Time Team

There is far too much rubbish on television these days. Thank goodness therefore for wonderful, engaging, intelligent programmes like Time Team (and its spin-off Extreme Archaeology by the same producer Tim Taylor).

Presented by Tony Robinson (of Blackadder fame) the premise of the programme is to bring together a number of Archaeologists, experts in various fields, to try and investigate a particular problem in three days.

The team works on various of locations, mainly in the UK but occasionally abroad. They investigate a wide variety of historical periods from stone age man living in Cheddar Gorge, through Roman villas up to an American World War II bomber which crashed in South East England.

The expertise and resources, both human and technological, that Time Team can bring to a dig means that they can often discover more about a site in the three days than the local archaeologists had been able to find out in previous years. In fact local archaeologists often invite the team to investigate problems that they haven't been able to deal with themselves. At the other end of the scale the team sometimes investigates anomalies that viewers have found in their own back gardens.

Another important part of the programme is a task or reconstruction relating to the dig. For example when working on Josiah Wedgewood's first kiln, the team showed the process that he went through to produce his pottery. In another episode when excavating a Roman villa, they produced a reproduction of a mosaic.

Overall this is an extremely intelligent programme with a superb presenter and interesting experts whose obvious enthusiasm really comes across when they are describing what is going on.

Finally it is worth mentioning the excellent 'Time Team Live' digs, where Time Team have conducted an excavation over the course of a few of days with a number of live programmes over that period where they give an update of what is happening and what they have found.

What is so wonderful about this programme is the thrill of discovery. Nobody knows exactly what is going to happen and the direction of the programme can change halfway through based on the evidence that has turned up. Its a long way from the latest boring, predictable soap opera!

Now in it's 12th series, Time Team is a programme I have grown up with and come to know the 'team' as almost part of the family. Now as an adult I can fully appreciate the historical value of the show as well as the entertainment value. Tony Robinson is a great host with an 'ordinary joe' approach to Archaeology that neither excludes nor patronizes the viewer. Mick Aston is the go-between professory type whose novel outlook on a 'stuffy' profession is fresh and appreciated. The diggers are obviously the crux of the show with Carenza Lewis, Mick Worthington and the irrepressible Phil Harding on hand to uncover (or sometimes not) the secrets that lay buried. And then there is landscape archaeologist, Stewart Ainsworth, whose insight and knowledge of the areas is amazing to watch and, after finding hidden evidence in maps and photographs is often the star of the show.

So well done to all who are involved in Time Team and I hope this continues to be a long and happy friendship.

Time team is without doubt the best telly show in the know universe. One day quantum archeologists from beyond infinity will dig some singularity trenches and discover traces of Time Team.

From this the profound discovery will be made; namely that there were pockets of humanity that were truly inspirational individuals.

Phil Harding is the absolute guv'nor.

Al out.

Can you say binge watching? I've been watching all 20 seasons from start to finish and absolutely love it! For anyone interested in Archaeology and especially British archaeology this show is a treasure trove! Most seasons can be found on Amazon Prime and YouTube. Highly recommended! The characters who make up the team are quite amusing as well! Start with season 1 and watch the archeologists age and some go grey or lose their hair as you move through the seasons lol.

This is the show to watch and it had to be a dream job for the professionals working on this show for 20 years. All the different sites they got to dig that would take most archaeologists several lifetimes to visit. Don't let Phil Harding's happy go lucky attitude fool you, he's as smart as anyone in his field, possibly smarter. Mick Aston is another incredibly knowledgeable part of the team and the team leader who got the shaft later in the series by Channel 4 causing him to quit when they brought in some spokeswoman former model - on an archaeology show, I don't blame him. There are several other professionals that are regulars on the show who are also very well versed in their fields of expertise and they occasionally bring in specialists like pottery or weapons specialists and an osteoarchaeologist on occasion. The end of one episode a man said he learned 3 things in the 3 days the Time Team was there and the 3rd and final thing he learned was Phil Harding could really put back the beer, which is hilarious and not surprising. He's my favorite person on the show, and he will be yours too. Almost the entire series is available on Amazon Prime video.