Digging for Britain

British documentary series about UK archaeology

Digging for Britain

Title card

Genre| Documentary
Presented by| Alice Roberts
Country of origin| United Kingdom
Original language| English
No. of series| 11
No. of episodes| 51 (list of episodes)
Production
Running time| 59 minutes
Production companies| Rare TV (formerly known as 360 Production (series 1-7)[1]) for BBC
(in association with Northern Ireland Screen)
Original release
Network| BBC Two
Release| 19 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.

Its 11th series, containing six episodes, was broadcast in January 2024.[4]

## Production

[edit]

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 a 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[5] 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.[6]

Since series 3, with exception of series 5, the programme was co-presented in various forms. Some presenters are former members of the Time Team crew (as is 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.[7] The archaeologist and academic Naoíse Mac Sweeney was a presenter in series 8.[8] Series 9 features historian Onyeka Nubia and archaeologists Cat Jarman and Stuart Prior in some episodes as presenters.[9]

The song Coins for the Eyes was written for series 9 by Johnny Flynn and Robert Macfarlane.[10]

## Series overview

[edit]

Series| Episodes| Originally aired| UK viewers
(millions)

|
|
|

First aired| Last aired
1| 4| 19 August 2010 (2010-08-19)| 10 September 2010 (2010-09-10)| 2.51
2| 4| 9 September 2011 (2011-09-09)| 30 September 2011 (2011-09-30)| —
3| 4[a]| 3 February 2015 (2015-02-03)| 23 February 2015 (2015-02-23)| —
4| 3| 10 March 2016 (2016-03-10)| 24 March 2016 (2016-03-24)| —
5| 3| 6 December 2016 (2016-12-06)| 20 December 2016 (2016-12-20)| —
6| 4| 22 November 2017 (2017-11-22)| 13 December 2017 (2017-12-13)| —
7| 4| 28 November 2018 (2018-11-28)| 19 December 2018 (2018-12-19)| —
8| 4| 20 November 2019 (2019-11-20)| 11 December 2019 (2019-12-11)| —
Special| 4| 17 March 2020 (2020-03-17)| 7 April 2020 (2020-04-07)| —
9| 6| 4 January 2022 (2022-01-04)| 13 January 2022 (2022-01-13)| —
10| 6| 1 January 2023 (2023-01-01)| 12 February 2023 (2023-02-12)| —
11| 6| 2 January 2024 (2024-01-02)| 11 January 2024 (2024-01-11)| —
12| 6| 7 January 2025 (2025-01-07)| TBA| —

## Episodes

[edit]

### Series 1 (2010)

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No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

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1| "The Romans"| John Hayes-Fisher| John Hayes-Fisher| Not listed| 19 August 2010 (2010-08-19)| 2.75

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Fort of Vindolanda
* Vicus outside Vindolanda
* Sudbury Roman lantern
* Revaluation of 1912 dig near Hambleden
* 1st/2nd century Roman burial and potential Iron Age village excavated during the construction of the East Kent Access Road on the Isle of Thanet
* Iron Age excavation near Bere Regis
* Frome Roman coins hoard
* Gallo-Roman Shipwreck Asterix [1] found at St Peter Port harbour, Guernsey
* Temple in Vindolanda

2| "Prehistory"| Serena Davies| Serena Davies| Not listed| 26 August 2010 (2010-08-26)| 2.34

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Almost million years old flint tools near Happisburgh
* Creswell Crags Cave Art
* Links of Noltland Late Neolithic Settlement, Westray, Orkney
* Culduthel Man
* Salcombe B Middle Bronze Age Shipwreck
* Grave of the chieftain from Forteviot

3| "Anglo-Saxons"| Sarah Jobling| Sarah Jobling| Not listed| 2 September 2010 (2010-09-02)| 2.45

