Digging for Britain

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Digging for Britain
Title card
GenreDocumentary
Presented byAlice Roberts
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series9
No. of episodes39 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time59 minutes
Production companiesRare TV (formerly known as 360 Production (series 1-7)[1]) for BBC
(in association with Northern Ireland Screen)
Original release
NetworkBBC Two
Release19 August 2010 (2010-08-19) –
present

Digging For Britain is a British television series focused on last and current year archaeology. The series is made by 360 Production (now Rare TV) for the BBC and is presented by Alice Roberts.[2][3] It was first aired in August 2010.

The series focuses on archaeological excavations and research in the United Kingdom, both at new sites and those already well known to science. Filming has taken place in many parts of the country.

Production

The first series consisted of four episodes, initially broadcast on BBC Two in August and September 2010. A second series of four episodes was broadcast in September 2011. Each episodes of first two series had covered archaeology of specific period. The programme returned as a series of three episodes on BBC Four in February 2015, covering the previous summer's investigations in specific geographical region of the United Kingdom in each episode. Each episode of this series was hosted in regional museum. The same format as in series 3 was adopted for series 4 and 5, which first aired in March and December 2016 respectively. There was also a programme Digging for Ireland linked to the series [4] which had the same format and presenters as series 5, it was broadcast in February 2015. A sixth series of the programme began airing in November 2017, returning to the four-episode format (covering three geographical regions plus one special theme). This structure was retained for series 7 and 8, which aired in November 2018 and 2019 respectively. Four episodes titled The Greatest Discoveries aired in 2020. It returned for its 9th series in January 2022.[5]

Since series 3, with exception of series 5, the programme was co-presented in various form. Some presenters are former members of Time Team crew (as did Roberts). The series 3 and 4 by archaeologist Matt Williams (who also presented some Time Team episodes). (Roberts and Williams also presented Digging for Ireland.) Raksha Dave (archaeologist in Time Team) series 7.[6] The archaeologist and academic Naoíse Mac Sweeney was a presenter in series 8.[7] Series 9 features historian Onyeka Nubia and archaeologists Cat Jarman, and Stuart Prior in some episodes as presenters.[8]

The song Coins for Eyes was written for series 9 by Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane.[9]

Episodes

Episode Episode title Director Producer(s) Series Producer Airdate Viewers
Series 1
1"The Romans"John Hayes-FisherJohn Hayes-FisherNot listed19 August 2010 (2010-08-19)2.75m

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Fort of Vindolanda
  • Vicus outsite Vindolanda
  • Sudbury lantern
  • Revaluation of 1912 dig near Hambleden
  • Isle of Thanet (East Kent Access Road): 1st/2nd century roman burial, potencial iron age village
  • Iron Age excavation near Bere Regis
  • Frome roman coins Hoard
  • St Peter Port harbour, Guernsey, roman shipwreck
  • Temple in Vindolanda
2"Prehistory"Serena DaviesSerena DaviesNot listed26 August 2010 (2010-08-26)2.34m

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Almost million years old flint tools near Happisburgh
  • Creswell Crags Cave Art
  • Links of Noltland, Westray, Orkney
  • Culduthel Man
  • Coast near Salcombe
  • Grave of the chieftain from Forteviot
3"Anglo-Saxons"Sarah JoblingSarah JoblingNot listed2 September 2010 (2010-09-02)42.45m

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Dorchester 19th century excavated burials
  • Staffordshire Hoard
  • Anglo-Saxon settlement near Bamburgh castle
  • Lanton Quarry village
  • Saxon graves on East Kent Access Road
  • Cemetery at the Meads and Conservation Science Invastigations : Sittingbourne
  • 2000 cemetery excavation at Sutton Hoo
  • Anglo-Saxon nunnary at berkeley castle
  • Bamburgh burial ground excavated between 1998 and 2007
  • Eadgyth's tomb
  • Anglo-Saxon swords from Bamburgh
4"The Tudors"James GrayJames GrayNot listed10 September 2010 (2010-09-10)TBA

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Foundations of The Theater at Shoreditch
  • Palace at Placentia at Greenwich
  • Mary Rose shipwreck
  • Strata Florida Abbey ruins
  • The Gresham Ship
  • New Place residence in Stratford-upon-Avon
  • Artifacts of Elizabethan theaters and bearbaiting arenas
Series 2
1"Britannia"Tim RobinsonTim RobinsonNot listed9 September 2011 (2011-09-09)TBA

