A team of archaeologists, usually led by either Mick Aston or Francis Pryor (the latter usually heads Bronze Age and Iron Age digs), and including field archaeologist Phil Harding, congregate at a site, usually in the United Kingdom. The site is frequently suggested by a member of the viewing public who knows of an unsolved archaeological mystery, or who owns property that is unexcavated and potentially interesting. Time Team uncover as much as they can about the archaeology and history of the site in three days, often in conjunction with the local archaeological unit.
At the start of the programme, Tony Robinson explains, in his "piece to camera", the reasons for the team's visit to the site, and during the dig he enthusiastically encourages the archaeologists to explain their decisions, discoveries and conclusions. He tries to ensure that everything is comprehensible to the archaeologically uninitiated.
The original Time Team line-up from 1994 has altered over the years. HistorianRobin Bush was a regular in the first nine series, and in 2005Carenza Lewis left to pursue other interests. She was replaced by Anglo-Saxon specialist Helen Geake.
The team is supplemented by experts appropriate for the period and type of site. Guy de la Bédoyère has often been present for Romandigs (although in 2006 he announced his withdrawal from the series). 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 Time Team who have made or currently make regular appearances include:
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 and is now known as Mick the Twig!
Production
Time Team is commissioned by Channel 4 Television (the broadcaster) and made in partnership between VideoText Communications Ltd and Picturehouse Television Co. Ltd (based in London). Recently-formed Wildfire Television was involved in the production of The Big Roman Dig (2005) and The Big Royal Dig (2006). It is produced by Tim Taylor, the show's originator, with Associate Producer 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 a thousand members of the public in excavating test pits each one metre square by fifty centimetres 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. Time Team 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 hundred activities relating to Roman history were carried out by schools and other institutions around the UK.
Time Team Extra (1998) were a series of eight broadcasts in which archivist Robin Bush and a guest archeologist or historian would elaborate on the information learned during the Time Team episode shown earlier in the week, using libraries, archives, discussion and visits to other historical locations. The Time Team Extra shows were intended to further flesh out the viewer's understanding of the history, community and lifestyle of people who would have occupied the dig site.
Time Team History Hunters (1998) hosted by Tony Robinson. Each of the seven episodes featured three teams of individuals interested in their local history. Using only historical materials accessible to the general population, each team would attempt to learn the history of a location and find the truth behind local legends and long-held theories.
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 usually 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[citation needed]. 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 United States, 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." [1]
Episode listing
Series 1
16 January1994 - Athelney, Somerset: Alfred the Great's abbey fort. Revisited in episode 8, series 10.
January 1998 - Turkdean: Roman villa (highlights of the live broadcasts from 1997).
February 1998 - Deya, Mallorca, Spain: Copper-Age settlement.
February 1998 - Aston Eyre, Shropshire: Medieval manor house.
February 1998 - Downpatrick, County Down: St Patrick's first church.
March 1998 - High Worsall, North Yorkshire: medieval village.
Actual air dates of Time Team Extra programmes are not currently available, but each programme aired just days following the related Time Team episode.
The Time Team website gives no exact air date for the two final programmes. It must be presumed that they aired, however, as in August 2006 unauthorized home recordings were circulated on the internet.
10 April2003 - Hadrian's Well. Reconstruction of the Roman water-lifting machine found in the excavation in London already filmed (see documentary listed above 22 April2002).
22 to 28 June2003 - Time Team Big Dig (live broadcasts).
22 March2004 - Sheffield Steel City: Time Team Special following excavations into Sheffield's industrial past by the Archaeological Research and Consultancy at the University of Sheffield.
19 April2004 - The House in the Loch: Time Team Special on an Iron Age lake dwelling at Lock Tay, Perthshire.
3 May2004 - The Ten Million Pound House: Time Team Special on the restoration of Ightham Mote, Kent.
31 May2004 - The Invasion Landings: Time Team Special on D-Day, Normandy.
