Lion Television Receives C4 Commission for Historical Doc Series

LONDON, May 3: Lion
Television has been commissioned by Channel 4 to produce Athens, a 2×1-hour historical documentary series exploring
the world of Athens in 500 B.C.

Athens will be
presented by renowned historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes, who penned the
book Helen of Troy. The series,
filmed on location in modern-day Greece and Sicily, will use original
eyewitness accounts and CGI to recreate the ancient city of Athens. While
Athens in 500 B.C. was a city at the height of its confidence—giving
birth to philosophy, theater, great art and science—it was also a city of
contradictions. The series will explore the gritty and bloody reality of this
city-state, with Hughes revealing how the fledgling democracy became an
imperial power, how the people voted to go to war, and how the democracy that
espoused freedom of speech put Socrates to death for speaking his mind. The
series will be directed by Timothy Copestake, produced by Rowan Deacon and
Sophia Roberts and executive produced by Richard Bradley and Bill Locke for
Lion Television.

Richard Bradley, the managing director of Lion Television, commented:
“We are delighted to be producing Athens
for C4 and PBS, following our series with Bettany Hughes on the Spartans, the
Minoans and Helen of Troy. Athens
has proved a challenging yet fascinating project. We’ve been able to delve deep
into the ancient Athens and uncover a startling and realistic picture of the
place and the truth about the birth of democracy.”