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Anglo-Saxon 5th century grave goods excavated in the 19th century in Dorchester on Thames
* Staffordshire Hoard
* Anglo-Saxon fortress remains at Bamburgh Castle
* Anglo-Saxon village excavation at Lanton Quarry
* Saxon graves excavated during the construction of the East Kent Access Road on the Isle of Thanet
* Conservation of objects found at The Meads Anglo-Saxon cemetery carried out by volunteers at Conservation Science Investigations: Sittingbourne
* Anglo-Saxon cemetery excavation at Sutton Hoo commissioned in 2000 by the National Trust
* Anglo-Saxon nunnery at Berkeley Castle
* Bowl Hole Anglo-Saxon cemetery excavated near Bamburgh Castle between 1998 and 2007
* Eadgyth's tomb
* Anglo-Saxon swords from Bamburgh Castle

4| "The Tudors"| James Gray| James Gray| Not listed| 10 September 2010 (2010-09-10)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Foundations of The Theatre at Shoreditch
* Palace of Placentia at Greenwich
* Mary Rose shipwreck
* Strata Florida Abbey ruins
* The Gresham Ship
* New Place Shakespeare residence foundations in Stratford-upon-Avon
* Artifacts of Elizabethan theaters and bear-baiting arenas

### Series 2 (2011)

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No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
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1| "Britannia"| Tim Robinson| Tim Robinson| Not listed| 9 September 2011 (2011-09-09)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Folkestone Roman Villa, a potential seat of a Classis Britannica commander
* Mysterious remains of 97 Roman newborns near Hambleden
* Roman settlement near Exeter
* Caerleon amphitheatre's warehouse
* Bere Regis romanized building and burial
* Crosby Garrett Helmet
* Binchester Roman Fort along the Dere Street Roman road between Durham and York

2| "Invaders"| Sarah Jobling| Sarah Jobling| Not listed| 16 September 2011 (2011-09-16)| N/A

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
* Brough of Deerness Viking settlement

3| "Age of Bronze and Iron"| Emma Parkins| Emma Parkins| Not listed| 23 September 2011 (2011-09-23)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Cladh Hallan project's burials, South Uist
* Cambridgeshire quarry
* Iron Age Iceni timber trackway excavated along the river Waveney near Geldeston
* Burrough Hill Iron Age Hillfort
* Fin Cop fort
* Chiseldon cauldrons
* Excavation at Calleva Atrebatum

4| "Ice and Stone"| James Gray| James Gray| Not listed| 30 September 2011 (2011-09-30)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Stonehenge's bluestones origin site
* Neolithic Banks Chambered Tomb (Tomb of the Otters) in 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 (2015)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

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1| "East"| Edward Hart[b]| Alex Rowson| Catherine Ross, Sarah Jobling| 3 February 2015 (2015-02-03)| N/A

Hosted at Norwich Castle Museum

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Must Farm Bronze Age settlement fishing industry
* Colchester Roman house
* Oakington Anglo-Saxon Cemetery
* Lyminge Anglo-Saxon royal hall
* Basing House new house fort
* Silchester Roman Town

2| "West"| Edward Hart[b]| Bernadette Ross| Catherine Ross, Sarah Jobling| 10 February 2015 (2015-02-10)| N/A

Hosted at Dorset County Museum

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Barrow Clump 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[b]| Denis Minihan, Chris Nikkel| Catherine Ross| 17 February 2015 (2015-02-17)| N/A

Hosted at National Museum of Scotland

Sites and archeology featured:

* Neolithic site of Ness of Brodgar
* Roman Barracks at Binchester Roman Fort
* Roman altar monument at Alauna castrum in Maryport
* Mesolithic butchery place at Flixton Island
* Bronze Age well site on Sanday, Pictish carvings in Jonathan's Cave near East Wemyss, and the rescue of an Iron Age site on North Uist
* Viking boat burial at Ardnamurchan
* John Conyers' feasting hall at Boroughbridge
* Potential Pictish royal place at Rhynie

1[c]| "Digging For Ireland"| Edward Hart[b]| Chris Nikkel| Catherine Ross| 23 February 2015 (2015-02-23)| N/A

Hosted at Ulster Museum

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Plantation of Ulster at Dunluce Castle
* Town of estate workers near Dunluce Castle
* Girona ship of the Spanish Armada
* Battle of the Ford of the Biscuits by the River Arney
* Bronze Age cemetery near Enniscorthy
* Corrard Torc
* Moydrum Man bog body
* Excavation at Hill of Ward
* Boats from Lough Corrib
* Viking from the River Blackwater
* Spike Island burial excavation