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Roman villa of Classis Britannica commander near Folkestone
  • Mystery roman 97 babes near Hambleden
  • Roman settlement near exeter
  • Caerleon amphitheatre's warehause
  • Bere Regis romanized building and burial
  • Helmet found near Crosby Garrett
  • Vinovia, Binchester Roman Fort along roman road of Dere Street between Durham and York
2"Invaders"Sarah JoblingSarah JoblingNot listed16 September 2011 (2011-09-16)TBA

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Excavation at the site of Horgabost on Harris island
  • Lewis Chessmen
  • Monastery on Harris
  • Hungate, York
  • Possible victims of St. Brice's day massacre
  • Vale of York Hoard
  • Udal excavation
  • Viking settlement Brough of Deerness
3"Age of Bronze and Iron"Emma ParkinsEmma ParkinsNot listed23 September 2011 (2011-09-23)TBA

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Cladh Hallan project's burials, South Uist
  • Cambridgeshire quarry
  • Excavation along river Waveney
  • Fort near Burrough
  • Fin Cop fort
  • Chiseldon cauldrons
  • Excavation at Calleva Atrebatum
4"Ice and Stone"James GrayJames GrayNot listed30 September 2011 (2011-09-30)TBA

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Stonehenge's bluestones origin site
  • Neolithic tomb at Banks, South Ronaldsay
  • Daer valley mesolithic-neolithic transition flint tools
  • Star Carr mesolithic village
  • Paleolithic tools Les Varines, Jersey
  • Gough's Cave human remains
  • Neanderthal tools from La Cotte
Series 3
1"East"Edward Hart[a]Alex RowsonCatherine Ross, Sarah Jobling3 February 2015 (2015-02-03)TBA

Hosted at Norwich Castle Museum

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Must Farm bronze age fishing industry
  • Colchester roman house
  • Oakington anglo-saxon cemetry
  • Lyminge anglo-saxon royal hall
  • Basing House new house fort
  • Silchester roman town
2"West"Edward Hart[a]Bernadette RossCatherine Ross, Sarah Jobling10 February 2015 (2015-02-10)TBA

Hosted at Dorset County Museum

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Barrow Clamp burial ground
  • Durotriges big dig project, Winterborne Kingston
  • Chedworth roman villa
  • The leper hospital of Saint Mary Magdalen near Winchester
  • Forest of Dean bronze age child bracelets
  • Ipplepen roman cemetery
3"North"Edward Hart[a]Denis Minihan, Chris NikkelCatherine Ross17 February 2015 (2015-02-17)TBA

Hosted at National Museum of Scotland

Sites and archeology featured:

  • Neolithic site of Ness of Brodgar
  • Roman Barracks at Binchester
  • Roman altar monument at Maryport
  • Mesolithic butchery place at Flixton Island
  • Sanday bronze age well site, carvings from Jonathan's Cave, East Wemyss, and iron age site on North Uist rescue
  • Viking boat burial at Ardnamurchan
  • John Conyers' feasting hall at Boroughbridge
  • Potencial Pictish Royal place at Rhynie
Special Episode
1"Digging For Ireland"Edward Hart[a]Chris NikkelCatherine Ross23 February 2015 (2015-02-23)TBA

