was a sickly child and lived in 鈥済enteel poverty鈥�, says the show鈥檚 presenter Janina Ramirez, a historian at the University of Oxford. He shared his father鈥檚 talent for illustration, which secured him a position as an excavation artist at just 17.

There is plenty to admire about Carter, and plenty to condemn, particularly when it comes to the role of Egyptians in his work. Ramirez explains that Carter took a different approach from his contemporaries: rather than distrusting the people of Cairo and Luxor, he spent his days among them, soaking up their expertise in coffee houses. He was ultimately fired from his job as Luxor鈥檚 chief inspector for antiquities after siding with Egyptian workers who were accosted by drunken tourists.

But Carter was far from enlightened. He benefited immeasurably from local people鈥檚 knowledge as he tracked down tombs, yet he called them 鈥渘atives鈥�. Like many Egyptologists then, Carter sold some of the treasures he uncovered. He spent a decade meticulously documenting the items in Tutankhamun鈥檚 tomb, yet there is evidence he gave several artefacts to friends, including a golden collar adorning the king鈥檚 sarcophagus. Egyptian authorities had stipulated his findings were to remain in Cairo. No amount of affection for Egypt and its history makes up for such a crime.

These are weighty matters, of course. But as its title signals, this documentary series doesn鈥檛 take itself altogether seriously. We whip through at a merry pace 鈥� one minute following Carter as a young inspector, unpicking his detective work as he identifies a prolific tomb raider, and the next, 鈥渕eeting鈥� Tutankhamun鈥檚 family via their enduring statues.

Not everyone will enjoy this frenetic style, but there is still a rough chronology to keep viewers鈥� feet on the ground. Crucially, Tutankhamun鈥檚 Secrets doesn鈥檛 feel overstuffed, though I found myself lamenting that Egyptology isn鈥檛 the series鈥� sole focus. Overall, the programme did a terrific job not only in revealing more about Tutankhamun and Carter, but in transporting me back in time: to 1330 BC, to 1922, and to the 11-year-old, who was so overwhelmed by a vivid connection to the past.

Bethan Ackerley is a subeditor at New Scientist. She loves sci-fi, sitcoms and anything spooky. She is still upset about听the ending of Game听of听Thrones. Follow her听on听Twitter @inkerley