Kelly to star as strongman for Egypt adventure series

Published Tuesday 24 May 2005 at 12:00 by Liz Thomas

EXCLUSIVE: Matthew Kelly is to star as Italian circus strongman and explorer The Great Belzoni in a new drama-documentary series about Egypt for BBC1 this autumn.

The production is currently being filmed on location in Africa and will dramatise the lives of three real Indiana Jones-style adventurers and the history behind their discoveries.

Kelly will play Belzoni from his days as a circus strongman across Europe to his expeditions in Egypt. The Italian made a career from finding monuments such as a seven-ton head of Rameses I and artefacts belonging to the pharoah and transporting them to the British Museum. He is also credited with finding the tomb of Pharaoh Seti I, in the Valley of the Kings.

Paul Bradshaw, the show’s producer, said he felt that the modern stories could be told best for a mainstream BBC1 audience by using drama rather than traditional documentary format. He added: “For that reason we have hired top drama director Ferdinand Fairfax to shoot it. However, there will be some narration, and this will primarily feature in the aspects of the series that explore ancient Egypt.”

Drama-documentaries have become an increasingly popular way of bringing alternative topics to a wider audience. Using this type of programming the Corporation has tackled past events such as the Bhopal disaster in India, as well as hypothetical crises including biological warfare and meteorological catastrophe.

Kelly will also be seen on screens this year as Old Mr Turvydrop in the BBC’s adaptation of Dickens’ classic Bleak House and as a serial killer in 90-minute crime thriller Cold Blood for ITV1.

The television presenter’s career was nearly ruined by abuse allegations in 2003. The police dropped the case and he went on with a planned appearance as Lenny in the touring production of John Steinbeck’s classic Of Mice And Men. The show transferred to the West End’s Savoy Theatre and the former Stars In Their Eyes and You Bet host went on to be named best actor at last year’s Olivier Awards, triumphing over a nominee list that included Kenneth Branagh and Michael Sheen.