Our Top Ten Treasures was a 2003 special episode of the BBC Television series Meet the Ancestors which profiled the ten most important treasures unearthed in Britain, as voted for by a panel of experts from the British Museum.

Production

The programme was commissioned for broadcast on New Year's Day 2003 to tie in with an exhibition at the British Museum as part of new director Neil MacGregor's attempts to popularise the museum. Following the broadcast viewers were invited to vote for their favourites in a poll that was won by the Vindolanda Tablets, with the Sutton Hoo ship burial in second place.

Reception

Richard Morrison writing in The Times criticised the British Museum for co-operating in an, "unashamedly populist television archaeology venture," and another article in the same title stated, "You may not like the idea of a league table of treasures that pits one priceless object against another, but television has its own logic."

Synopsis

"Every year thousands of precious things are dug up in Britain and many of them find their way here to the British Museum in London, together they represent an amazing amount of history. We've asked the museum to look out their top exhibits, both single objects and whole hoards, and we're going to go behind the scenes down into the treasure room to have a look at the top ten treasures of Britain." Hart-Davis presents the top ten treasures as voted by the expert panel in reverse order.

Contributors