Time Team

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Time Team is a popular British television series explaining the process of archaeology for the layman in the UK. Broadcast by Channel 4, the programme was first shown in 1994, and is presented by Tony Robinson, well-known for his appearances in many popular historical and humorous TV series, including Blackadder and the children's series Maid Marian and her Merry Men. The format involves a team of archaeologists, usually led by Mick Aston or Francis Pryor, and including Phil Harding, who are despatched to a site, usually within the United Kingdom, where they uncover as much as they can about the archaeology and history of the site within the space of three days. Many programmes involve an attempt to solve an archaeological mystery, sometimes suggested by members of the viewing public, and often in conjunction with the local archaeological unit.

Contents 1 Other team members 2 Production 3 Sites 4 Other formats 5 Impact on public interest in archaeology 6 Episode Listing 6.1 Series 1 6.2 Series 2 6.3 Series 3 6.4 Series 4 6.5 Series 5 6.6 Series 6 6.7 Series 7 6.8 Series 8 6.9 Series 9 6.10 Series 10 6.11 Series 11 6.12 Series 12 6.13 Series 13 7 References 8 External links

Other team members

The regular team includes landscape investigator Stewart Ainsworth, geophysical surveyor John Gater, surveyor Henry Chapman and illustrator Victor Ambrus. The original Time Team line-up from 1994 has altered over the years. Historian Robin Bush was a regular in the first nine series, and in 2005 Carenza Lewis left to pursue other interests and was replaced by Anglo-Saxon specialist Helen Geake.

This team is supplemented by experts appropriate for the period and type of site. Guy de la Bédoyère has often been present for Roman digs (although in 2006 he announced his withdrawal from the series), and Francis Pryor for Bronze Age and Iron Age digs. Margaret Cox often assists with forensic archaeology, and other specialists who appear from time to time include David S. Neal, expert on Roman mosaics. Local historians also join in when appropriate.

More recent regular team members have included archaeologist Neil Holbrook and historian Sam Newton. Younger members of the Time Team who have made or currently make regular appearances include Katie Hirst, Jenni Butterworth, Brigid Gallagher, Matt Williams and Raksha Dave. Mick Worthington, formerly nicknamed "Mick the Dig" as he worked largely on site excavation in the early years, occasionally still appears in his current occupation of dendrochronologist, earning him the new nickname of "Mick the Twig".

Production

Time Team is commissioned by Channel 4 Television (the broadcaster) and made in partnership between VideoText Communications Ltd (based in Bristol) and Picturehouse Television Co. Ltd (based in London). Recently-formed Wildfire Television was involved in the production of Time Team's Big Roman Dig (2005). It is produced by Tim Taylor, the shows originator, with Associate Producers Mick Aston and Tony Robinson.

Sites

Sites may be suggested by landowners, local archaeologists, academics, interested bodies or members of the general public, and have included everything from the Mesolithic period to World War II. For example programmes have featured the excavation of Bronze Age and Iron Age settlements, Roman villas and medieval churches. Several excavations have resulted in the discovery of sites of national significance.

Other formats

Time Team Live broadcasts show selected Time Team excavations as they are under way. The edited highlights of the live broadcasts are then shown as a programme in the regular series in the following year. The first dig featured was at Turkdean, Gloucestershire, in August 1997.

Time Team's Big Dig was an expansion on the Live format. A weekend of live broadcasts in June 2003 was preceded by a week of daily short programmes. It involved about 1000 members of the public in excavating test pits each 1 metre square by 50 cm deep. Most of these pits were in private gardens and the project stirred up controversies about approaches to public archaeology.

Time Team's Big Roman Dig (2005) saw this format altered, in an attempt to avoid previous controversies, through the coverage of nine archaeological sites around the UK which were already under investigation by professional archaeologists. The Time Team themselves covered the action through live linkups based at a Roman Villa at Dinnington in Somerset - itself a Time Team excavation from 2003. Over 60 other professionally supervised excavations were supported by Time Team and carried out around the country in association with the programme. A further 100 activities relating to Roman history were carried out by schools and other institutions around the UK.

