BBC’s Civilisations Returns

With extensive access to the British Museum, BBC Studios’ Civilisations: Rise and Fall returns with four episodes bringing ancient civilizations to life.

“A new series of Civilisations is always a significant moment for BBC Arts, and this incarnation feels particularly timely in our own uncertain age,” said Suzy Klein, head of arts and classical music TV at the BBC. “With unprecedented access to the British Museum’s collection, Civilisations: Rise and Fall makes the case that museums are more relevant than ever: they are repositories of human memory, time capsules—a crucial way for us to understand the past and how we might ensure the future of our own civilization.”

The episodes—exploring the fall of Rome, the last days of the Ptolemies in Egypt, the end of the Samurai in Japan and the collapse of the Aztec empire—feature art and artifacts from the British Museum alongside interviews with experts, key academics and curators and drama reconstructions. Contributors include Dominic Sandbrook from The Rest is History podcast; artists Antony Gormley and Edmund De Waal; Alistair Campbell, co-host of The Rest is Politics podcast; Radio 4’s Making History presenter Iszi Lawrence; and academics and authors such as Camilla Townsend, Mark Ravina, Shushma Malik and Salima Ikram.

Dr Nicholas Cullinan, director of the British Museum, said: “We were delighted to collaborate with the BBC for the landmark Civilisations series and bring some of the most incredible objects in the British Museum’s collection to the forefront in telling these global stories. I hope the series captures the imagination of young and old alike and that we engage whole new audiences with our collection—a collection [that] shows how history connects us all, something which is now more relevant than ever.”

Alexander Leith, executive producer at BBC Studios Specialist Factual, added: “It’s a great privilege to be making the next iteration of the Civilisations brand— especially in such close collaboration with the British Museum. The remarkable artifacts they hold offer astonishing points of connection with these past civilizations, and the factors and fault lines on which their fortunes turned—many of which feel disarmingly relevant to our own world.”