Channel 4 showed a programme about the Celts. This was good beacuse it is always good to see tv programmes about interesting historical topics. There were some fascinating sites and objects.

However, it was also bad – or at least irritating – because any tv history seems compelled

• To sensationalise. (Any body must be the result of human sacrifice.)
• To gasp in awe at everything no matter how banal. (Gasp! Giggle! They had toilets in the monastery!)
• To assume that everything in the ancient world was ritual and religion. (Knocking the top of an amphora is assumed to be a sacrifice not just opening a bottle, when the celts did it.)
• To have to show reconstructions whether they are relevant or accurate or not.
• To contradict themselves throughout. (Don’t get me started on this)
• To have a presenter you want to strangle. (You really don’t want to get me started on this.)