### Series 4 (2016)

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No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
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1| "West"| Edward Hart| Gemma Hagen, Alex Rowson| Edward Hart| 10 March 2016 (2016-03-10)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from The 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 Hart| Gemma Hagen, Alex Rowson| Edward Hart| 17 March 2016 (2016-03-17)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Museum of London are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Waterloo battlefield
* Waterloo teeth dentistry
* Lenborough Hoard
* London's Crossrail construction at Liverpool Street station excavates the 17th century Bedlam burial ground
* Liverpool Station's beheaded Roman victims
* Tombstone of Claudia Martina
* Wreck of HMS London
* Nelson's navy skeleton
* Battle of Britain's Hawker Hurricane wreck pieces

3| "North"| Edward Hart| Gemma Hagen, Alex Rowson| Edward Hart| 24 March 2016 (2016-03-24)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Yorkshire Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Star Carr mesolithic antler headdress
* Iron Age roundhouses at the Black Loch of Myrton settlement
* 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 (2016)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
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1| "West"| Graham Cooper| Gemma Hagen, Alex Rowson| Graham Cooper [d]| 6 December 2016 (2016-12-06)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Bristol Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Bulford Henges late Neolithic double henge monument
* Training trenches for the Battle of Somme in Perham Down
* Grouville Hoard of Coriosolite coins from Jersey
* Thornbury Hoard
* Burials outside Merlin's Cave
* High status building from Tintagel
* Whitesands Bay Dark Ages cemetery

2| "North"| Gemma Hagen| Gemma Hagen| Graham Cooper| 13 December 2016 (2016-12-13)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from National Museum of Scotland are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Roman siege forts at Burnswark Hill
* 14th century cemeteries at Thornton Abbey
* Man-made stone islands on Loch Arnish, Loch Langabhat and Loch Bhorghastail, Isle of Lewis
* Shulishader axe,
* Potential location of Anglo-Saxon monastery on Lindisfarne Island
* Hunterston Brooch
* Cairn broch on island of South Ronaldsay
* Anglo-Saxon settlement at Little Carlton

3| "East"| Alex Rowson| Alex Rowson| Graham Cooper| 20 December 2016 (2016-12-20)| N/A

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 (2017)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

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1| "West"| Nick Gillam-Smith| Not listed| Nick Gillam-Smith [d]| 22 November 2017 (2017-11-22)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Museum of Somerset are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Avebury Circle
* Repton Viking winter camp
* Re-evaluated age of Repton Crypt skeletal remains
* Alfred Jewel
* Burrow Island burial site
* Cat's Brain and Dorstone long barrows
* Leekfrith's Iron Age torcs
* Meonstoke Roman temple site

2| "East"| Alex Rowson| Alex Rowson| Nick Gillam-Smith| 29 November 2017 (2017-11-29)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Colchester Castle Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Bloomberg Roman wooden London
* Colchester's Temple of Claudius
* Rooswijk shipwreck
* Barnham site [2] dating to the Hoxnian Interglacial with Clactonian flint tool industry and potential evidence of 400,000 years old fire use
* Roman camp in Ebbsfleet potentially set up during Julius Caesar's first invasion of Britain in 55 BC
* Late Iron Age Lexden Tumulus burial grave goods excavated in 1924 and held by the Colchester Castle Museum, potentially belonging to Cunobeline, who could have been a client king of Rome before the Claudian conquest
* Underwater excavation of the Warship Hazardous Prize 1706 shipwreck near Bracklesham Bay

3| "North"| Fiona Cushley| Fiona Cushley| Nick Gillam-Smith| 6 December 2017 (2017-12-06)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from National Museum of Scotland are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Vindolanda excavation under one of the barracks
* Site of Iona Monastery
* Carnoustie Bronze Age Village
* Balmashanner Hoard
* East Lomond Pictish settlement
* The Dairsie Hoard
* Site of Siege of Newark
* Neolithic and Bronze Age settlements on the island of Sanday

4| "The Horsemen of Hadrian's Wall"| James Gray| James Gray| Nick Gillam-Smith| 13 December 2017 (2017-12-13)| N/A

Roman cavalry special (featuring Roman cavalry tournament)

