Victorian Mummymania

About the show

Before Tutankhamen unleashed his curse and Universal Studios' mummy shuffled onto our screens, Victorian society was swept up in Egyptomania. Dr Jay Sullivan, author of Egyptian Gothic, unearths the mostly-forgotten trend that was originally more popular than vampire fiction: a 40-year craze for novels about reanimated mummies, cursed jewellery, and nightmarish museums.

But sometimes truth is stranger than fiction. At the same time, a magical secret cult formed in the galleries of the British Museum, the rich held mummy unwrapping parties, and the casual Egyptian tourist opted to bring more than a postcard back from their Thomas Cook trip.