Restructuring, avoiding dumbing down, possibly making it a shorter programme all could help. So apart from discovering the female cleavage (along with Kleenex tissues) looking for Saxon pottery designed to hold bovine waste, expanding your knowledge of Saxon tea services as well as teaching both Vivian Westwood and Tony & Guy a thing or twowhat other skills have you learned since watching Time Team? Some single episodes already . Eat umble pie you are having a laff. i never knew the show existed until last year 2021. any chance for reunions and a chance to interact as like conventions do here in the usa? It was wonderful stuff and it was so great to be able to sit on the informed and incredibly interesting conversations between the archaeologists and the repartee with Tony Robinson. From the fall of TT on the minuscule scale, to the fall of a Royal house; loss of a battle; collapse of an empire. INCREDIBLE ! Many of my friends would love to travel to the UK because of shows like Time Team and Escape to the country. I am! Mick the Dig joined Time Team early on as our resident excavation supervisor and was personally responsible for Time Team's biggest ever hole - at Blaenavon, Wales (an honour that looks unlikely to be beaten any time soon!). He said: 'We were very sorry to see Mick go, and he leaves an extraordinary legacy. Always will be in my heart! I love Time Team and regularly binge watch have seen many episodes several times. And lets be honest, it doesnt get any better than watching absolutely great British television presented by the all time best supporting TV character, Baldrick. I hope that someone has the sense to resorect TT even if it is repeated from the beginning. This did happen in fact, but the show kept going with Mick Aston and (Sir) Tony Robinson always at the helm. As it was said at the start, they had to change it and then when it all went wrong blame someone else. It will be sad for it to end, but theres still a few epsiodes I havent seen. I have always wondered what happens to all the dirt that the Time Team dig out of their sites after the 3 days of digging? So why could it not continue on and evolve in 2013 ? Because the major players were all quite old, and as you will have heard age is the surest antidote to youthful energy. I have enjoyed Time Team from day one. I used to tape the shows & send the tapes to my sister in Winnipeg who enjoyed them as much as as we did Phil & Tony were our Favourites . About the same time I discovered TT and became a dedicated viewer and have viewed all their programmes thanks to More Four. During that time he deduced the towns Medieval layout. Please bring Time Team back. A group of archaeologists have 3 days to discover historical artifacts in different sites around Britain. Rest in peace, Mick, you added more to peoples lives than you probably ever realised. I had drawn him into the subject a few years after we married but I had the privilege of degree training. With the archaeologists at the height of their game, by now the team was so confident of the three-day regime that development producer Jim Mower describes their appearance on site as like getting the A Team in. Come on BBC . Like others I have loved TT right from the start and have always enjoyed it. Interesting, in these days where we (oldies) are not responding to adverts as much as the supposed young and affluent to think of alternative crowd-sourcing models for financing programs that we like. My oldest son and my husband dream of being as good in tapping flint as Phil! Tapped into the national zeitgeist, its stars were household names and at its zenith Time Team was pulling in audiences of 3 3.5 million viewers. The worst thing they did was sex it up. This is true I dont go to bed without at least watching one episode I would too love to get involved but at 67 a bit too old. It is located on the Broughton Estate in Oxfordshire, belonging to the Fiennes family. and which would be the best way to alienate the people working on the programme. As is the case with so many entertainment channels, these days the focus is on the younger generation. A terrible loss to the worlds of broadcasting and archaeology alike, with luck a pheonix will rise from the ashes. The producers screwed it with the inevitable dumbing down and trying to make it a show for the 20 to 30 year olds. Beautifully expressed, Andrew. SAVE TIME TEAM, Closing in on 4,000 signatures already: http://www.gopetition.com/petitions/time-team-should-continue-on-tv.html, Hey guys just a quick update of a Article we have got up promoting the SAVE TIME TEAM Campaign. Its sad to see another worthwhile educational program going by the wayside. While the allure of such sites created a powerful television spectacle, it also marked a move away from the programmes humble local archaeology origins. 