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Milecastle 37
* Barracks of Chesters Bridge Fort
* Ribchester Roman Cavalry Fort
* Vindolanda
* Binchster Roman Fort's cemetery
* Chesters Roman Fort treasures
* Hexham Abbey's Roman tombstone

### Series 7 (2018)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

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1| "North"| Karen Kirk| Karen Kirk| Nick Gillam-Smith| 28 November 2018 (2018-11-28)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from National Museum of Scotland are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Black Loch of Myrton settlement Iron Age village
* Spitfire AA810 in Trondheim
* Vindolanda shoes
* Anglo-Saxon cemetery at Scremby
* Neolithic tomb, Iron Age roundhouse, Pictish blacksmith smithy at Knowe of Swandro on the Island of Rousay
* Westness brooch-pin [3]
* Salford New Bailey Prison

2| "West"| Not listed [e]| Not listed| Nick Gillam-Smith| 5 December 2018 (2018-12-05)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Museum of Somerset are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* HMS Invincible
* Barton Farm Hessian camp
* Breechess of George II
* Wessex Archaeology examination of skeletons exhumed from a 19th century paupers' graveyard at the site of London's New Covent Garden Market
* Excavation of a bathhouse near the Silchester Roman Town
* Mosaic of Aeneas
* Bath Abbey excavation
* Barrow Clump Anglo-Saxon cemetery

3| "East"| Louise Ord| Louise Ord| Nick Gillam-Smith| 12 December 2018 (2018-12-12)| N/A

Throughout episode finds from Norwich Castle Museum are shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Bullecourt First World War battlefield
* Woodbridge Henge
* Remains of medieval village near Chichester examined in Portslade-by-Sea
* Great Whelnetham Roman slave cemetery
* Mapledurwell Treasure hoard of silver coins deposited in the early years of the English Civil War
* Possible Anglo-Saxon double monastery of Bernician princess Æbbe near the later Norman Coldingham Priory
* Possible Anglo-Saxon double monastery of Essexian noblewoman Æthelburh in Barking
* Seal matrix of Balthild

4| "Iron Age Revealed"| Tom Ranson| Tom Ranson| Nick Gillam-Smith| 19 December 2018 (2018-12-19)| N/A

Iron Age special

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Pocklington square burrows and chariot burial
* Crannog of Loch Tay
* Model of the Iron Age chariot
* Chemical analysis of skeletons from Iron Age Somerset
* Replica of Battersea Shield
* Penycloddiau hillfort
* Bone analysis of skeletons from Iron Age Somerset
* Conservation of Cauldrons found near Glenfield

### Series 8 (2019)

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No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

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1| "West"| Sophie Smith| Sophie Smith| Paul Olding| 20 November 2019 (2019-11-20)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Cotswolds' 6th century Anglo-Saxon burial ground
* Shaftesbury Anglo-Saxon Abbey
* Ffynnon Beuno Cave early modern human tools
* Anglo-Saxon minster near Berkeley Castle
* Bronze Age burial mound at Barrow Clump, Salisbury Plain
* Tudor era human remains in the coastal cliff near Monknash

2| "North"| Gareth Sacala| Gareth Sacala| Paul Olding| 27 November 2019 (2019-11-27)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Bradgate House of Bradgate Park
* Downpatrick's Victorian work house cemetery
* Village that stood from medieval time to 19th century near Creswell Crags
* Anglo-Saxon cemetery near Scremby
* Viking hall at Skaill Farmstead, Rousay, Orkney
* Celtic roundhouse with Roman influence Swaledale
* Excavation of Abbey of Poulton cemetery

3| "South"| Sophie Smith, Gareth Sacala| Sophie Smith, Gareth Sacala| Paul Olding| 4 December 2019 (2019-12-04)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Barcombe Roman settlement
* Underwater mesolithic timber structure near Isle of Wight
* Iron Age burial 8 miles from Dorchester
* Motor Launch ML-286 from First World War on Thames bank at Isleworth Ait
* Roman villa near Frampton
* Excavation of Boar's Head Theatre in London
* Revisit of 19th century burial ground excavation on Burrow Island

4| "WWII Special"| Sophie Smith, Gareth Sacala| Sophie Smith, Gareth Sacala| Paul Olding| 11 December 2019 (2019-12-11)| N/A

