On Tuesday evening I went to see a film called the Black Pharaohs, made for the BBC Time-watch series. The audience sat on the lawn of the British Council in plastic garden chairs and sipped Pepsi. I think there were as many khawajas there as I had seen in the whole of the past month. Judging from the conversations there were church people, and European cultural people, I suspect a few archaeology groupies and British Council staff.

It was introduced by a chap called Derek Welsby from the British Museum and a world authority on Sudanese archaeology. I have been to at least one of his lectures back in London. He has been coming here for the winter months for the past 18 years and expects to continue for the next 20.

The film principally follows Derek, driving his Land Rover, wearing his felt hat, doing a whistle-stop tour of significant sites in northern Sudan. He came across as enthusiastic, likeable, and living for his work. It was lovingly filmed with lots of sunsets, sunrises and scintillating sunlight on the River Nile. There were sand-dunes and scorched rock escarpments and the occasional pontoon ferry. There was even a map with an animated line showing the route taken by this real-life Indiana Jones. Apparently they had edited 70 hours of filming down to 49 minutes and unfortunately it felt like it; there did not seem to be much archaeology in it, and certainly none of the "will they, won't they" excitement of reporting an actual dig.

It was first broadcast on BBC domestic television in late October but if you do get a chance to see it, I certainly recommend it.