The acclaimed Empires series continues with a spectacular flourishing of imagination and achievement in Europe. Today, Greece is in crisis with a crippled economy but, 2,500 years ago, it was a crucible of civilisation.

Ancient Greece was at the forefront of every innovation: philosophy, mathematics, science, the arts, politics, trade and warfare. Its influence spread across the known world from the Atlantic to Asia and left a lasting legacy of political mechanisms, social structure, art, science and architecture still in use today. Narrated by Hollywood star Liam Neeson, The Greeks concentrates on the rise and fall of the Athenian city state, using a blend of documentary, dramatic reconstruction and CGI technology to recreate the Acropolis and bring to life the heroes of the Battle of Marathon and the philosophers Socrates, Plato and Aristotle.

On Monday The Revolution tells of the birth of the world’s first democracy, as the Athenian people struggled against tyrants, the rival city state of Sparta, and faced invasion by the Persian empire. The Golden Age recounts the Greeks’ heroic victory against the Persians through the life of Themistocles, one of Athen’s greatest generals, while Pericles, the city state’s elected leader, oversees the building of the Parthenon and an blossoming of the arts and sciences, laying the foundation for Western culture. Finally, The Empire of the Mind follows the tragic fate of Socrates, condemned to death by the desperate Athenians as their noble dreams were shattered in the Peloponnesian war by their old enemy, Sparta.

The Revolution - Monday 25 June at 10.15pm

The Golden Age - Tuesday 26 June at 10.15pm

The Empire of the Mind - Wednesday 27 June at 10.15pm