AMONG the ancient ruins of Petra in Jordan, former Top Of The Pops presenter Jamie Theakston is putting his years of controlling enthusiastic crowds to good use, as he orchestrates a perfect to-camera piece amid the hubbub of the lost city.

But it's not the Spice Girls or Oasis of Theakston's TOTP heyday causing the furore, it's the archaeological wonder that is this Uneseco World Heritage Site, and the thought of the priceless ancient treasure that lies below the rose-coloured buildings that's causing excitement among the horde.

With streams of tour groups buzzing around the crew and a scuffle over a camel threatening to break out among the local sellers, the pressure is on Theakston to nail his piece - and pronto.

"He's 'one shot Jamie'," says the managing director of the production company, who is making the second series of Forbidden History.

And it seems he's only half joking, as Theakston delivers his lines to the lens in front of the swelling audience, who have been asked to hold tight for two minutes.

'Cut' is called and Theakston gives a bemused smile of thanks to the crowd.

"Amazing," says Theakston, taking in the imposing old caves and buildings.

Jordan isn't the only incredible place the 43-year-old, who cut his presenting teeth on Saturday morning kids' show Live & Kicking before moving on to The O-Zone in the Nineties, will visit for the six-part series. He'll also head to New York to pursue the Holy Grail, and Greece to examine the power of the Oracle.

While he sounds and looks the part, Theakston admits he was hoping to conjure up a more authentic aura.

"In my head, I'm hoping my sons have this image of me like T.E. Lawrence on horseback, as opposed to driving around in a minivan across the desert," he says, laughing.

But with just two days a week on location, the horses will have to wait.

A DJ, with a daily slot on Heart Breakfast with Emma Bunton, a prolific provider of TV voice-overs and with "endless amounts of stuff" to fill his day, Theakston initially had cold feet about taking on the role. Home is London, with his wife Sophie Siegle and their sons Sidney, 6, and Kit, 5.

"With my day job, I don't have a chance to do TV any more," he says, as we gulp down brews during a brief break between scenes.

"When Henry from the production company approached me and said, 'Would you like to do a history show?', I was like, 'I can't do it', because he said it would involve a week in Petra, a week in Jerusalem..."

But after some re-jigging, Theakston and Henry "worked around the dates". "We have this ridiculous schedule," he says. "I'll do my radio show, get on a motorbike, fly out for few hours, film the programme, get back home, sleep, and then back in to work on Monday."

Theakston's tough schedule means he misses his family, but he insists he is finding his own ways of staying in touch.

"My son took a picture of his spelling test and sent it to me. He got 8/8, so I can sort of keep in touch with what they are doing, but it's a challenge."

Another challenge is getting his head around the history.

If he's "brutally honest", as a schoolboy in Sussex, he found "learning the lineage of Tudor and Stuart dynasties and dates of battles boring and dull".

He says: "I think my lack of history credentials was one of the reasons why I was asked to do the programme.

"They didn't want an academic take on these stories. They wanted someone who didn't know too much, so I would ask the same questions a viewer would."

From working on the series, he has come to enjoy the subject, and "learned to question why certain things are as they are", he adds.

With the directors beckoning him back to work, Theakston can't stop for long. But he does think he understands why these stories make such fascinating TV - even for non-history buffs.

"History is the backdrop, the story is the narrative and the investigation is what makes it so compelling," he says.

l Forbidden History starts on the Yesterday channel on Wednesday (Sky 537, Virgin 203, Freeview 19)

KEELEY BOLGER