A three-part documentary series titled “Pompeii: Out of Time with Tom Hiddleston” launched this week on National Geographic, with a streaming release following the next day on Disney+ and Hulu. The project reunites actor Tom Hiddleston with executive producer Kevin R. Wright, who previously collaborated on other work. Rather than focusing on Hiddleston’s acting career or sensational topics, the pair created a docuseries centered on the ancient Roman city and the experiences of three inhabitants during the catastrophic volcanic eruption in A.D. 79.
The series employs an unconventional format that combines time-travel storytelling, staged dramatic sequences, and documentary elements. Hiddleston appears as a “Time Detective” who travels between present-day Pompeii ruins and a recreated version of the city in A.D. 79, filmed on a stage in Malta. He investigates three historical figures: Avianius, a teenage bronzesmith apprentice; Julia Felix, a bathhouse owner; and an unnamed Praetorian guard. Throughout the episodes, he consults with archaeologists, historians, geologists, and disaster experts to examine assumptions about the eruption and piece together how each person confronted the disaster.
Series director Tom Barbor-Might stated that the hybrid approach—combining documentary and drama techniques—was intentionally designed to broaden appeal beyond traditional historical documentary audiences, particularly younger viewers. Barbor-Might cited his previous work on Chris Hemsworth’s National Geographic series as inspirational, noting a strategy of drawing viewers in with a lighter tone before deepening into emotional storytelling. The production team aimed to modernize the docudrama format, which they described as often perceived negatively due to previous poorly executed examples.
Hiddleston brings personal investment to the project, having studied Classics at Cambridge University and visited the Pompeii ruins as a teenager in 1998. He also featured in a “Loki” episode involving time travel to Pompeii, which preceded this documentary project. Producer Alan Eyres approached Hiddleston about the documentary approximately two years after that “Loki” filming, culminating in the star’s involvement in this series.
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