The Emperor Domitian rules Rome with a rod of iron, and is dangerously unstable and paranoid. There are spies everywhere. Venta, Pliny, his mother Marcella, and Doris the Greek cook will have to have all their wits about them if they are to prevail.

As a teenager Pliny witnessed the eruption of Vesuvius from his home across the bay. Many years later, following a request from his uncle Tacitus who is an historian, he takes time off from being a lawyer to travel to Pompeii and Herculaneum where he hopes to find out what happened to his uncle, Pliny the Elder, who died in the eruption. But upon returning to his villa outside Rome, he finds a letter from the Emperor which throws the whole household into panic.

Omnibus of the second series of adventures written by Hattie Taylor. Based on real events in 1st century Rome.

Kieran Hodgson returns as Pliny the Younger, with Nigel Barrett as his trusty slave, Venta, captured during the Roman conquest of Britain.

With Joanna Scanlan as Marcella and Mia Soteriou as Doris, the Cook.

Director: Kate McAll

A BBC Cymru/ Wales production first broadcast in five parts on BBC Radio 4 in 2017. Show less