Individual episodes are presented by Simon Schama, Mary Beard, and David Olusoga,[1] with music composed by Tandis Jenhudson.

[3] On 25 March 2014, Tony Hall, Director-General of the BBC, announced a commitment to a new version of Lord Clark's original Civilisation.

[6] As a companion to the series, the BBC released Civilisations AR, an augmented reality smartphone app that enabled users to view and explore art and historical artefacts from around the world.

[13] The List gave the series 4 of out 5 stars, based on viewings of the first two episodes: "it's a visual feast as the cameras sweep across ruined cities and townships or focuses in for tight close-ups to emphasise the exquisite details of relics, pottery and sculpture.

"[15] The Daily Telegraph in its review of the ninth and final episode concluded: "as nine discrete lectures, delivered by three of our most captivating cultural commentators, interrogating how we view art and what it means to us today, this has been a fascinating project that was undoubtedly worth the effort.

"[17] BBC's arts editor Will Gompertz described the series as "patchwork programmes with rambling narratives that promise much but deliver little in way of fresh insight or surprising connections."

However, he criticised the departure from Clark's chronological approach and a tendency to dwell on the function of featured works of art, particularly if the piece is considered to have preserved the power of an elite class.

"[21] Former BAFTA Breakthrough Brit Tandis Jenhudson[22] composed the original music for the series, as well as the main title theme (which features soprano Caroline Kennedy).

[3] While maintaining the principal contributions of Schama, Beard, and Olusoga, joining them are international artists and experts including religious studies scholar Jamal J. Elias, INAH anthropologist Rebecca Gonzalez-Lauck, art critic Jonathan Jones, Egyptology professor Salima Ikram, Asian Art Museum director Jay Xu, and history professor Maya Jasanoff.