Pompeii star Dan Snow horrified as he discovers human remains while filming

Bringing Pompeii back to life came with a series of challenges for Dan Snow and Kate Lister - it even came with a morbid discovery on location.

Dan Snow has visited Pompeii many times. But after shining a light on the secrets still buried in the citadel of Machu Picchu, he fronts Pompeii: Life in the City, his new four-part series for 5, and takes a more intimate route into the past.

“I’ve been to Pompeii a few times, but this series felt different,” he says. “Previous shows have been about the big history of the Roman Empire. This one is about real life.”

But while Pompeii has been covered in volcanic ash and pumice for thousands of years, Dan was still shocked by how much had been preserved.

“There’s grass, wall paintings, human remains and bread that was left in the oven before Vesuvius erupted,” he says. “They even found eggs that were covered in superheated volcanic debris, so they became baked eggs, but still in their shells.”

Even more extraordinary is how much has yet to be discovered. “They’ve found evidence of kids drawing around their hands on the walls and leaving graffiti of gladiators,” Dan says.

“You can tell a lot from human remains now too, that you couldn’t a generation ago – you can tell what people ate, and that’s really exciting. It’s never boring.”

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To help him get the full picture, Dan teams up with fellow historian and broadcaster Kate Lister. The pair gained exclusive access to the ruins.

“We got to explore Pompeii in the early morning, before it was open to the tourists. It was completely empty. That made it even more surreal,” Kate says. “There was quite a haunting quality to the experience.”

Kate also visited Pompeii prior to filming, but her first experience was different. “I went once when I was 18, but I was with my parents. I was more of a surly teenager, being dragged around to look at the history in Italy,” she says. “I didn’t appreciate it as much as I should have done, but I remember still being hugely impressed.”

That sense of awe is rekindled in this series. But this time, there’s a more personal feel to the storytelling - Kate and Dan have previously worked together on a string of historical projects for History Hit.

“This was the longest time I’ve spent with Dan,” Kate says. Dan adds: “I was really excited when 5 agreed that Kate could be the co-presenter for the series. She specialises in sex and the darker, dirtier side of our existence, the elements that feel real and human.”

And Pompeii provides plenty of that. From local delicacies and graffiti to brothels, class, punishment and wine, no topic is off-limits. It’s a full deep dive into Ancient Rome - before the tragic volcanic eruption that changed it all.

The team even got to try some of the food and Dan was pleasantly surprised: “It was actually very tasty!” Kate, however, had a more pungent experience with a notorious Roman condiment - garum, a fermented fish sauce.

“It was awful! I wanted to know why it was such a big deal. Romans loved it, everyone ate so much of it,” Kate says. “It was so horrible! It was just like cat food and the taste of it stayed in my mouth for hours and hours. You can start to understand why they were such an angry race of people!”

Thankfully, not every bite was unpleasant. “The food was unrecognisable from Italian cuisine today – they didn’t have tomatoes, potatoes or pasta in Ancient Rome. But what they did have was tasty, including a cheesecake-style dessert that I really enjoyed.”

One of the show’s most sobering stops was a bakery - a grim workplace where prisoners were often sent to labour. “The air would have been thick with flour, so you couldn’t breathe very well, and you could die quite quickly,” Kate says.

And Dan agrees: “We see people in Pompeii setting up bakeries, trying to make a quick buck, but creating a workplace with appalling conditions, playing with chemicals they didn’t know the effects of, it’s wild.

When you see a bakery with everyone wearing their hair nets and air conditioning units we should celebrate – it’s one of the triumphs of our civilisation.”

Kate and Dan even dressed the part. “I very rarely dress up on TV, because I've always been a bit too insecure, whereas Lucy Worsley dresses up all the time,” Dan says.

“But on this show I decided I would go for it because Kate was dressing up anyway. I enjoyed turning up as a Roman senator in my toga.”

Things were more difficult for Kate - no sudden movements were allowed. “The toga I was wearing was just balanced on my shoulder,” she says. “I thought I would get a big pin to keep the fabric together, but you just fold it over and don’t move your upper body very much.”

Kate also found herself reflecting on gender roles in the ancient world. “When you go back through history, it’s just an absolute nightmare for women,” she says.

“The Romans had messed up ideas about what being a woman meant. They fell into this dichotomy where you have good women - wives and mothers at home - and bad women - actresses, courtesans, sex workers. They had more freedom in the public realm but were never properly respected.”

Yet, for both presenters, walking the ancient streets sparked more than interest - it stirred something deeply human. “History gets me out of the house, it gets me out in nature,” Dan says, “It’s about mental wellness as much as anything. It’s good for me. It’s better than watching telly, doom scrolling or going to the pub.”

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