Format
A team of archaeologists, usually led by either Mick Aston or Francis Pryor (the latter usually heads Bronze Age and Iron Age digs), and including field archaeologist Phil Harding, congregate at a site, usually in the United Kingdom. The site is frequently suggested by a member of the viewing public who knows of an unsolved archaeological mystery, or who owns property that has not been excavated and is potentially interesting. Time Team uncover as much as they can about the archaeology and history of the site in three days, often in conjunction with the local archaeological unit.
At the start of the programme, Tony Robinson explains, in his "piece to camera", the reasons for the team's visit to the site, and during the dig he enthusiastically encourages the archaeologists to explain their decisions, discoveries and conclusions. He tries to ensure that everything is comprehensible to the archaeologically uninitiated.
Excavations are not just carried out to entertain viewers. Tony Robinson claims that the archaeologists involved with Time Team have published more scientific papers on excavations carried out in the series than all British university archaeology departments put together over the same period.
Time Team developed from an earlier Channel 4 series, Time Signs, first broadcast in 1991. Produced by Taylor, Time Signs had featured Aston and Harding, who both went on to appear on Time Team. Following that show's 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 (1998), History Hunters (1998-1999) and Time Team Digs (1997-2006), whilst several spin-off books have also been published. The series also features special episodes, often documentaries on history or archaeology, and live episodes. Time Team America, a US version of the programme, was broadcast on PBS in 2009, and co-produced by Oregon Public Broadcasting and Videotext/C4i.
In February 2012, it was announced that expert Mick Aston had quit the show due to format changes. The disputed changes included hiring a former model as a co-presenter, the letting go of 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".
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