Airdate: Ancient Invisible Cities

SBS premieres its next history factual series Ancient Invisible Cities on Sunday, as Michael Scott (not to be confused with The Office!) visits Cairo, Istanbul, and Athens.

This is a 3 part BBC series which premiered in the UK last month.

Michael Scott heads to Cairo, Istanbul, and Athens to uncover the forgotten, hard to reach, and invisible aspects of these extraordinary cities and in doing so, offers new perspectives on their dramatic and important histories.

See Michael descend deep under the Great Pyramid of Egypt, rock climb down a 1000 year old 90m well on Cairo’s citadel, discover a disused giant cistern inside the ancient hippodrome of Istanbul, abseil 16m underground to an ancient aqueduct in Athens, crawl through ancient mining caves at Laurion, and dive into the Aegean to see new underwater archaeology at Sounion.

Accompanied by ScanLabs, who produce mm accurate 3D laser scans of many of the locations he visits, see Michael as he also leaps into the world of Virtual Reality to explore what it feels like to be a Caryatid on the Erechtheion in Athens; what the Haghia Sophia looks like when standing on its immense dome roof; and how the mysterious chambers of the Great Pyramid in Egypt line up when viewed from deep underground.

Series One, Episode One: Cairo
Dr. Michael Scott uses the latest 3D scanning technology to reveal the historical secrets of Cairo and Ancient Egypt. He explores the first pyramid ever built at Saqqara, and finds out how it helped inspire the Great Pyramid of Giza. The 3D scans confirm just how accurately the Great Pyramid was designed and constructed. Michael also investigates the sphinx to try to determine which pharaoh it represents.

Sunday, 21 October at 7.30pm on SBS