Series 2 of Hancock’s Ancient Apocalypse.

Catherine Bennett, 'Any ice-age telepaths out there? Please explain why Netflix is revisiting Ancient Apocalypse', Guardian Sun 29 Sep 2024

Admittedly the rise of anti-science discourse has helped normalise, if not his theories, Hancock’s bizarre claims to special – even suppressed? – insights. Contributing to this trend, the programme makers show him as a quest-driven, misunderstood seer; the rejection of his speculation, once thought fairly appropriate, is presented as an attraction. No opportunity was lost in the first series of Ancient Apocalypse to denigrate dissenting archaeologists for disputing the existence of ancient Hancockia. “Perhaps,” he said in programme one, “there’s been a forgotten episode in human history, but perhaps the extremely arrogant and patronising attitude of mainstream academia is stopping us from considering that possibility.”