World War II special Throughout episode Imperial War Museum Duxford is shown

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Recovery of Fairey Barracuda bomber near Gosport
* Windermere Boys village at Calgarth Estate, Troutbeck Bridge
* Remains of barracks of Easy Company near Aldbourne
* Excavation of the V-2 rocket near Marden
* Remains of World War II rehearsal known as Operation Tiger on Slapton Sands
* Excavation of the remains of P-38 Lightning of Second Lieutenant Milo Rundall near Castleblayney in County Monaghan

### Special (2020)

[edit]

[f][g]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

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1| "The Greatest Discoveries: The Early Settlers"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Not listed| 17 March 2020 (2020-03-17)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Almost million years old flint tools near Happisburgh (S01E02)
* Star Carr mesolithic antler headdress (S04E03)
* Bulford Henges late Neolithic double henge monument (S05E01)
* Cladh Hallan project's burials, South Uist (S02E03)
* Must Farm Bronze Age settlement (S05E03)
* Salcombe B Middle Bronze Age Shipwreck (S01E02)

2| "The Greatest Discoveries: A Land of Tribes"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Not listed| 24 March 2020 (2020-03-24)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Crannog of Loch Tay (S07E04)
* Fin Cop fort (S02E03)
* Pocklington square burrows and chariot burial (S07E04)
* Chiseldon cauldrons (S02E03)
* Iron Age settlement of Winterborne Kingston (S04E01)
* Grouville Hoard of Coriosolite coins from Jersey (S05E01)

3| "The Greatest Discoveries: Roman Conquest"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Not listed| 31 March 2020 (2020-03-31)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Bloomberg Roman wooden London (S06E02)
* Vindolanda excavation under one of the barracks (S06E03)
* Roman siege forts at Burnswark Hill (S05E02)
* Mysterious remains of 97 Roman newborns near Hambleden (S02E01)
* Frome Roman coins Hoard (S01E01)
* Great Whelnetham Roman slave cemetery (S07E03)

4| "The Greatest Discoveries: Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Not listed| 7 April 2020 (2020-04-07)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Barrow Clump Anglo-Saxon cemetery (S07E02)
* Lyminge Anglo-Saxon royal hall (S03E01)
* Staffordshire Hoard conservation (S04E01)
* Anglo-Saxon minster near Berkeley Castle (S08E01)
* Watlington Hoard (S05E03)
* Possible victims of St Brice's Day massacre (S02E02)

### Series 9 (2022)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
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1| "East"| Not listed| Edward Hart[h], Rory Wheeler[h]| Theo Williams| 4 January 2022 (2022-01-04)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Rutland Roman villa with an Iliad Mosaic on the Triclinium floor discovered in a crop field near Stamford
* 7th century Anglo-Saxon burial site in Deal, only 350m northeast of the Mill Hill Anglo-Saxon cemetery
* Guthlac's Hermitage near Crowland
* Vita Sancti Guthlaci
* Malt house in Anglo-Saxon settlement near Sedgeford
* Ale brewing reconstruction

2| "South"| Not listed| Edward Hart[h], Rory Wheeler[h]| Theo Williams| 5 January 2022 (2022-01-05)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Stoke Mandeville's remnants of St Mary the Virgin church
* Salisbury Plain Bronze Age post holes
* Reconstruction of roundhouse at Butser Ancient Farm
* Roman bathhouse near the Silchester Roman Town
* London's Iron Age settlement in Barn Elms
* Mesolithic DNA sample from the Solent

3| "North"| Not listed| Edward Hart[h], Rory Wheeler[h]| Theo Williams| 6 January 2022 (2022-01-06)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Richmond Castle medieval layer
* Neolithic Tresness Chambered Tomb on Sanday
* Prestonpans cart wagon railway
* Roman vicus associated with the Navio Roman Fort in the lead producing Hope Valley
* Roman lead water pipe reconstruction
* Industrial Revolution Trinity Burial Ground in Hull

