His offbeat slant on the news helped make panel show Mock The Week a hit, but when Dara Ó Briain tried a similar approach with his new series Mysteries Of The Pyramids he paid a high price – he ended up being mummified.
In this week’s second episode of the series (the first is available on My5), in which Dara travels to Egypt to explore the myths behind these ancient wonders, he learns about preparing the bodies of deceased pharaohs before they were entombed, including applying oils and wrapping the body in bandage-like material. Then he has a go himself.
‘It was exciting,’ laughs Dara, 52. ‘I was wrapped up and left standing there entirely mummified.
‘Obviously, the part where they drag your brain out through your nose with a hook then remove your organs and put them in jars, we skimmed over a lot of that… but we got some lovely shots of me looking wistful while wrapped as a mummy.’
Dara Ó Briain in his new series Mysteries Of The Pyramids he paid a high price – he ended up being mummified
This week Dara also looks at why the pyramids ultimately failed in Egypt
It was all part of the reason Dara, who’s also hosted Robot Wars, The Apprentice: You’re Fired and Stargazing Live, wanted a crack at a history show.
‘I went in thinking, ‘They should probably hand this series to a history graduate,’ he says. ‘But I wanted to be the one getting sand on my knees as I crawled around.’
This week Dara also looks at why the pyramids ultimately failed. If their goal was to protect the pharaohs’ bodies so they could enter the afterlife safely – with lots of treasure to ease their way – it didn’t work, because tomb raiders always triumphed. Nearly all of the 120 pyramids have been emptied.
‘It’s a heist movie,’ says Dara. ‘It’s a race between pharaohs and robbers. The Egyptians build the most impregnable-looking buildings in the world to protect their pharaohs and the treasures they’re taking with them to the afterlife. And the robbers want to break in and take it.
‘And it turns out it’s Ocean’s Eleven – the robbers get in! That’s the twist: they stopped building them because they didn’t work.’
Of course, the big question that hovers over Dara’s journey into the pyramids’ inner depths is the fabled curse.
It’s said that anyone who disturbs the tombs of the pharaohs will be damned, and many of those associated with the discovery of King Tutankhamun’s resting place in 1922 died shortly afterwards, including Lord Carnarvon, who financed the expedition.
Was Dara concerned he might fall victim to it? ‘I was never worried, but I did think, ‘God, I hope they don’t collapse when I’m in there,’ he jokes.
‘They’ve survived for thousands of years, but a voice in my head was saying, ‘This would not be the way to go!’
Mysteries Of The Pyramids With Dara Ó Briain, Monday, 9pm, Ch5.