''Time Team Live'' was a British

television series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite television, satellite, or cable television, cable, excluding breaking news, television adverti ...

that aired on

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

. The first programme was shown in 1997 and the most recent was in 2006. Presented by the

actor An actor or actress is a person who portrays a character in a performance. The actor performs "in the flesh" in the traditional medium of the theatre or in modern media such as film, radio, and television. The analogous Greek term is (), li ...

Tony Robinson Sir Anthony Robinson (born 15 August 1946) is an English actor, author, broadcaster, comedian, presenter, and political activist. He played Baldrick in the BBC television series ''Blackadder'' and has presented several historical documentaries ...

and guest presenters, this is a live version of the

archaeology Archaeology or archeology is the scientific study of human activity through the recovery and analysis of material culture. The archaeological record consists of artifacts, architecture, biofacts or ecofacts, sites, and cultural landscap ...

series ''

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 online in 2022 for two episodes released on YouTube. Created by television producer Tim ...

'', showing more of what happens in real time, than when the cut-down episode airs on Channel 4.

Background

''Time Team Live'' episodes came from historically important sites. Instead of showing a 'best of' show, the live episodes were broadcast whilst the digs were actually taking place. Later, regular episodes were made from the best of the live episodes. Normally, regular sites were recorded in the same method, however, only a few were selected for live broadcast. The regular episodes were either a special, or a normal series episode.

Episodes

Series 1 (1997)

Guest presented by

Sandi Toksvig Sandra Birgitte Toksvig (; ; born 3 May 1958) is a Danish-British writer, comedian and broadcaster on British radio, stage and television. She is also a political activist, having co-founded the Women's Equality Party in 2015. She has written ...

and

Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall Hugh Christopher Edmund Fearnley-Whittingstall (born 14 January 1965) is an English celebrity chef, television personality, journalist, food writer, and campaigner on food and environmental issues. Fearnley-Whittingstall hosted the ''River Cot ...

alongside Robinson. Edited into ''Time Team'' series 5, episode 4.

Series 2 (1998)

Guest presented by

and

alongside Robinson. Edited into ''Time Team'' series 6, episode 11.

Series 3 (1999)

Guest presented by

and Paul Thompson alongside Robinson. Edited into ''Time Team'' series 7, episode 13, "York".

Series 4 (2000)

Guest presented by

and Liza Tarbuck alongside Robinson. Edited into ''Time Team'' series 8, episode 12, "Three Tales of Canterbury".

Series 5 (2001)

Guest presented by

and

Alice Roberts Alice May Roberts (born 19 May 1973) is an English biological anthropologist, biologist, television presenter and author. Since 2012 she has been Professor of the Public Engagement in Science at the University of Birmingham. She was President ...

alongside Robinson. Edited into ''Time Team'' series 9, episode 13, "Seven Buckets and a Buckle".

The Big Dig (2003)

''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 Community archaeology is archaeology by the people for the people. The field is also known as public archaeology. There is debate about whether the terms are interchangeable; some believe that community archaeology is but one form of public archa ...

. Edited into a ''Time Team'' special, "Big Dig, The Hole Story".

Big Roman Dig (2005)

''Time Team's Big Roman Dig'' (2005) saw the "Big dig" 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 link-ups 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. Material from the Big Roman Dig relating to the Roman villa site at Dinnington,

Somerset ( en, All The People of Somerset) , locator_map = , coordinates = , region = South West England , established_date = Ancient , established_by = , preceded_by = , origin = , lord_lieutenant_office =Lord Lieutenant of Somerset , lord_ ...

; along with material from the earlier episode at the same site - ''Time Team'' series 10, episode 2 "Mosaics, Mosaics, Mosaics" - was used in a Time Team Special, "The Big Roman Villa".

2005 Extras

Big Royal Dig (2006)

Edited into a ''Time Team'' special, "Big Royal Dig".

More4 Extras

References

External links

''Time Team''
at

Channel4.com Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

Time Team Live 1997 Channel4.com "microsite" (archived)Time Team Live 2000 Channel4.com "microsite" (archived)Big Dig Channel4.com "microsite" (archived)Big Roman Dig Channel4.com "microsite" (archived)The Unofficial ''Time Team'' site
Fan site (archived)
Time Team Teatime: Session 6 – 3rd May 2020, discussing Time Team Live 1998Time Team Teatime: Session 24 – 27th September 2020, discussing Time Team Live 1999
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Time Team 1997 British television series debuts 2006 British television series endings Channel 4 original programming Time Team

Background

Episodes

Series 1 (1997)

Series 2 (1998)

Series 3 (1999)

Series 4 (2000)

Series 5 (2001)

The Big Dig (2003)

Big Roman Dig (2005)

2005 Extras

Big Royal Dig (2006)

More4 Extras

See also

References

External links