Ancient Apocalypse: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

Ancient Apocalypse investigates six catastrophic stories of how the world's greatest civilisations collapsed.

Every continent has its ruins — places where only stones tell the tale of a fallen people. They might lay buried under the Earth, in the shade of jungle canopy or amidst the teeming industry of a modern city. However, they all raise the same questions: How could something so great all but vanish? Why do civilisations collapse?

In this 6-part series, we uncover the scientific reasons why some of history's most fascinating peoples have disappeared in the face of the natural world's might. We investigate the end of The Akkadian Empire, The Lost City of Helike, Sodom and Gomorrha, The mystery of the Sea Peoples, The Maya Civilisation and Doggerland. Some of the world's greatest natural disasters reduced these societies to nothing.

Series details

• Title: Ancient Apocalypse
• Format: Documentary
• Language: English
• Genres: History
• Premiere date: 2021-12-26
• Final broadcast date listed: 2023-12-12
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ZDFinfo
• Network country: Germany
• Typical episode runtime: 45 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 59149
• IMDb ID: tt15491004
• TVDB ID: 410492

Cast and credited roles

• Alisdair Simpson — Narrator
• Mary-Ann Ochota — Social Anthropologist
• Iszi Lawrence — Historian
• Jeffrey Rose — Archaeologist
• Robert R. Cargill — Assoc. Prof. of Classics and Religious Studies
• Iain Stewart — Geologist
• Helen Farr — Maritime Archaeologist
• Naoíse Mac Sweeney — Professor of Archaeology

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 2021-12-26; final listed air date 2021-12-26; episode order: 6.
• Season 2: premiered 2023-12-12; final listed air date 2023-12-12; episode order: 6.

Source and licence

Adapted from Ancient Apocalypse on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.