Civilisations featured such treasures as the tomb of Itmad-Ud-Daulah at Agra. In the US version Mary Beard, David Olusoga and Simon Schama are largely replaced

She is the most identifiable classicist in Britain and, to her legion of fans, a national treasure.

On the other side of the Atlantic, however, Mary Beard may be seen as “a slightly creaky lady with long grey hair” whose appearance is so distant from the ideal of a television presenter she has been largely cut out of the American version of her latest documentary series.

PBS, the American public broadcaster, elected to replace much of her on-screen commentary in its version of the BBC series Civilisations with a voiceover spoken by the Hollywood actor Liev Schreiber.

Many of the segments in which she presented her view of the course of human history have been excised in favour of American academics pontificating from their armchairs.