Ancient Apocalypse

Ancient Apocalypse
Promotional poster
Presented byGraham Hancock
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes14
Production
Executive producerBruce Kennedy
Producer
Clementine Mortelman
Running time
  • 29–34 minutes (first season)
  • 40 minutes (second season)
Production companyITN Productions
Original release
NetworkNetflix
Release10 November 2022 (2022-11-10) 
present

Ancient Apocalypse is a Netflix series, where the British writer Graham Hancock presents his pseudoarchaeological theory that there was an advanced civilization during the last ice age and that it was destroyed as a result of meteor impacts around 12,000 years ago. He argues that the survivors passed on their knowledge to hunter-gatherers around the world, giving rise to all earliest known civilizations. The episodes feature Hancock visiting archaeological sites and natural features which he claims show evidence of this. He repeatedly alleges that archaeologists are ignoring or covering up the evidence.

Archaeologists and other experts say that the series presents pseudoscientific claims that lack evidence, cherry picks, and fails to present the counter-evidence. The documentary was also criticised for delegitimising the achievements of Indigenous peoples. Some non-academic reviewers also found the theories unconvincing and criticized Hancock's complaints about 'mainstream archaeology' as one-sided and evocative of conspiracy theories. Some experts featured in the first series complained that footage of them was presented in a misleading way.

The first season of the series, produced by ITN Productions, was released on Netflix in November 2022. A second season, featuring actor Keanu Reeves alongside Hancock, is focused on the Americas and was released in October 2024.