Hosted at Ulster Museum

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Plantation of Ulster at Dunluce castle
  • Town of estate workers near Dunluce castle
  • Girona ship of Spanish Armada
  • Battle of the Ford of the Buiscuits by the River Arney
  • Bronze age cemetery near Enniscorthy
  • Corrard torc
  • Moydrum bog body
  • Excavation at Hill of Ward
  • Boats from Lough Corrib
  • Viking from from the River Blackwater
  • Spike Island burial excavation
Series 4
1"West"Edward HartGemma Hagen, Alex RowsonEdward Hart10 March 2016 (2016-03-10)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Salisbury Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Sweat lodge in Marden Henge
  • Beaker people burial in entrance of Wilsford Henge
  • Amesbury Archer
  • Iron Age settlement of Winterborne Kingston
  • Medieval town of Trellech
  • New cave entrance of Kents Cavern
  • Stone age colonizers camp on the island of Jersey
  • Staffordshire hoard conservation
  • Anglo-Saxon Ford warrior
2"East"Edward HartGemma Hagen, Alex RowsonEdward Hart17 March 2016 (2016-03-17)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Museum of London are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Waterloo battlefield
  • Waterloo teeth dentistry
  • Lenborough Hoard
  • London's Liverpool Street Crossrail station 17th century cemetery
  • Liverpool Station's beheaded roman victims
  • Tombstone of Claudia Martina
  • Wreck of HMS London
  • Nelson's navy skeleton
  • Battle of Britain's Hurrican wreck pieces
3"North"Edward HartGemma Hagen, Alex RowsonEdward Hart24 March 2016 (2016-03-24)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Yorkshire Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Star Carr mesolithic antler headdress
  • Iron age round house at Black Loch of Myrton
  • Galloway hoard
  • Roman fort at Ribchester
  • Pictish fort at Dunnicaer
  • Pictish fort at Rhynie
  • Iron age Arras cemetery of square burrows of Arras culture
Series 5
1"West"Graham CooperGemma Hagen, Alex RowsonGraham Cooper [b]6 December 2016 (2016-12-06)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Bristol museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Double henge at Bulford
  • Training trenches battle of somme at Perham Down
  • Coriosolites coin hoard from Jersey
  • Thornbury Hoard
  • Burials outside Merlin's cave
  • High status building from Tintagel
  • Whitesands Bay dark age cemetery
2"North"Gemma HagenGemma HagenGraham Cooper13 December 2016 (2016-12-13)TBA

Throughout episode finds from National Museum of Scotland are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • roman siege forts at Burnswark
  • 14th century cemeteries at Thornton Abbey
  • Man made stone islands on Loch Arnish, Loch Langabhat and Loch Bhorghastail, isle of Lewis
  • Shulishader axe,
  • Potantial location anglo-saxon monastery of Lindisfarne island
  • Hunterston brooch
  • Cairn broch on island of South Ronaldsay
  • Anglo-saxon settlement at Little Carlton
3"East"Alex RowsonAlex RowsonGraham Cooper20 December 2016 (2016-12-20)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Canterbury Museums are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Must Farm Bronze age settlement
  • Location of Battle of Barnet
  • Great Ryburgh Anglo-saxon cemetery
  • North Oxfordshire Anglo-saxon cemetery
  • Pendant of Queen Bertha of Kent
  • Excavation of Curtain Theatre
  • Watlington Hoard
  • Viking stirrup
Series 6
1"West"Nick Gillam-SmithNot listedNick Gillam-Smith [b]22 November 2017 (2017-11-22)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Museum of Somerset are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Avebury Circle
  • Repton viking winter camp
  • Re-evaluated age of Repton mausoleum skeletal remains
  • Head of the pointer sponsored by Alfred the Great
  • Burrow Island burial site
  • Cat's Brain and Dorstone long burrows
  • Leekfrith's iron age torques
  • Meonstoke roman temple site
2"East"Alex RowsonAlex RowsonNick Gillam-Smith29 November 2017 (2017-11-29)TBA

Throughout episode finds from Colchester Castle Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Bloomberg Roman wooden london
  • Rooswijk shipwreck
  • Barnham 400000 old site
  • Ebbsfleet potencial Ceasar roman camp
  • Hazardous shipwreck excavation near Bracklesham bay
3"North"Fiona CushleyFiona CushleyNick Gillam-Smith6 December 2017 (2017-12-06)TBA

Throughout episode finds from National Museum of Scotland museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

  • Vindolanda excavation under one of the baracks
  • Site of Iona Monastery
  • Carnoustie Bronze Age Village
  • East Lomond Pictish settlement
  • Site of Siege of Newark
  • Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements on the island of Sanday
4"The Horsemen of Hadrian's Wall"James GrayJames GrayNick Gillam-Smith13 December 2017 (2017-12-13)TBA
Roman cavalry special
Series 7
1 "North" Karen Kirk Karen Kirk Nick Gillam-Smith 28 November 2018
2 "West" Not listed [c] Not listed Nick Gillam-Smith 5 December 2018
3 "East" Louise Ord Louise Ord Nick Gillam-Smith 12 December 2018
4 "Iron Age Revealed" Tom Ranson Tom Ranson Nick Gillam-Smith 19 December 2018
Series 8
1 "West" Sophie Smith Sophie Smith Paul Olding 20 November 2019
2 "North" Gareth Sacala Gareth Sacala Paul Olding 27 November 2019
3 "South" Sophie Smith, Gareth Sacala Sophie Smith, Gareth Sacala Paul Olding 4 December 2019
4 "WWII Special" Sophie Smith Sophie Smith Paul Olding 11 December 2019
Special Series [d][e]
1 "The Greatest Discoveries: The Early Settlers" Denis Minihan 17 March 2020
2 "The Greatest Discoveries: A Land of Tribes" Denis Minihan 24 March 2020
3 "The Greatest Discoveries: Roman Conquest" Denis Minihan 31 March 2020
4 "The Greatest Discoveries: Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms" Denis Minihan 7 April 2020
Series 9
1 "East" Edward Hart, Rory Wheeler Theo Williams 4 January 2022
2 "South" Edward Hart, Rory Wheeler Theo Williams 5 January 2022
3 "North" Edward Hart, Rory Wheeler Theo Williams 6 January 2022
4 "Midlands" Edward Hart, Rory Wheeler Theo Williams 11 January 2022
5 "West" Edward Hart, Rory Wheeler Theo Williams 12 January 2022
6 "North" Edward Hart, Rory Wheeler Theo Williams 13 January 2022

