Troy: Fall Of A City filming in Cape Town

Homer most famously recounted the tale in his two poems The Iliad and The Odyssey.

Wild Mercury, part of the Endemol Shine Group, is producing Troy: Fall Of A City as an eight-part series, which will be screened on BBC One in the UK and launched internationally on Netflix.

Louis Hunter and Bella Dayne star as Paris and Helen, and the supporting cast includes industry veterans David Threlfall and Frances O’Connor.

“These myths may be 3,000 years old but they still have an elemental grip on our imagination, resonating through history as current conflicts bring Homer closer to us than ever,” said Derek Wax, executive producer for Wild Mercury.

“I am thrilled that David Farr’s wonderful scripts have attracted such a brilliant cast, breathing new life into these characters, finding the human intimacy within the epic sweep.

“Wild Mercury is thrilled to have the creative support of the BBC and Netflix, both true champions of this project, and the prospect of working together to deliver a drama of genuine scale and originality to the screen is enormously exciting.”

South Africa is a popular double for Middle Eastern locations and settings, and has recently hosted the UK-produced drama Tutankhamun and the US-made series Of Kings and Prophets.

Last summer the UK and South Africa agreed a TV filming deal between the two countries, expanding on an existing feature co-production treaty.

Image: BBC/Netflix