Major new series in BBC's Civilisation strand debuts tonight

Shout out to Stern & Wild filmmaker Duncan Singh, one of the Directors of the epic new series from BBC Arts, CIVILISATIONS: RISE AND FALL, which launches on BBC Two tonight at 9.00pm.

The four-part series is the latest iteration of the broadcaster’s landmark production CIVILISATION, which first aired in 1969, hosted by Kenneth Clark. RISE AND FALL explores four ancient worlds – Rome, Egypt, the Aztecs and the samurai of Japan – and the moments when they faced disaster. The series reveals the human stories at the heart of each crisis through a selection of art and artefacts from the British Museum’s extraordinary collection.

This CIVILISATION series is the first to incorporate drama visualisations and makes groundbreaking use of new technology. All the drama was shot using Virtual Production in what is thought to be a first for a Factual series. It’s stunning to watch.

The production has generated lots of pre-launch media attention. Described as “gripping stuff” in today’s Financial Times, it is the Lead pick in The Guardian and The Telegraph, Pick of the day in the i-Paper and the Daily Mail, and Best Documentary in the Daily Express and The Mirror.

Duncan is Director of the third episode of the series, AZTECS, which explores the fateful clash of the Old and New worlds following the arrival of the Spanish Conquistadors in what is now Mexico in 1519.

The series is a BBC Studios production for BBC Two and iPlayer. It was commissioned by Head of BBC Arts & Classical Music TV, Suzy Klein. Anthony Mitchell is Series Producer and Alexander Leith is Exec Producer. To read more or stream on iPlayer visit the series website here.