A brief history of Time Team

Everybody knows the story of how Time Team started: one ex-teacher turned TV producer, a couple of quirky archaeologists, and a fortuitous meeting in the Mediterranean with one of Britain’s best-loved actors combined to create the most successful archaeology programme ever on British television.

My how you’ve changed! The original Time Team members, from left: Tony Robinson, Victor Ambrus, Carenza Lewis, the late and much-missed Robin Bush, Phil Harding and Mick Aston.

Tim Taylor is excited. He is just back from a day viewing sites somewhere in the Mediterranean (he won’t give an exact location), where he has seen Neolithic shelters containing the bones of pygmy hippopotami, Roman tombs eroding out of an exposed cliff, and an early Christian area ‘carpeted’ by a nearly untouched mosaic. He is clearly blown away by the archaeology, and most of all by the potential opportunity to film there and share what he has seen with the viewing public. As we chat briefly about the show, it becomes very clear that Tim is entirely focused on the future; far from being over, far from being a tired format, far from having reached the end of the road, Time Team has plenty of new action in store. And they have only got three days…

Tim Taylor, creator and Series Producer of Time Team, with Mick Aston, who inspired the original idea.

On the other end of the phone line, behind my desk, I cannot help but hate him. Of course, it is all in a day’s work for the creator and Series Producer of Time Team, and he has earned his perks after 18-plus years with the show. But I am jealous of the archaeology he is visiting, and most of all, I am curious about what is coming next. Tim’s priorities are clear: incorporating new technologies; engaging a new group of science-focused archaeologists; reaching out to new audiences and giving them even greater access to the digs; moving into new media platforms; and, finally, to find a way to interact with the ‘next generation’ of viewers.

But what is so important about Time Team, after all? What is really left to say, after all the shows, books, DVDs, interviews and other media paraphernalia? One possible answer is clear: where would archaeology be, in the United Kingdom, without Time Team? Obviously, academic, research, and commercial archaeology have always been very successful; but the contribution the show has made to public awareness is huge. What does this equate to, in human terms? How many people have signed up for a university course, entered the profession, booked a digging holiday (great for families!), joined a local society, or otherwise had their lives enriched by archaeology as a result of having seen Time Team? Whether you love it or hate it, you cannot ignore the impact of the show.

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