Magnus Magnusson

Any trials or tribulations you remember from your early days in broadcasting?

It was quite the most disconcerting experience of my life. The very first day I discovered that I was short sighted, which I'd never known before, because what they used to do was they would write out your link in big letters and pin it to the bottom of the lens of the camera. And you ought to be able to read this. Now, Cliff Mitchemore wore spectacles like telescopes. I didn't. I didn't have specs at all. And when I suddenly had to do one of his links, the floor manager waved at a sort of blurred shape at the distance, which I imagined was a camera, and said, Read it. So I just strode purposefully towards it. The camera backed away until it was trapped against the back of the studio, and I went up to it, seized the piece of cardboard, and read it off the cardboard at the lens. I wasn't very popular for that. I got spectacles next.

Which digs do you remember in particular from your work on Chronicle?

The most attractive one was Tonga, the friendly islands. I adored Tonga. It's the most marvellous place. We spent three weeks there living with the villagers. But I also adored China, the experience of going to China. You brought back some fabulous stuff from. Yes, it's it's an amazing country. Slightly monotonous to live in, I think, but the actual objects were so fascinating.

Was it your work in the Middle East that inspired your series 'BC: The Archaeology of the Bible Lands'?

It was one of the factors, but mainly it was just that everything came together at the right time. My interest in sagas was maturing, and I thought of the Old Testament as a great literary epic, and my interest in archaeology was maturing, and also the skills that we were developing in Chronicle had come to a point where all the team, very experienced team of old comrades, were ready to tackle a really major series such as the Archaeology of the Bible Lands.