4| "Midlands"| Not listed| Edward Hart[h], Rory Wheeler[h]| Theo Williams| 11 January 2022 (2022-01-11)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Suspected Knights Hospitaller Manor farm in Castle Hill Country Park near Leicester
* UK's largest Ichthyosaur discovered in Rutland Water
* 70 burials of Anglo-Saxons in Croft Gardens, Cambridge
* Analysis of Croft Gardens finds
* Roman period findings from 2017 excavation in Leicester
* Iron Age and Roman period settlements in Blackgrounds

5| "West"| Not listed| Edward Hart[h], Rory Wheeler[h]| Theo Williams| 12 January 2022 (2022-01-12)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Roman settlement near Mendip Hills
* Dating of Cerne Abbas Giant
* Child burials near Whitesands Bay
* Whitesands Bay children skeletons analysis
* 7th century Salisbury Plain
* Excavation of remnants of Bristol Beaufort AW271 near Ballykelly

6| "North"| Not listed| Edward Hart[h], Rory Wheeler[h]| Theo Williams| 13 January 2022 (2022-01-13)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Settlement outside of Birdoswald Roman Fort near Gilsland
* Roman Wooden figure from excavation along HS2 route in Buckinghamshire
* Pictish settlement near Burghead
* Finds from the time of Industrial Revolution under the car park Packer Street, Rochdale
* Famine road near Enniskillen
* History of Parliament response to the Great Famine of Ireland
* Bronze Age log coffin from Tetney Golf Club near Grimsby
* Medieval burial ground under planned tram line in Leith

### Series 10 (2023)

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No. in
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1| "Roman Towns and Tudor Shipwrecks"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Theo Williams| 1 January 2023 (2023-01-01)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Roman settlement on Stane Street in Bishop's Stortford
* Anglo-Saxon monastic settlement of Cynethryth in Cookham
* Recovery of the timber from a ship probably from Tudor period near Dungeness
* Dendrochronology analysis of timber from Dungeness
* Buildings of the mint in the Tower of London
* Reconstruction of impure Henry VIII coinage
* Winterbourne Kingston Iron Age graves

2| "Arthur's Stone and a Georgian Mine"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Theo Williams| 8 January 2023 (2023-01-08)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Vicinity of the neolithic dolmen called Arthur's Stone near Dorstone
* Cobalt mine near Alderley Edge
* European ceramics from Plymouth
* Probably Friary of Saint Saviour in Haverfordwest
* Neolithic settlement near Derry

3| "Headless Romans and Anglo Saxon Gold"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Theo Williams| 22 January 2023 (2023-01-22)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* HS2 excavation of gatehouse remains on the site of Elizabethan Coleshill Manor, Warwickshire
* Harpole Treasure
* Iron Age Enderby Bark Shield[4] found at Everards Meadows
* Bark shield construction techniques
* Decapitated Roman deviant burials near St Neots
* Moat of Sheffield Castle
* Bronze Age mound in Oxford

4| "Mystery Shipwreck and a Roman Army Camp"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Theo Williams| 29 January 2023 (2023-01-29)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Potential Norman hunting lodge in Lower Hazel, Gloucestershire dating to The Anarchy
* Nautical Archaeology Society identifies a wreck off the coast of Eastbourne as the Dutch merchant ship Klein Hollandia, sunk in 1672
* National Trust excavates the Neolithic Flagstones Enclosure in the grounds of Max Gate, Dorchester
* Maumbury Rings
* Roman marching camp in Roche, Cornwall, UK's westernmost Roman camp found to date
* Large concentration of Iron Age grain storage pits in Stanton Harcourt, Oxfordshire dating to the 1st century BC
* Mysterious sinkhole in East Kennett surrounded in the 4th century with sarsen stones by Romans, possibly as a religious feature

5| "Roman Mosaics and Ancient Weapons"| Not listed| Not listed| Not listed| 5 February 2023 (2023-02-05)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Rutland Roman villa complex of buildings
* Mesolithic finds on ancient island near Scarborough
* Tudor fortress in Kingston upon Hull
* Flint finds in field near Harlaxton
* Iron Age long brooch examination
* Pots from Must Farm Bronze Age settlement

6| "Ice Age Camp and a Saint with Syphilis"| Not listed| Denis Minihan| Theo Williams| 12 February 2023 (2023-02-12)| N/A