Time Team Specials are documentary programmes about topics in history and archaeology made by the same production company. They are generally presented by Tony Robinson and often feature one or more of the familiar faces from the regular series of Time Team. In some cases the programme makers have followed the process of discovery at a large commercial or research excavation by another body. Time Team does not carry out excavations for these programmes, but may contribute a reconstruction.

Impact on public interest in archaeology

Time Team regularly receives 2 to 3 million viewers, with at least 20 million turning on at some point over any one series. Foreign audiences also enjoy the programme, with particular interest in the Netherlands. The programme has also been transmitted on the Public Broadcasting Service in the US, and some episodes have also been broadcast by History_International.

There is no doubt that Time Team has substantially raised public awareness and understanding of archaeology. Time Team contributor Francis Pryor has written: "Before the first series of Time Team in 1993, it was hard work starting an excavation. I can remember arriving at a building site in Fengate, where I was to cut some exploratory trial trenches. When I announced that I was an archaeologist, some wit in a JCB quipped that I had lost my way to Egypt. Much hilarity. After Time Team that same chap would be asking when I was planning to bring in the geophysics." (Pryor, 2005)

Archaeologist Robert Van de Noort, Head of the School of Geography, Archaeology and Earth Resources at Exeter University, said: "Tony Robinson's Honorary Doctorate, and the Honorary Professorships for principal presenter Mick Aston, and producer Tim Taylor, reflect our great appreciation for what Time Team has done for the public understanding of archaeology in this country. We know that the enthusiasm and skill of those working on the show has contributed greatly to creating a new generation of archaeologists, some of whom we hope to teach here at Exeter."

(Announcement from University of Exeter)

Episode Listing

Series 1

1. 16th Jan 1994 - Athelney, Somerset: Alfred the Great's abbey fort.
2. 23rd Jan 1994 - Ribchester, Lancashire: Roman.
3. 30th Jan 1994 - Much Wenlock, Shropshire: medieval hall.
4. 6th Feb 1994 - Llangorse Lake, Powys: Dark-Age settlement.

Series 2

1. 8th Jan 1995 - Finlaggan, Islay: 13th-century castle.
2. 15th Jan 1995 - Hylton Castle, Sunderland: medieval keep.
3. 22nd Jan 1995 - Tockenham, Wiltshire: Roman villa or temple.
4. 29th Jan 1995 - Lambeth Palace, London: Roman bridge.
5. 5th Feb 1995 - Winterbourne Gunner, Wiltshire: Anglo-Saxon graves.

Series 3

1. 7th Jan 1996 - Boleigh, Cornwall: prehistoric fougou.
2. 14th Jan 1996 - Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire: pre-Ice-Age quarry.
3. 21st Jan 1996 - Temple Combe, Somerset: medieval Templar buildings.
4. 28th Jan 1996 - Teignmouth, Devon: Spanish Armada wreck.
5. 4th Feb 1996 - Navan, County Armagh: first kings of Ulster.
6. 11th Feb 1996 - Lavenham/Preston St Mary, Suffolk: Roman pottery.

Series 4

1. 5th Jan 1997 - St Mary's City, Maryland (USA): early English settlers.
2. 12th Jan 1997 - Launceston, Cornwall: medieval leper hospital.
3. 19th Jan 1997 - Soho, Birmingham: steam-powered mint.
4. 26th Jan 1997 - Govan, Glasgow: 8th-century church.
5. 2nd Feb 1997 - Malton, North Yorkshire: Norman and medieval castles and Jacobean house.
6. 9th Feb 1997 - Netheravon, Wiltshire: Roman villa.

Additional programmes in 1997:

1. 23-25 August 1997 - Turkdean, Gloucestershire: Roman villa (live broadcasts).
2. 28th Dec 1997 - Christmas Special.

