A forthcoming Channel 4 series will use computer generated images (CGI) to recreate Chester ’s Roman amphitheatre and Roman harbour.
TV academic Professor Alice Roberts filmed in Chester last August for a show called Britain’s Most Historic Towns with other places featured including York, Belfast, Winchester and Cheltenham.
The Chronicle understands Chester’s amphitheatre, which was used for entertainment and military training and was the largest in Britain, will be rebuilt using CGI technology.
And the Roman harbour, believed to have been where the racecourse is today, will also be recreated using computer graphics.
Alice told The Radio Times: “In Chester, I went to see some Roman ruins in the basement of a Pret A Manger. How brilliant is that? And CGI helped us work out how some of these historically important sites would have looked.”
The presenter, who is professor of public engagement in science at the University of Birmingham, was also interested to learn about the theory the Romans had intended to use Chester as a launch pad from which to mount an invasion of Ireland which never happened.
“I loved learning that Chester was part of a plan the Romans had to invade Ireland, but they were diverted by troubles elsewhere in the Empire so it didn’t happen,” she said in the Daily Mail.
During filming Alice posted pictures of herself filming in the Roman Gardens, at the amphitheatre and in Grosvenor Museum alongside a Roman tombstone depicting a centurion and his wife.
She also abseiled down the City Walls , was shown remains of the original gatehouse at the Northgate, tasted Roman food and filmed at Edgar’s Field in Handbridge which is home to a shrine honouring the Roman goddess Minerva, carved into the rock at the old Roman quarry.
The programme is being made for Channel 4 by IWC Media who produce series including Slow Train Through Africa with Griff Rhys Jones ( ITV ), Lost Kingdoms of South America (BBC4), and Location, Location, Location (Channel 4).
■ Britain’s Most Historic Towns is coming soon on Channel 4.
