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Ruins: Rise and Fall is an epic new history series built around one powerful idea: every ruin tells two stories—how it rises, and how it falls. Across eight visually spectacular episodes, we travel to twenty-four extraordinary sites around the world, from Sigiriya in Sri Lanka and Ephesus in Turkey to Vindolanda on the Roman frontier, Hitler's Wolf's Lair and vast underground Nazi war factories. Guided by the archaeologists and historians who know these places best, we uncover the ambition, ingenuity, conflict and catastrophe that transformed them from thriving centres of power into the haunting ruins we see today.

Using state-of-the-art digital reconstruction, each story begins by stripping the landscape back to the moment before the first stone was laid. As the narrative unfolds, we rebuild every site piece by piece until it reaches its greatest glory, before watching history tear it apart through war, disaster, abandonment or decay, returning it to the ruin that survives today. Combining cinematic visual effects, breathtaking locations and authoritative expertise, Ruins: Rise and Fall doesn't just explain history—it allows audiences to witness the complete life story of the world's greatest ruins.