Archaeologists

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d Credited as Studio Director
  2. ^ a b Listed in end credits as Series Producer/Director.
  3. ^ Judging from the place in the credits might be Nick Gillam-Smith for this episode, mistitled as Series Producer only.
  4. ^ Each episode is about 30 minutes in length.[10]
  5. ^ Each episode is a compilation of material from previews series.

References

  1. ^ "360 Production, Screencut join and rebrand as Rare TV - Televisual". 25 January 2019. Retrieved 8 February 2022.
  2. ^ "Digging For Britain". BBC press office. Retrieved 9 July 2010.
  3. ^ "Digging for Britain". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 14 September 2016.
  4. ^ "Digging for Ireland". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
  5. ^ Digging for Britain (Documentary), 360 Production, Northern Ireland Screen, Rare-TV, 19 August 2010, retrieved 12 January 2022
  6. ^ a b "Raksha Dave". Pitt Rivers Museum. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Digging for Britain, Series 8, WWII Special". BBC Two. BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  8. ^ a b c "BBC Two - Digging for Britain". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
  9. ^ Flynn, Johnny [@JohnnyFlynnHQ] (4 January 2022). "Hello all and Happy New Year. The song @RobGMacfarlane and I have written for @theAliceRoberts's fantastic new series of Digging For Britain is released in two versions today, to celebrate the first episode on @BBCTwo - listen to Coins for the Eyes here: https://t.co/dHBYmRTsZW" (Tweet). Archived from the original on 13 January 2022. Retrieved 22 January 2022 – via Twitter.
  10. ^ "BBC Two - Digging for Britain, the Greatest Discoveries, Episode 1".
  11. ^ "Matt Williams". Our People. bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  12. ^ "Digging for Britain". Bradshaw Foundation. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  13. ^ "Matt Williams Interview". The Post Hole. Department of Archaeology, University of York. February 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  14. ^ "Digging for Britain, Series 4". BBC Two. BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  15. ^ "the Trust and the 'Fenwick treasure' on TV: "Digging for Britain"". The Colchester Archaeologist. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  16. ^ "New Time Team crew members hail from Bournemouth University". Bournemouth University. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  17. ^ Norton, Andrew (31 May 2016). "Our New Man in Wales". Wessex Archaeology. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  18. ^ O'Connor, Rachael. "Extremely rare 'ancient Celtic ornament' discovered in Norway believed to have been stolen by Vikings". The Irish Post. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  19. ^ Jarman, Cat (1 February 2022). River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-1-64313-870-1. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  20. ^ "Cat Jarman". Peters Fraser and Dunlop, Literary Agents. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  21. ^ "Cat Jarman". Jaipur Literature Festival London at the British Library. 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  22. ^ "CAT JARMAN - Encouraging potential archaeology students". Current Archaeology. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  23. ^ Jarman, Cat. "What archaeology tells us about human migration". TEDxBath. YouTube. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  24. ^ "Dr Catrine Jarman". Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, School of Arts. University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 8 May 2019. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  25. ^ "2010: Gravedigger to archaeologist". News and features. University of Bristol. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  26. ^ "Stuart Prior". Our People. bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  27. ^ Ravilious, Kate (January 2014). "The Scientist's Garden". Archaeology Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  28. ^ "Stuart J Prior". University of Bristol. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  29. ^ "Stuart Prior". Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, School of Arts. University of Bristol. Archived from the original on 10 January 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
  30. ^ Perfect Weapon (TV series)

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Digging_for_Britain&oldid=1120072633"