Francis Pryor, an archaeologist and sheep farmer, opens this three-part series by challenging the standard story that Britain collapsed into anarchy after Rome withdrew its army in 410 AD. Rather than a violent Anglo-Saxon invasion crushing a defeated native population, Pryor points to archaeological evidence of trade goods and cultural influences reaching Britain from as far as the Middle East and Constantinople, suggesting a society that kept functioning and absorbing outside contact rather than one that reverted to barbarism. The first episode retells Roman Britain from the perspective of the native Britons rather than their conquerors, arguing that the transition to Anglo-Saxon rule may have been a negotiated, mutually beneficial arrangement the Britons themselves helped bring about rather than a bloody suppression. King Arthur runs through the series as the cultural symbol built on top of this period, and Pryor uses site evidence and artifact finds to test what the archaeology actually supports against the myth. The series treats the so-called Dark Ages as a gap in the record rather than a gap in history itself.