Tom Hiddleston to front innovative new documentary exploring Pompeii disaster

By Carla Feric, Press Association Entertainment Reporter

Award-winning actor Tom Hiddleston is to front an innovative new National Geographic documentary drama exploring the eruption of Mount Vesuvius in ancient Rome.

Pompeii: Out Of Time With Tom Hiddleston will consist of both investigative documentary storytelling and cinematic scripted drama with the Loki star at the helm, and is said to “reimagine how history is brought to the screen”.

Hiddleston, 45, will transport audiences to ancient Rome in the immersive three-part series as he examines the events before, during and after the catastrophic disaster that wiped out the ancient city of Pompeii.

The actor will reunite with Kevin R Wright, the executive producer of Loki, for the project – which will see him step into cinematic scripted sequences following the lives of real Romans caught in the disaster.

The trailer, which was released by National Geographic UK on Tuesday, provides a glimpse into the series as Hiddleston describes the destruction of Pompeii as “a story of death”.

Hiddleston will be accompanied by a team of historians, archaeologists, historians, geologists and disaster experts as he unpacks the lives of a teenage apprentice, a businesswoman and a Praetorian guard in the countdown to Vesuvius’ eruption.

“Every one of them left behind a story. A story of what it was like to experience that day, to live it,” he says in the trailer.

He adds: “This is the story we don’t know. This is the story I want to tell.”

Reflecting on the upcoming series, Hiddleston said: “The ancient world has compelled my imagination and curiosity for as long as I can remember: I’ve been fascinated by it all my life.

“Classical antiquity is the foundation and cornerstone of western and European culture.

“To visit Pompeii is to feel the distance of the 2,000 years between now and then compress. The past becomes the present; the past feels so close. Tangible, honest and real.

“Our relationship with the past is alive – studying who we were in order to understand who we are. Pompeii is a gateway for that conversation.”

The actor, known for starring in The Night Manager, continued: “It’s a privilege to host this visually immersive and dynamic series.

“Pompeii is often remembered for how its story ended. But by looking closer, we can uncover the details of people’s lives, the choices they made, and the moments that came before the city was buried.

“To revisit the final hours of those ordinary people, caught in an extraordinary moment, and to help bring these remarkable human stories back into the light, is a genuine honour.”

Tom McDonald, the executive vice president of content at the National Geographic, hailed the scientific institution for its “groundbreaking discoveries, exploration and world-class storytelling”.

He added: “Working with Tom and Kevin, alongside the team at Plimsoll (Productions) led by showrunner Tom Barbor-Might, has been a process of inventing an entirely new genre of history programming – one which brings evidence and imagination together in a way which feels distinctive.”

Pompeii: Out Of Time With Tom Hiddleston will be available to watch on Disney+ and on National Geographic on July 23rd.