Series 5

1. 4th Jan 1998 - Richmond, Surrey: Richmond Palace built by Henry V.
2. 11th Jan 1998 - Greylake, Somerset: Bronze-Age trackway.
3. 18th Jan 1998 - Sanday, Orkney: Viking graves.
4. 25th Jan 1998 - Turkdean: Roman villa (highlights of the live broadcasts from 1997).
5. 1st Feb 1998 - Deya, Mallorca, Spain: Copper-Age settlement.
6. 8th Feb 1998 - Aston Eyre, Shropshire: Medieval manor house.
7. 22nd Feb 1998 - Downpatrick, County Down: St Patrick's first church.
8. 1st Mar 1998 - High Worsall, North Yorkshire: medieval village.

Additional programmes in 1998:

1. 29-31 August 1998 - Bawsey, Norfolk: Iron-Age settlement and Norman church (live broadcasts).

Series 6

1. 3rd Jan 1999 - Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent: 18th-century pottery factory.
2. 10th Jan 1999 - Papcastle, Cumbria: Roman pottery.
3. 17th Jan 1999 - Thetford, Norfolk: Norman cathedral.
4. 24th Jan 1999 - Cheddar Gorge, Somerset: cave inhabited by stone-age man.
5. 31st Jan 1999 - Plympton, Devon: medieval town.
6. 7th Feb 1999 - Smallhythe, Kent: Henry V's naval dockyard.
7. 14th Feb 1999 - Beauport Park, Sussex: Roman bathhouse.
8. 21st Feb 1999 - Reedham Marshes, Norfolk: two crashed World War II aeroplanes.
9. 28th Feb 1999 - Turkdean, Gloucestershire II: Roman villa further investigation.
10. 7th Mar 1999 - Kemerton, Worcestershire: possible Iron-Age site.
11. 14th Mar 1999 - Bawsey, Norfolk: Iron-Age settlement and Norman church (highlights of the live broadcasts from 1998).
12. 21st Mar 1999 - Nevis, West Indies: settlement and slave colony, part I.
13. 28th Mar 1999 - Nevis, West Indies: settlement and slave colony, part II.

Additional programmes in 1999:

1. 3-5 Sept 1999 - York, Yorkshire: Roman cemetery, Viking buildings and the medieval St Leonard's hospital (live broadcasts).
2. 19th Dec 1999 - Christmas Special.
3. 29th Dec 1999 - The Mystery of Seahenge: special programme on this Bronze-Age site in Norfolk.

Series 7

1. 2nd Jan 2000 - Denia, Spain: Muslim port.
2. 9th Jan 2000 - Cirencester, Gloucestershire: Roman town and temple.
3. 16th Jan 2000 - Wierre Effroy, France: Spitfire crash site.
4. 23rd Jan 2000 - Waddon, Dorset: Iron-Age site.
5. 30th Jan 2000 - Birdoswald, Cumbria: Roman fort beside Hadrian's Wall.
6. 6th Feb 2000 - Elveden, Suffolk: Stone-Age settlement.
7. 13th Feb 2000 - Coventry, West Midlands: Medieval cathedral.
8. 20th Feb 2000 - Basing House, Hampshire: Tudor building.
9. 27th Feb 2000 - Flag Fen, Cambridgeshire: Bronze-Age trackway.
10. 5th Mar 2000 - Sutton St Michael, Herefordshire: Saxon site, possibly Offa's palace.
11. 12th Mar 2000 - Greenwich, London: Roman site.
12. 19th Mar 2000 - Hartlepool, Durham: Anglo-saxon monastery.
13. 26th Mar 2000 - York, Yorkshire: Roman cemetery, Viking buildings and the medieval St Leonard's hospital (highlights from the 1999 live broadcasts).

Additional programmes in 2000:

1. 25-28 August 2000 - Canterbury, Kent: Roman temple, medieval kiln and Franciscan friary (live broadcasts).
2. 24th Dec 2000 - The Real King Arthur.
3. 27th Dec 2000 - Time Team History of Britain.
4. 27th Dec 2000 - The Mystery of Mine Howe.

