ScoobyMint Disappointment for a huge fan!

TaryBiggBall It was OK. I don't see why everyone loves it so much. It wasn't very smart or deep or well-directed.

Grimossfer Clever and entertaining enough to recommend even to members of the 1%

Tayloriona Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

margp I have visited many of the places in 'Around the world in 80 treasures' and really loved my travels. However, Dan Cruikshank has trivialized the history, culture social systems and architecture of these places to present an imperialist, pompous 'search for treasure' -(whatever that is supposed to mean). The idea of a treasure (in mysterious places, like the East) is a totally Victorian imperialist British concept and completely inappropriate for discussing the cultures of the places that this idiot visits.He is an ill-informed waffler and a complete opportunist who hasn't even bothered to do adequate research into the places he visits - I doubt if he has much interest in knowing about these places. Rather the program is just about him and with his dramatics and animations he steals from these extremely interesting places to direct attention to himself. For example there is no need to emphasize the drama of the markets area of Calcutta through dramatic gestures, there is enough going on there already. So why doesn't he just let us enjoy seeing the place and tell us a few well researched facts, instead of forcing us to look at him? I think Dan Cruikshank is shameful and should be an embarrassment to the BBC - and to the ABC who present his antics. The only way I can bear to view this program is to turn the sound off - even then I'm forced to see his ridiculous gestures as he dominates the screen. Watching this program is an exercise of frustration and I won't be punishing myself again.

drslop Is this some kind of surreal joke? A clueless, maladroit windbag tours "his" selection of world "treasures" and is locked out, finds the treasure invisible in mist or bestows such comments as "absolutely stunning" (on the Easter Island statues!) while endlessly complaining about scheduling problems. World civilisation is here made stupendously dull presented by someone who achieves the difficult feat of being extremely superficial and tediously rambling at the same time while being apparently unable to get off-screen long enough for viewers actually to see or appreciate the "treasures" he is so earnestly and witlessly wheezing about. So shallow and brief is the treatment of each treasure here that if you blink, you will miss one or two -- but, sadly, you will not escape the whittering of the truly appalling Dan Cruikshank whose confidence in his own narrow and banal "Little England" aesthetic judgements is such that he needs no actual expertise in casting his pearls before us. This seems to be the same absurd Cruikshank who had a tiny flash of fame with his extravagant, apparently unsubstantiated claims downplaying the scale of the looting of the Baghdad Museum, asserting that the Museum was a legitimate military target and charging that the looting was "an inside job". (Not very surprisingly, Iraq does not figure as a location for any of these treasures.) In short, this bloke seems to be a rather irritating idiot and, putting it kindly, not exactly authentic in his excessively self-conscious eccentricity. Watch this at your own risk -- good earplugs or "MUTE" would certainly help. Highly recommended for gullible people with absolutely no prior knowledge of history or culture or anyone who is interested in seeing how very low the BBC documentary has now fallen.

Koenraad G F Vissers The presenter may at first sight appear a bizarre character, just listen to him and you won't find it hard to believe my (if you haven't yet enjoined his previous productions) that he constituently proved his worth as an exceptionally knowledgeable expert on architecture and art in general, from all periods, as well as the bigger -cultural and general- picture of historical context. Here the lucky devil is allowed to travel from country to country (several are providing more then one stop) in pursuit of 80 exceptional works of art, all of which he selected as personal favorites for various reasons, which are usually well explained, although the format simply does not allow for anything like the thoroughness he usually displays in other, much more specific BBC series. Still, a remarkable combination of obvious musts and far less known choices, some of which are likely to be intriguing discoveries for most of you, as they were for me. As usual, he BBC provides reliable quality - I doubt whether anyone can challenge any fact (appreciation as such is of course to subjective ever to be 'reliable'). The enviable perk of a dream tour around the world is not wasted on such an exceptional connoisseur and born story teller - if only other stations could learn from the BBC how to pull of such stunts with panache and hardly ever failing success!

Iain Roberts Fans of "The Fast Show" may find Dan Cruickshank a little familiar (think "Gideon Soames" ;-) but his infectious enthusiasm is what makes this show. His selections of 80 of the finest man-made "treasures" around the world is eclectic, sometimes personal, sometimes moving and always interesting.I've already had to add a few new places to my "to see" list, and it was wonderful to see him visit some of the places I've already been (in a slightly egotistical way!).Of course there is some overlap with other globe-trotting telly people - most notably Michael Palin (who must have been everywhere by now - pretty annoying for other presenters, I should think). But Dan's fresh approach means that even when visiting the most well-known locations he manages to involve the viewer and often provide a new angle. Of course a series like this is always going to have to be fairly superficial - it'd be pretty long otherwise - but this is a more scholarly approach than most.Just a shame that (at time of writing) there seem to be no plans to bring it out on DVD? Strange, for what was obviously a major and expensive series to produce.