Time Team returns: how an archaeological institution rose to dig again

For 20 years, Time Team was an archaeological household name – and, while the show came to an end in 2013, its popularity has soared once again during lockdown. In the last two months alone, over two million people in more than 40 countries have tuned into the Time Team Classics YouTube channel. Now the show is set to return with a pair of new digs to explore the secrets beneath our feet, as Felix Rowe reports.

For millions of families around the UK and beyond, Channel 4’s flagship archaeology series, Time Team, was a Sunday teatime staple – as familiar, comforting, and intrinsically ‘British’ as crumpets and tea. Led by the inspirational Professor Mick Aston and featuring immediately recognisable figures like Phil Harding and Tony Robinson, the show evaluated hundreds of sites over the course of 20 series, several live shows, and countless specials, helping hugely to popularise the field of archaeology before it finally drew to an end in 2013 (see CA 274).

In the first lockdown of spring 2020, that Sunday tradition was revived with weekly ‘Time Team Teatime’ online watch-alongs of classic episodes, as well as sharing new interviews, behind-the-scenes commentaries, and Q&As with fans via the Time Team Official channel on YouTube (see ‘Further information’ box on p.54). Engagement soared in the ensuing months, both from those reconnecting with a programme as familiar as an old friend, and from others stumbling on it for the first time. Clearly an appetite still existed – not just for more insights, but for new fieldwork. A tantalising question kept returning: what could a revived Time Team achieve with the technology and techniques now at our disposal? Now – thanks to both the determination of Time Team’s creator and Series Producer, Tim Taylor, and the backing of thousands of fans on Patreon (a funding platform where supporters pledge monthly donations to projects in exchange for exclusive access to extra content and other benefits) – that question is going to be answered: Time Team has officially announced its return with two major digs, scheduled to take place this year if COVID-19 conditions allow.

Eight years after the long-running archaeology series stopped filming, Time Team is set to return with two new excavations scheduled for later this year. This photograph was taken at a recent catch-up with some of the Team: John Gater, Helen Geake, Carenza Lewis, Tim Taylor, Dani Wootton, Jim Mower, and Stewart Ainsworth, all of whom are involved in the new endeavour.

Time Team always had international appeal: during its 20-year run, the show was exported abroad, and today more than half its online audience is coming from the USA and Canada. Since launching on Patreon last December, Time Team has reached all three of its successive goals ahead of target, with ‘Patrons’ from five continents pledging their support. Appropriately, given the show’s famous format, 1,000 supporters signed up in just three days, but by the end of March their numbers had swelled to more than 5,000. A new target has been set to reach 7,000 Patrons by 18 July, which will expand the show’s accessibility to fans during filming, and in the research and development stage.

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