It was billed as a documentary which could push the boundaries of good taste.
But last night's Mummifying Alan has won rave reviews for the thoughtful way it covered a potentially disturbing subject.
Taxi driver Alan Billis offered up his corpse to be transformed into a mummy to help scientists rediscover the ancient Egyptian method of body preservation.
Far from the gruesome "freak show" hype, it offered a touching and informative view on the after life.
"With his skilfully edited voice, seemingly reflecting on the action from beyond the grave, elevated what could have been a dry research project into an illuminating study of the way we look at life and death," said Metro.
Meanwhile OnTheBox.com said: "It obvious that the production crew worked hard to maintain respect for the brave volunteer" before asking: "Not an easy watch, but if Alan and his family were brave enough to make the sacrifice then who are we to send in complaints by the bucket-load?"
But not everyone saw the educational side. "No matter how many fictional postmortems you’ve seen in Silent Witness, the moment the sheet is removed to reveal Alan’s body is genuinely shocking," reported the Daily Mirror.
And The Independent was slightly more crass: "All those involved declared themselves well pleased with the results. I thought he'd put on a bit of weight, myself, but there was no question that "Torquay's Tutankhamun", as he'd described himself before death, had made it to mummy status."