Series 8

1. 7th Jan 2001 - Normanton, Lincolnshire: Anglo-Saxon cemetery.
2. 14th Jan 2001 - Alderton, Northamptonshire: Norman castle.
3. 21st Jan 2001 - Llygadwy, Wales: an archaeological detective story.
4. 28th Jan 2001 - Waltham, Gloucestershire: Roman villa.
5. 4th Feb 2001 - Blaenavon, South Wales: the first railway viaduct.
6. 11th Feb 2001 - Rycote, Oxfordshire: Tudor house.
7. 18th Feb 2001 - Salisbury Plain, Wiltshire: Iron-Age to Roman enclosure.
8. 25th Feb 2001 - Basildon, Berkshire: Roman villa.
9. 4th Mar 2001 - Alveston, Gloucestershire: Iron-Age cave.
10. 11th Mar 2001 - Holy Island: Tudor site.
11. 18th Mar 2001 - Bridgnorth, Shropshire: Norman castle.
12. 25th Mar 2001 - Canterbury, Kent: Roman temple, medieval kiln and Franciscan friary (highlights of the live broadcasts from 2000).
13. 1st April 2001 - Winchester, Hampshire: St Mary Magdalene leper hospital.

Additional programmes in 2001:

1. 7th Jan 2001 - Behind the Scenes at Time Team.
2. 8 March 2001 - Coventry's Lost Cathedral: Special return report.
3. 17 May 2001 - Island of the Eels. Documentary on a non-Time Team excavation in Ely, Cambridgeshire.
4. 28-30 August 2001 - Breamore, Hampshire: Anglo-Saxon cemetery (live broadcasts).
5. 30th Dec 2001 - Dinosaur hunting with Tony Robinson and Phil Harding in Montana, USA.

Series 9

1. 6th Jan 2002 - Vauxhall, London: Bronze-Age bridge.
2. 13th Jan 2002 - Ancaster, Lincolnshire: Roman town.
3. 20th Jan 2002 - Kinlochbervie, N.W. Scotland: Armada shipwreck.
4. 27th Jan 2002 - Chicksands, Bedfordshire: medieval monastery.
5. 3rd Feb 2002 - Ironbridge Gorge, Shropshire: 17th-century blast furnace.
6. 10th Feb 2002 - Cheshunt, Hertfordshire: Roman Ermine Street.
7. 17th Feb 2002 - Helford, Cornwall: Iron-Age earthworks.
8. 24 Feb 2002 - High Ercall, Shropshire: Civil War siege site and medieval monastery.
9. 3rd Mar 2002 - Throckmorton, Worcestershire: prehistoric settlement.
10. 10th Mar 2002 - Castleford, Yorkshire: Roman town.
11. 17th March 2002 - Beaudesert, Warwickshire: Norman castle.
12. 24th Mar 2002 - Yaverland, Isle of Wight: Roman villa.
13. 31st Mar 2002 - Breamore, Hampshire: Anglo-Saxon cemetery (highlights of the 2001 live broadcasts).

Additional programmes in 2002:

1. 15 April 2002 - The Big Dig in Canterbury: a documentary following this excavation by the Canterbury Archaeological Trust.
2. 22 April 2002 - Londinium, The Edge of Empire: a documentary following this excavation by the Museum of London Archaeological Service.
3. 31 Oct 2002 - The Wreck of the Colossus: documentary on this shipwreck.
4. 1 Nov 2002 - Time Team Digs 1: The Bronze Age.
5. 8 Nov 2002 - Time Team Digs 2: The Iron Age.
6. 15 Nov 2002 - Time Team Digs 3: The early Romans.
7. 22 Nov 2002 - Time Team Digs 4: Roman Britain.
8. 29 Nov 2002 - Time Team Digs 5: The Dark Ages.
9. 6 Dec 2002 - Time Team Digs 6: Medieval England.
10. 13 Dec 2002 - Time Team Digs 7: The Modern Era.
11. 27 Dec 2002 - Time Team Digs 8: The Norman Conquest.
12. 27 Dec 2002 - 10 Years of Time Team.

