Tom Rosenthal, Joel Fry and Ryan Sampson return in a third series as the much loved under-achievers, Marcus, Stylax and their feckless slave Grumio, in the multi-award-winning and BAFTA-nominated sitcom set in ancient Rome.

Alongside their regular nemeses, this year our Plebs will encounter a legion of new Roman recruits: visiting parents (Samantha Spiro, Danny Webb, Steve Edge), a brazen Vestal Virgin (Michelle Keegan), a doping discus thrower (Ingrid Oliver), a theatrical grande dame (Miriam Margolyes) and an ancient weatherman (David Bamber).

It's one year on in the Eternal City, as we flash forward all the way to 25BC. The new series picks up where the last one left off, with our three lowly Plebs still living in a squalid block in the worst part of town, which is now presided over by the ruthless Landlady (Maureen Lipman), as the fate of the unscrupulous Landlord (Karl Theobald) is still to be revealed. They work dead-end jobs for Rome's third largest grain supply company, under the direction of their fearsome boss Flavia (Doon Mackichan), and although the Games are in town, they can't get tickets for any event - not even the pig chase.

However, an encounter with a fiery Gallic activist, Delphine (Bella Dayne), might at least improve Marcus' romantic stakes. Could she possibly become his Gaul-friend? Or is she just a bit too real for him? Let the Games begin...