The Guardian's TV critic reviews Pompeii: Out of Time With Tom Hiddleston, a new National Geographic documentary-drama in which the actor helps trace the fates of real Pompeiians during Vesuvius's catastrophic AD79 eruption. The review is highly critical of the show's tone, arguing that its heavy dramatisation, CGI re-enactments and Hiddleston's earnest, emotive delivery tip repeatedly from "cheese" into "cringe", though the critic concedes the result is still oddly watchable.

Across the three-episode series, Hiddleston works with classicist Prof Steven L Tuck and other experts (comically captioned as "Helpful Archaeologist" and similar) to identify and follow three individual Pompeiians through the disaster, using ancient inscriptions and records that Hiddleston, a Latin speaker, translates himself. The review highlights moments such as Hiddleston recounting a personal visit to Pompeii aged 17 in 1998, his mistranslation of a bathhouse owner named Julia as "Julius", and his frequent, soulful direct-to-camera monologues about blending "historical evidence" with acting, all cited as examples of the show's overwrought, self-indulgent style.