2023 CURRENT PUBLISHING LTD - ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. It may also be heresy to say so, but I think many people who were interested more in the archaeology than the banter, found the relationship between Phil and Tony, to be past its sell by date. Have a look again at the programme where Phils DNA results come in and watch Tonys reaction. Jim summed up their approach as messing with something perfectly fine, and when it wasnt a success, blaming the people trying to make it work., Time Teams cost also made it vulnerable. With only some strange earthworks exciting the curiosity of local amateur archaeologists to go on, the programme was flexible enough to be able to take a gamble. Charlies comments would carry more weight if the spelling was correct. Without Mick Aston it will not be the same, but as such it will be a fitting tribute to a great forward thinking man. Whatever happened, wed all thought, well complete the 20th series. Thank you. document.getElementById("comment").setAttribute( "id", "a3c3c528f5d4ab9be4dd73fd43d71409" );document.getElementById("ac59ec51d8").setAttribute( "id", "comment" ); Latest news from our sister site, the-past.com. Yes, it became a bit formulaic probably inevitable when dullard TV producers are involved. Manage all your favorite fandoms in one place! This article is 10 years old but like a spoiler. Above all we learned something new in each programme , not the usual rehashed information served up in other one -off programmes on popular periods. Nothing lasts forever, including Time Team. I think weve brought it into the forefront of peoples attention. Now the format was safely established the programme was increasingly able to capitalise on its fame and access big name sites ultimately even Buckingham Palace. Time Team isnt the same without Mick and Phill is the token hot tottie (uh hum!) Telly Tubbies. We are aiming to reach our target of at least 5,000 patrons by the end of March and well then be in position to dig at least one other site the Iron Age settlement this year and carry out preliminary research on others., Our goal is to create a legacy for these sites, says Taylor, building ongoing relationships with local communities and archaeologists that continue to yield fresh insights. Archeology isnt aloof anymoreTT built a bridge between laymen and pros! Its December 2016, My Hubby and I live in Queensland Australia,we have Foxtel and have the old shows on a series link and never get tired of watching the Time Team. I cannot think why! Not on the Live I dug at. There are quite a few of us down here watching repeats ( up to 5 times) but even so they are still interesting. He was affectionately known as Time Team's "lumps and bumps" man, working with the team alongside his day job, travelling the country surveying, recording and investigating archaeological sites. Dont think that the U.K. has the monopoly on scrapping popular shows it happens here in N.Z. TV is a wasteland and TT was an oasis in it. , Cant we have Phil once a week digging a hole in a pub garden, please?xxxx. Poor. The UK has always been relied on for quality productions and Time Team epitomised these values, but obviously, some young Turk in a rented tux has been allowed to jazz it up. This once innovative and ground breaking channel has started to descent to almost ITV 1 depths of dumbing down in recent years, it certainly isnt the channel that Jeremy Isaccs created anymore. I am not sure who set it up, but you can find it by searching for Time Team FB page. Interested in keeping up to date with the latest archaeological finds across Britain? I THINK THIS IS A SHOCKING DECISION AND CAN ONLY HOPE THAT IT IS REVERSED!!! History is a fascinating subject but Fortunately, it wasnt. I agree what will replace it I can see more reality programmes cooking programmes selling houses nothing to work the mind channel 4 must be out of thier tiny mind. Time Team! Episode # Series # Episode Title Location Coordinates Original airdate 5: 1 "Lord of the Isles" Finlaggan, Islay: 555006N 61016W / 55.834867N 6.171225W / : 8 January 1995 (): Recorded between 24 and 26 June 1994, the team helps the National Museums of Scotland to search for the secrets of Finlaggan, the centre of the kingdom of the Lord of the Isles. Your sorrow will be eased by the sight of a few old, friendly faces. Perhaps the question should be not what went wrong with Time Team, but what went wrong with Channel 4. And this program had run its course several years ago. Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. If ch4 wanted to save money why not repeat them from programme 1 . Now, instead of honest archeology, we are going to be swamped with American hystorical programming, in which they assume we all have a 1 second attention span, need constant recaps (at least 4 per 10 minute part) and need it all (badly) acted out by ridiculous, cheap, and hugely inaccurate costumes, backgrounds and language. I love time team. Im sure it was meant to interest younger viewers in Archeology, a noble enough concept. Will miss them! Nevis, West Indies: Part 1: Directed by Graham Dixon. Far too many highlights to choose a favourite, but Ill always have a soft spot for the tone of Tony Robinsons voice when he explained that the sash-cum-swordbelt worn by Saxon fighters was called a baldric. The utterly ridiculous Dig by Wire (S19E01) would have put me off permanently had it been the first episode I had seen (What, helicopters dont work on Gateholm?). It has made the subject of archaeology interesting and accessible for everyone and if they were still activetheres an interesting mound that desperately needs investigating at the end of our road. Self - Downpatrick, County Down (1998) . Thank you all at Time Team for a wonderful 20 years. The banter between him and the otherwise notoriously stuffy academics was legendary. Well Done Time Team, sad to hear you are soon to be no more. Dont judge based on the rubbish you get over there. The changes proved too much, too fast, and viewing figures crashed to 700,000. and long may you show them PLEASE pauline x, I am trying to get a contact e-mail address for Tim Taylor (IV) because a group of archeologists in Canada would like to see a Time Team Canada started and we need advice and any other help from the expert. The presenters never got enough credit for me, Phil, a hero and when can I share a pint with you? But would be top stuff if BBC 4 could pick it up and get things back on track. The idea/format needs to be revived by BBC4. Usually clad in a loud jumper, with his white hair blowing in the wind, Professor Aston was the shows site director who chose where to dig for the next historical discovery. What idiot made this particular decision to cancel such an interesting and educational series! 20+ years is a remarkable feat for a television program, and this isnt Dr. Who either. We have watched it form the start and enjoyed it on various level hugely. Its the best show! I had to think about it before I realized what he meant. Jim describes this miscalculation as a death blow, which cost the show almost all of its behind the scenes staff. I and my husband have learned so much over the years (and are still learning): not only about archeaology itself, but about interpreting architecture, landscapes and social history, to name but three. He said: We were very sorry to see Mick go, and he leaves an extraordinary legacy. Towards the end of its run an average episode would cost around 200,000 a budget more on the scale of a small drama show in the eyes of television insiders but over 20 years Channel 4 pumped 4 million directly into British archaeology. Oh well, TV is doomed. Series Producer and creator of Time Team, Tim Taylor says, They did it! Tim Team has finally brought British history into focus for me. R.I.P. Bringing history to life is far from an easy task but the combination of the experts knowledge, Tony Robinsons ability to act as the interested layman asking questions that the audience wanted to know the answers to, as well as the interaction and camaraderie between the members of the team I felt worked really well. They tried an American version but it didnt have the natural chemistry that the original had. The programmes were sometimes slight and of course a three day dig is only a sketch rather than a full canvass, but Time Team enriched my life. It also produces some amazing factual programmes to expand our knowledge and it is extremely worrying that the latter are being sacrificed for moronic programmes like Big Fat Gypsy Wedding which add nothing to our cultural enlightenment. True, Tony Robinson did tend to upstage and steal a scene or two, but those of us who enjoyed one of the best programmes to ever hit TV, expected and accepted that. Long-serving archaeologists Helen Geake and Stewart Ainsworth would appear less often. Through understanding and helping to preserve the past, and sharing it with a worldwide audience, we hope to re-engage with the enthusiasm that so many of our fans have shown over the years., Many of the original team are already involved, both on and off screen. That a pile of random rubble is a wall, a stain in the ground is a ditch and Tony Robinson is a supercilious pot bellied bore. Love the show and all the characters especially Phil! BBCs own channels will have BBC prefixing the number and anything not by the BBC will obviously by without this prefix. Carenzas missing as is Helen, I see Mick walked out as I also presume Stewart has too. As late as season 18 the programme was pulling in a respectable audience of 1.1 million, partly because it had built up a loyal following, and partly because the team were still digging great sites. 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