OLD as the story is, there is something about the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb by Howard Carter that will remain forever young. As Elizabeth Frood, an Egyptologist at Oxford University, says in Tutankhamun in Colour (BBC4, Thursday, above), there has never been a find like it, before or since.

Yet while we think we know the story well, this fascinating film shows there is much more to it. With the aid of new colourisation technology, Frood tries to bring the early 20th century expedition closer to the present, giving some sense of what it must have been like to be there at the time.

It is a technique deployed most notably in Peter Jackson’s They Shall Not Grow Old, which took footage of soldiers from the First World War, repairing and colouring it to bring long gone individuals “to life” once more.

While the technology can deliver marvellous results, I am never entirely sure how someone can take a black and white photo or piece of film and be certain that a pot would have been a certain colour, or a jacket a precise shade of blue.

All we are told here is that extensive research is done. It would be fascinating to have learned more about this aspect of the process.

Then again, Frood has a lot to pack into an hour. She duly goes through the tale’s still thrilling parts: the discovery of the tomb after a five-year search; the contrasting personalities of Carter and his wealthy backer, Lord Carnarvon; the breach of the initial entry to by robbers; what Carter glimpsed first; all the way to the awesome discovery of the king’s final resting place.

At each stage, colourisation of the film helps Frood pick out details that were unclear in the originals, or that she had not spotted before.

Many of the findings may be familiar to anyone steeped in the subject, but Frood brings far more to the table than an engaging presenting style and academic heft. As it turns out, there is more to connect her to the tale than first appears. In consequence, far from being just another addition to the Tutankhamun catalogue, Paul Bradshaw’s film is a surprisingly moving and inspiring piece.

If Tutankhamun in Colour has tickled you pink enough to learn more, the programme is followed by Ancient Invisible Cities, stopping off at at Cairo, and The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun, a look at Harry Burton, the photographer who documented the dig and its discoveries.

Wonder what archaeologists of the future will make of our society should they dig up an old tabloid newspaper, complete with a topless woman on Page Three?

Page Three: The Naked Truth (Channel 4, Thursday) talks to some of the women who opted to grin and bare their breasts, all in the cause of selling newspapers.

Toby Trackman’s film begins not in 1970, when the first Page Three appeared, but with an interview recorded at a shoot this year. “I don’t know why it’s so frowned upon,” says the model. “I chose to do this as a job. If you’re offered a lot of money to do something you enjoy doing every day anyone would do it, surely?”

As we see from subsequent interviews, it was never quite that straightforward. Even the women who insist it was “fun” have stories that suggest otherwise. Money was earned, as we can see (one smart cookie bought flats in London), but a lot more of it went into the pockets of newspaper publishers.

The film also talks to Clare Short, the MP whose campaign to stop Page 3 was ridiculed by large parts of the press and many a male MP. The cause was taken up again in 2012, complete with a social media campaign, and finally, in 2015, The Sun realised Page Three had had its day.

Of all those interviewed, Samantha Fox is among the most chipper (though she too has a darker anecdote to tell). She used modelling as a launch pad for a pop career, and to this day still travels the world performing concerts. Fans continue to wait outside, asking her first to sign a record, then one of her old shots.

Trackman’s film is reminiscent of the recent feature film and documentary about the Miss World protests. A blast from another past. You can scarcely believe now that Page Three was considered routine. It looks as bizarre to us today as images of strangers shaking hands and packed terraces at football.

Still, sexualised images of women have hardly gone away. They are now out there in abundance on the internet, the biggest top shelf of all.

For all that Page Three was seedy and exploitative, we hardly knew there was worse to come. That is a battle for another day. See you on the barricades.

Tutankhamun in Colour, BBC4, Thursday, 9pm; Ancient Invisible Cities, BBC4 Thursday, 10pm); The Man Who Shot Tutankhamun, BBC4, Thursday, 11pm); Page Three: The Naked Truth, Channel 4, Thursday, 9pm.