Series 10

1. 5th Jan 2003 - Raunds, Northamptonshire: Saxon burials.
2. 12th Jan 2003 - Dinnington, Somerset: Roman mosiac.
3. 19th Jan 2003 - Carsington, Derbyshire: prehistoric site.
4. 26th Jan 2003 - Fetlar, Shetland: Viking boat burial and long house.
5. 2nd Feb 2003 - Greenwich, London: Tudor armoury and tiltyard of Greenwich Palace.
6. 9th Feb 2003 - Merton, London: Liberty Print Mills.
7. 16th Feb 2003 - Bath, Somerset: Roman cemetery.
8. 23rd Feb 2003 - Athelney, Somerset: return to Alfred the Great's abbey for the 100th programme.
9. 2nd Mar 2003 - Kew Gardens, London: Hanoverian palace.
10. 9th Mar 2003 - Leven, Fife: Bronze-Age cemetery.
11. 16th Mar 2003 - Castle Howard, Yorkshire: medieval village.
12. 23rd Mar 2003 - Sedgefield, County Durham: frontier Roman settlement.
13. 30th Mar 2003 - Appleby, Cumbria: 18th-century jail.

Additional programmes in 2003:

1. 10 April 2003 - Hadrian's Well. Reconstruction of the Roman water-lifting machine found in the excavation in London already filmed (see documentary listed above 22 April 2002).
2. 22 to 28 June 2003 - Time Team Big Dig (live broadcasts).
3. 29 Dec 2003 - Time Team Big Dig Special.

Series 11

1. 4th Jan 2004 - Syon House, London: Brigittine abbey.
2. 11th Jan 2004 - Whitestaunton, Somerset: Roman bath house and Edwardian folly.
3. 18th Jan 2004 - Loch Migdale, Scottish Highlands: crannog.
4. 25th Jan 2004 - South Carlton, Lincolnshire: Ango-Saxon graveyard.
5. 1st Feb 2004 - Syndale, Kent: Roman defended farmstead.
6. 8th Feb 2004 - Green Island, Dorset: Iron-Age trading place.
7. 15th Feb 2004 - Oakamoor, Staffordshire: medieval blast furnace.
8. 22nd Feb 2004 - Goldcliff, Gwent: Mesolithic foreshore.
9. 29th Feb 2004 - Wittenham Clumps, Oxfordshire: Iron-Age hill fort.
10. 7th Mar 2004 - Nassington, Northamptonshire: King Cnut's manor.
11. 14th Mar 2004 - Ipswich, Suffolk: Roman villa.
12. 21st Mar 2004 - Roxburgh, Scottish Borders: deserted medieval town.
13. 28th Mar 2004 - Cranborne Chase, Dorset: Roman villa and burials.

Additional programmes in 2004:

1. 22nd Mar 2004 - Sheffield Steel City: Time Team Special following excavations into Sheffield's industrial past by the Archaeological Research and Consultancy at the University of Sheffield.
2. 19th April 2004 - The House in the Loch: Time Team Special on an Iron Age lake dwelling at Lock Tay, Perthshire.
3. 3rd May 2004 - The Ten Million Pound House: Time Team Special on the restoration of Ightham Mote, Kent.
4. 31st May 2004 - The Invasion Landings: Time Team Special on D-Day, Normandy.

