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Pompeii: Back from the Dead

Premieres: Southeast Asia on Apr 10; Australasia on Apr 17; North Asia on May 25

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Two millennia ago, Mount Vesuvius rained destruction on the Roman town of Pompeii. As Vesuvius erupted, 54 men, women and children took refuge in a dark cellar. There, they waited, while their friends and neighbours fell victim to the heat and ash that engulfed the city. They thought they had survived the worst - instead, they became the last people to die in the disaster. The discovery of their perfectly preserved bones reveals much about the way the people of Pompeii lived - and died. A one-hour special, POMPEII: BACK FROM THE DEAD premieres on Discovery Channel on <date, time> and encores on <date, time>.

Pompeii was a city of 12,000 people, a place where Roman aristocrats were served by their slaves, and where slaves could earn their freedom to become wealthy merchants themselves. This <month>, Discovery Channel reveals how these people lived and died, by unlocking the genetic secrets that until recently lay buried in a cellar where a group of citizens sought refuge from the pumice, gas and the thousands of tons of volcanic ash emanating from Mount Vesuvius. In their skeletal remains are the blueprints of their lives, along with their most intimate secrets.

POMPEII: BACK FROM THE DEAD takes viewers back in time and examines the eruption of Mount Vesuvius as never before, including the massive earthquake which preceded it. After such a huge natural disaster, why did the people in the cellar ignore the warning signs and choose to stay in Pompeii? Presenter Don Wildman takes viewers on a forensic investigation that will reveal the secrets of the rich and poor, from their sex lives, to their diet, to their extraordinary racial origins and the priceless treasures they were found with. Their skeletons are exhumed and tested, and their stories are told on POMPEII: BACK FROM THE DEAD.