Time Team

Time Team is a British television programme that originally aired on Channel 4 from 16 January 1994 to 7 September 2014. It returned in 2022 on online platforms YouTube and Patreon. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented by actor Tony Robinson, each episode features a team of specialists carrying out an archaeological dig over a period of three days, with Robinson explaining the process in lay terms. The specialists changed throughout the programme's run, although it consistently included professional archaeologists such as Mick Aston, Carenza Lewis, Francis Pryor and Phil Harding. The sites excavated ranged in date from the Palaeolithic to the Second World War.
In October 2012, Channel 4 announced that the final series would be broadcast in 2013. Series 20 was screened from January–March 2013 and nine specials were screened between May 2013 and September 2014. In May 2021, Taylor announced the return of the series, with free episodes to be shown on YouTube. The first episodes of the revival began appearing on YouTube in 2022.

Series overview

Team members

A team of archaeologists, usually led by Mick Aston or Francis Pryor, and including field archaeologist Phil Harding, congregate at a site, usually in Britain. The original Time Team line-up from 1994 changed over the years. Historian and archivist Robin Bush was a regular in the first nine series, having been involved with the programme through his long friendship with Aston. Architectural historian Beric Morley featured in ten episodes between 1995 and 2002. In 2005, Carenza Lewis left to pursue other interests and was replaced by Helen Geake, an Anglo-Saxon specialist. The regular team also included Stewart Ainsworth, landscape investigator; John Gater and Chris Gaffney, archaeological geophysicists; Henry Chapman, surveyor; and Victor Ambrus, illustrator.
The team was supplemented by experts appropriate for the period and type of site. Guy de la Bédoyère has often been present for Roman digs, as well as those involving the Second World War, and aircraft. Architectural historian Jonathan Foyle has appeared in episodes relating to excavations of country estates. Paul Blinkhorn, Mark Corney, Carl Thorpe, and Jackie McKinley have appeared from time to time. Mick 'the dig' Worthington, an excavator in the early series, occasionally returned as a dendrochronologist, whereupon he was dubbed 'Mick the twig'. Osteoarcheologist Margaret Cox often assisted with forensic archaeology, mainly between 1998 and 2005. Other specialists who appeared from time to time include historian Bettany Hughes, archaeologist Gustav Milne, East of England specialist Ben Robinson, architectural historian Richard K. Morriss, and David S. Neal, expert on Roman mosaics. Local historians also joined in.
In February 2012, it was announced that Aston had left the show because of format changes. The disputed changes included hiring anthropologist Mary-Ann Ochota as a co-presenter, dispensing with other archaeologists and what he thought were plans to "cut down the informative stuff about the archaeology". "The time had come to leave. I never made any money out of it, but a lot of my soul went into it. I feel really, really angry about it," he told British Archaeology magazine. Time Team producer Tim Taylor released a statement in response to the news reports saying "His concerns are of great importance to me. We have addressed some of them" and that "you've not heard the last of Mick on Time Team".
Regular team members in later years included archaeologist Neil Holbrook, Roman coins specialist Philippa Walton, and historian Sam Newton. Younger members of Time Team who made regular appearances include Jenni Butterworth, Raksha Dave, Kerry Ely, Brigid Gallagher, Rob Hedge, Katie Hirst, Alex Langlands, Cassie Newland, Ian Powlesland, Alice Roberts, Faye Simpson, Barney Sloane, Tracey Smith, and Matt Williams.

Time Team members

Name	Occupation	Role
Tim Taylor	Creator	Executive Producer
Sir Tony Robinson	Actor & Presenter	Presenter
Mick Aston	Archaeologist	Site Supervisor
Phil Harding	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Carenza Lewis	Archaeologist	Strategist
Robin Bush	Historian	Historical Specialist
Stewart Ainsworth	Archaeologist	Landscape Archaeologist
John Gater	Geophysicist	Archaeological Geophysics
Chris Gaffney	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Helen Geake	Archaeologist	Presenter, Small Finds
Victor Ambrus	Illustrator	Archaeological Illustrator
Raksha Dave	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Matt Williams	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Mark Horton	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Tracey Smith	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Brigid Gallagher	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Jackie McKinley	Osteoarchaeologist	Bones Specialist
Miles Russell	Archaeologist	Presenter, Archaeologist
Derek Pitman	Archaeologist	Presenter, Archaeologist
Lawrence Shaw	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Francis Pryor	Archaeologist	Site Supervisor
Beric Morley	Architectural Historian	Architecture Specialist
Henry Chapman	Surveyor	Survey Specialist
Guy de la Bédoyère	Romanist	Roman Specialist
Jonathan Foyle	Architectural Historian	Architecture Specialist
Paul Blinkhorn	Archaeologist	Pottery Specialist
Mark Corney	Numismatist	Coin Specialist
Carl Thorpe		Pottery Specialist
Mick Worthington	Dendrochronologist	Wood Dating Specialist
Margaret Cox	Osteoarcheologist	Forensic Archaeology Specialist
Bettany Hughes	Historian	Historical Specialist
Gustav Milne	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Ben Robinson	Archaeologist	East of England Specialist
Richard K. Morriss	Architectural Historian	Architecture Specialist
David S. Neal	Romanist	Roman Mosaic Specialist
Mary-Ann Ochota	Presenter	Presenter
Neil Holbrook	Archaeologist	Site Supervisor
Philippa Walton	Archaeologist	Coins and Small Finds Specialist
Sam Newton	Historian	Historical Specialist
Jenni Butterworth	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Kerry Ely	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Rob Hedge	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Katie Hirst	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Alex Langlands	Archaeologist	Landscape Archaeologist
Cassie Newland	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Ian Powlesland	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Alice Roberts	Doctor	Bone Specialist
Faye Simpson	Archaeologist	Archaeologist
Barney Sloane
Martyn Williams	Broadcaster	Podcast Presenter
Keith Wescott	Metal Detectorist	Metal Detector Specialist
Dani Wootton	Archaeologist	Presenter, Finds Specialist
Giselle Király	Archaeologist	WWII Specialist
Richard Parker	Archaeologist	Buildings Archaeologist
Meg Russell	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist
Raysan al-Kubaisi	Designer and Architect	Graphics Specialist
Gus Casely-Hayford	Cultural Historian	Presenter
Naomi Sewpaul	Archaeologist	Environmental Archaeologist, Float Tank Specialist
Richard Osgood	Archaeologist	War Specialist
Hilde Van der Heul	Archaeologist	Field Archaeologist

Production

Time Team developed from an earlier Channel 4 programme, Time Signs, first broadcast in 1991. Produced by Taylor, Time Signs had featured Aston and Harding, who went on to appear on Time Team. Following Time Signs' cancellation, Taylor went on to develop a more attractive format, producing the idea for Time Team, which Channel 4 also picked up, broadcasting the first series in 1994. Time Team has had many companion shows during its run, including Time Team Extra, History Hunters and Time Team Digs,
whilst several spin-off books have been published. The programme features special episodes, often documentaries on history or archaeology and live episodes. The programme has been exported to 35 other countries.
Time Team America, a US version of the programme, was broadcast on PBS in 2009.
On 13 September 2007, during the filming of a jousting reenactment for a special episode of Time Team, a splinter from a balsa wood lance went through the eye-slit in the helmet of one of the participants and entered his eye socket. 54 year-old Paul Anthony Allen, a member of a re-enactment society, died a week later in hospital. Channel 4 stated that the programme would be shown, but without the re-enactment sequence. The episode, dedicated to Allen, was transmitted on 25 February 2008.