Pompeii: The Last Day

This article is about the 2003 docudrama. For other works with similar titles, see The Last Days of Pompeii (disambiguation).

Pompeii: The Last Day
Vesuvius erupting over the city of Pompeii
Genre	Docudrama
Written by	Edward Canfor-Dumas
Directed by	Peter Nicholson
Starring	Tim Pigott-Smith · Jonathan Firth · Jim Carter
Narrated by	Alisdair Simpson · F. Murray Abraham
Composer(s)	Ty Unwin
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Language(s)	English
Production
Executive producer(s)	Michael J. Mosley
Producer(s)	Ailsa Orr
Running time	90 minutes
Distributor	BBC
Broadcast
Original channel	BBC One
Original airing	October 20, 2003
Chronology
Related shows	Pyramid · Colosseum: Rome's Arena of Death
External links
Website

Pompeii: The Last Day is a 2003 dramatized documentary that tells of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius on 24 August 79 AD. This eruption covered the Roman cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum in ash and pumice, killing all those trapped between the volcano and the sea. The documentary portrayed the different phases of the eruption. It was directed by Peter Nicholson and written by Edward Canfor-Dumas.

Production

The film was produced by the BBC in co-production with TLC.^{[citation needed]}

Awards

Sound supervisor Simon Farmer won the 2005 Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Editing for Nonfiction Programming (Single or Multi-Camera) for this production.

• BAFTA 2004 nominations for Flaherty and RT Audience
• Winner: BBC Factual Audience Award
• Winner: RTS Education Award

It was the highest rated specialist factual programme of the year with an audience of 10.3 million and a 40% share.

Plot

The documentary tells the story of the eruption of Mount Vesuvius from the point of view of assorted inhabitants of Pompeii and Herculaneum whose names and occupations are known, including a local politician and his family, a fuller, his wife, and two gladiators. Historical characters included Pliny the Elder and his nephew Pliny the Younger.

It draws heavily on the eyewitness account of Pliny the Younger as well as historical research and recent discoveries in volcanology. Extensive CGI was used to recreate the effects of the eruption.

Death throes

Most of the people who were in Pompeii when the fourth pyroclastic surge hit died instantly or slowly suffocated to death.

• The death throes of those in the family of Julius Polybius are based upon the 1975 discovery of the skeleton of a heavily pregnant girl (Julia) surrounded by her family, in the actual House of Julius Polybius. Julia's husband, Sabinus is shown to have most likely poisoned himself, and presumably was the skeleton lying near the foot of the bed that Julia's body was found on, with the bones of her fetus found as well.
• The death of Stephanus the Fuller is based upon a cast found of a man in the fetal position (locked up in an on-site warehouse for safekeeping).
• The death of Stephanus's wife, Fortunata, is based upon the discovery of the body of a rich bejeweled lady in the gladiator barracks, alongside those of gladiators.
• In Herculaneum, the death throes are much simpler, as most people were found during excavations either on the beach or inside the boat houses. Additionally, unlike Pompeii, when the pyroclastic surges hit Herculaneum, people there were instantly killed whereas most Pompeians slowly suffocated, although some died instantly.

Cast

• Rachel Atkins - Plinia
• Omar Berdouni - Callistus
• Emily Canfor-Dumas - Slave girl
• Jim Carter - Polybius
• Rebecca Clarke - Fortunata
• Chrissie Cotterill - Epidia
• Jonathan Firth - Stephanus
• Martin Hodgson - Gaius - Pliny the Younger
• Leigh Jones - Sabinus
• Neji Nejah - Restitutus
• Tim Pigott-Smith - Pliny the Elder
• Chad Shepherd - Africanus
• Katherine Whitburn - Julia
• Robert Whitelock - Celadus
• Inika Leigh Wright - Hedone
• George Yiasoumi - Felix

Depiction

A computer-generated depiction of the eruption is inaccurate. The depiction of the Temple of Jupiter, facing the forum, and the Temple of Apollo, across the portico to the left, are inaccurate, and the shown state of the porticoes around the forum is also at least questionable, as they all appear intact during this recreation of the 79 eruption; it is widely known that at least the Temples of Jupiter and Apollo had been destroyed 17 years before, during the 62 earthquake, and that they had not been rebuilt by the time the city was finally destroyed in the 79 eruption.^{[citation needed]}

Gallery

• 

  Still from the film

• 

  Still from the film

• 

  Stephanus sucking his thumb shortly before his death

• 

  Plaster cast of an actual victim in the same position that inspired the previous picture in the documentary

• 

  Remains of victims found in Herculaneum

External links

• Official Press Release at BBC Press Office
• Official Press Pack at BBC Press Office
• Pompeii: The Last Day at the Internet Movie Database