On Screen · Ancient world, a 4,000-year span · Pompeii, Valley of the Kings, Dura Europos and Chichén Itzá, Italy, Egypt, Syria and Mexico
BBC Select orders six-part series on archaeology's greatest finds, from Tutankhamun to Pompeii
Woodcut Media's Ancients: The Greatest Finds, due for delivery in December 2026, covers six themes across a 4,000-year span and goes on sale at Mipcom.
News reports
Pompeii, Valley of the Kings, Dura Europos and Chichén Itzá, Syria and Mexico BBC Select has commissioned a six-part documentary series about archaeology's greatest discoveries. Ancients: The Greatest Finds is made by Woodcut Media. Stories named so far include Tutankhamun in Egypt, Pompeii in Italy, Dura Europos in Syria and the Maya ball game at Chichén Itzá in Mexico.
The series is in production and is scheduled for delivery in December 2026, the trade site Señal News reported. Its distributor, Woodcut International, will present it to international buyers at the Mipcom television market. Woodcut International is handling worldwide sales. It is aiming the title at broadcasters and streaming platforms.
Six episodes, six themes
The series has six episodes of 45 minutes each. Each takes one theme: Cities, Belief, Warfare, Innovation, Exploration and Entertainment. According to the announcement, finds from both land and sea show how ancient societies worshipped, fought, travelled, entertained themselves and organised daily life.
The series spans a 4,000-year period. It starts with the shift from hunter-gatherer groups to settled civilisations. It then follows how farming, writing, cities and organised civilisations developed, using major discoveries to illustrate key moments.
Michael DiMattesa, head of programming and content strategy at BBC Select, commissioned the series. He said BBC Select audiences have a proven appetite for comprehensive, definitive histories.
This series pairs that editorial approach with a highly returnable format, inviting audiences back each episode to explore key societal themes through some of archaeology's greatest discoveries.
Michael DiMattesa, Head of Programming & Content Strategy, BBC Select
André Holzinger is the series producer. Kate Beal and Tom Adams are executive producers. The deal was brokered by Sophie Judge for BBC Studios Distribution and Diane Tripp for Woodcut International.
We are delighted to be working on such a fascinating series, exploring remarkable stories from across the globe, from the Maya ball game at Chichén Itzá in Mexico and Tutankhamun in Egypt to Pompeii in Italy and Dura Europos in Syria.
André Holzinger, series producer
What the named sites show
The four stories named so far come from very different places and times. Howard Carter found Tutankhamun's tomb in the Valley of the Kings in 1922. The young pharaoh ruled Egypt in the 14th century BC. His tomb is one of very few royal burials in the valley found largely intact.
Pompeii was buried by the eruption of Vesuvius in AD 79. Its preserved streets, houses and wall paintings are a main source for daily life in a Roman town.
Dura Europos was a city on the Euphrates in eastern Syria. It was abandoned after a Sasanian Persian siege in the AD 250s. Excavations there found a synagogue with painted walls and one of the earliest known Christian house churches.
Chichén Itzá, in Mexico's Yucatán Peninsula, flourished between about AD 600 and 1200. It has the Great Ball Court, the largest known in Mesoamerica. The Maya ball game was played with a solid rubber ball. It had a ritual as well as a sporting side.
The announcement does not say which archaeologists or historians will take part. It also does not name the other finds the six episodes will use, or when and where the series will first be broadcast.
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