Series 12

1. 2nd Jan 2005 - Chenies Manor, Buckinghamshire: Tudor manor house.
2. 9th Jan 2005 - Nether Poppleton, Yorkshire: Anglo-Saxon monastery.
3. 16th Jan 2005 - Preston, Lancashire: crash of two bombers in 1944.
4. 23rd Jan 2005 - Drumlanrig, Dumfries and Galloway: Roman fort.
5. 30th Jan 2005 - Northborough, Peterborough: Neolithic causewayed enclosure.
6. 6th Feb 2005 - Grace Dieu, Hampshire: wreck believed to be that of Henry V's flagship.
7. 13th Feb 2005 - Standish, Gloucestershire: Iron-Age to Roman-British farm.
8. 20th Feb 2005 - Wemyss, Fife: Pictish symbols in caves.
9. 27th Feb 2005 - St Osyth, Essex: early medieval town.
10. 6th Mar 2005 - South Perrott, Dorset: early Bronze-Age barrow.
11. 13th Mar 2005 - Skipsea, Humberside: multi-period site, from Neolithic to medieval.
12. 20th Mar 2005 - South Shields, Tyneside: Arbeia Roman fort and cemetery.
13. 3rd Apr 2005 - Hanslope, Milton Keynes: medieval pig factory.

Additional programmes in 2005:

1. 13 June 2005 - The King of Bling: Time Team Special on a remarkable Anglo-Saxon burial.
2. 20 June 2005 - Colchester's lost Roman circus: Time Team Special.
3. 27 June 2005 - Life on the Edge 1,000 years BC: Time Team Special.
4. July 2005 - Big Roman Dig. A series of live programmes with a Roman theme, featuring 10 sites.
5. 28 Nov 2005 - Durrington Walls: Time Team Special.

Series 13

1. 22nd Jan 2006 - Glendon, Northamptonshire: medieval church and lost village.
2. 29th Jan 2006 - Withington, Gloucestershire: Roman villa and bathhouse.
3. 5th Feb 2006 - Manchester: Arkwright's first mill.
4. 12th Feb 2006 - Esher, Surrey: medieval palace.
5. 19th Feb 2006 - Utrecht, Netherlands: Roman barge, watch tower and canal.
6. 26th Feb 2006 - Eastry, Kent: Ango-Saxon cemetery.
7. 5th March 2006 - Brimham, Harrogate, Yorkshire: monastic grange.
8. 12th March 2006 - Queenborough, Kent: Queenborough Castle.
9. 19th March 2006 - Blackpatch, Sussex: Neolithic settlement.
10. 26th March 2006 - Islip, Oxfordshire: Anglo-Saxon chapel.
11. 2nd April 2006 - Ffrith, North Wales: Roman building possibly a bathhouse.
12. 9th April 2006 - Alfoldean, Horsham, Sussex: Roman mansio.
13. 16th April 2006 - Applecross near Skye, Scottish Highlands: Iron age Broch.

Additional programmes in 2006:

1. 8 Jan 2006 - The Big Roman Villa: A Time Team Special. Time Team first discovered this Roman villa at Dinnington, Somerset in 2002 (programme shown 12 January 2003) and returned to it during the Big Roman Dig in July 2005 (programme shown live). This Special includes content from the previous programmes.

References

• Ambrus, Victor and Aston, Mick, Recreating the Past (Tempus, 2001).

• Aston, Mick, Mick's Archaeology (Tempus, 2000, new edition 2002).

• Gaffney, Chris and Gater, John, Revealing the buried past: Geophysics for archaeologists (Tempus, 2003).

• Lewis, Carenza, Harding, Phil and Aston, Mick, edited by Tim Taylor, Time Team's Timechester (Channel 4 Books, 2000).

• Pryor, Francis, Flag Fen: Life and death of a prehistoric landscape (Tempus, 2005).

• Robinson, Tony and Aston, Mick, Archaeology is Rubbish (Channel 4 Books, 2002).

• Taylor, Tim, with photographs by Bennett, Chris, Behind the Scenes at Time Team (Channel 4 Books, 2000).

• Taylor, Tim, Digging the Dirt (Channel 4 Books, 2001).

• Taylor, Tim, Time Team Guide to the Archaeological Sites of Britain and Ireland (Channel 4 Books, 2005).

• Taylor, Tim, The Ultimate Time Team Companion: An alternative history of Britain (Macmillan, 1999).

External links

• Official site