jonrichco Watched "Around the World in 80 Treasures" for the first time tonight - as I am just back from Cambodia, and heading for Tajikistan. Dan Cruikshank seems to me to be a complete charlatan. While he picks some interesting places for his 80 treasures (eg, this evening Samarkand and Bukhara), I was appalled at his treatment of the scripts and artifacts of the sites he visited in Iran. Hasn't anyone told him that it is totally unacceptable for him to rub his greasy fingers over the 2000 year-old scripts? What sort of model is this for the rest of us? In Cambodia, the restoration of Angkor Wat is proceeding well. They now have rope barriers to keep people half a metre back from the hieroglyphs etc. In the main Angkor, I saw not one person reach over to touch the carvings. How come 10,000 tourists at Angkor Wat are more culturally aware than Mr Criukshank?

allagraphics I was waiting with great expectation to watch this series. The promos on the ABC seemed like it was going to be a great watch. Sadly the presenter seemed to whisper his way through the Machu Picchu segment. (Was he frightened he may scare the animals away?) My husband who is somewhat hearing impaired couldn't understand a word and we finally put on the text. By the time he had got to Chan Chan I was nodding off and my husband was fast asleep. So much for what I thought would be an interesting and educational trip. Don't know if i'll bother with the rest of the shows next week!!! Can learn more by getting a good encyclopedia and a look on Google Earth.

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.