Pompeii survivors and casts featured in new docuseries and permanent exhibition

A new docuseries titled “Pompeii: Out of Time,” executive‑produced and hosted by actor Tom Hiddleston, premiered on National Geographic and began streaming on Disney+ and Hulu. The series follows the lives of three individuals—a teenage blacksmith apprentice, a businesswoman and a Praetorian guard—who escaped the AD 79 eruption of Mount Vesuvius, drawing on the Pompeii Survivors Project led by classicist Steven Tuck. Tuck notes that “there’s a lot of stuff missing that should be there,” challenging the view that everyone perished.

Separately, a permanent exhibition of plaster casts of Pompeii’s victims opened in the Palestra Grande. Archaeologist Giuseppe Fiorelli’s 19th‑century technique of pouring plaster into voids created roughly 100 casts; the new display showcases 22 of the best‑preserved examples alongside artifacts that illustrate daily life before the disaster, including plant and animal remains that reveal dietary habits across social classes.