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Mesolithic flint finds on Islay
* Remains of Isabel German from All Saints Fishergate in York
* Neolithic saltern near Street House Farm, Loftus
* Excavation of Piermaster's Green Liverpool
* Medieval palace complex of Auckland Castle
* Iron Age hillforts in Holyrood Park

### Series 11 (2024)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

|
|
|
|
|
|

1| "The Roman Emperor’s Bathhouse"| Dominic Ozanne| TBA| Dominic Ozanne| 2 January 2024 (2024-01-02)| N/A

Northern Britain

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Largest known building on Hadrian's Wall, the Petriana bathhouse of emperor Septimius Severus in Carlisle
* Pictish fortress on the summit of Mither Tap in Bennachie Hills
* Medieval pilgrim offerings to Saint Cuthbert thrown into the River Wear from the Elvet Bridge in Durham
* Abandoned Anglo-Saxon village near East Heslerton linked by tephra deposits to the eruption of Icelandic volcano Askja during the Late Antique Little Ice Age
* Norman bailey earthworks in the woods of Lowther Castle dating to the Norman conquest of Cumbria

2| "Anglo-Saxon Gold and Rebellious Nuns"| Not listed| TBA| Dominic Ozanne| 3 January 2024 (2024-01-03)| N/A

Central England

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Late Roman rural site at RAF Alconbury airbase with a large number of pottery and household objects, that were deliberately buried as suspected votive offerings during a time of crisis
* 7th-century Anglo-Saxon grave site near New Alresford potentially marking a transition from paganism to Christianity, with the dead laid facing West as in the Christian custom, but still having limited number of grave goods, like knives or a rare gold pendant
* Excavation of the ruined 12th-century Ankerwycke Priory of Benedictine nuns, showing that the surface walls are not a later folly, but remains of a refectory
* Restoration of the Old Black Lion pub in Northampton, first documented as a coaching inn early in the 18th century, has uncovered remains of bread ovens from a suspected earlier bakery on the site
* Dig outside Leicester Cathedral uncovers a Roman sunken room with painted wall plaster fragments and a portable altar, possibly a late 3rd-century private shrine

3| "A Norman Panic Room and a Mesolithic Fish Trap"| Not listed| TBA| Dominic Ozanne| 4 January 2024 (2024-01-04)| N/A

Western Britain

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Excavations inside the Decorated Gothic ruins of Tintern Abbey, prior to their conservation, uncover post-dissolution burials of two children in an unusual high-status area outside the abbey east wall, and a shallow grave next to the southern entrance holding a crouched woman with a congenital facial deformation, testifying to the continued use of the site even after it was deconsecrated and stripped for materials
* Mesolithic footprints and 7,000-year-old stakes from a V-shaped fish trap are recorded on the Severn Estuary intertidal mudflats near Goldcliff, after they are uncovered by storms and before being lost to continued erosion
* Digs near the Norman Fonmon Castle reveal a rare early medieval cemetery settlement dating to the 6th-7th century. The cemetery is enclosed by a ditched bank and shows signs of secular activity, like blacksmith slag or pottery shreds and charred animal bones from feasting, all taking place among the burials, a practice similar to sites of the same period in Ireland
* Community dig in Siston finds stone foundations of an early medieval site with good metal preservation of stirrups, arrowheads and buckles due to the alkaline soil. The site was originally surrounded by a circular bank and so could have started as a monastic settlement, but later transitioned to a farmstead
* An Iron Age banjo enclosure dating back 2,200 years, uncovered during work on the A417 road 5 miles south of Cheltenham, yields one central crouched burial, animal bones and pottery shards pointing to feasting, but no signs of occupation

4| "A Roman Mystery and Waterloo’s Disappearing Dead"| Not listed| TBA| Dominic Ozanne| 9 January 2024 (2024-01-09)| N/A

Eastern England

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Ermine Street Bracebridge Heath ouskirts of Lincoln
* Early medieval burials in Lincolnshire wolds, Lincolnshire
* Iron Age hillfort near Warham
* Roman potery and dodecahedron from Norton Disney
* Ruins of Elsyng Palace in grounds of Forty Hall manor house in Enfield, north London
* Search dig for mass burial in the grounds of Hougoumont Farm near Waterloo, Belgium

5| "3000-Year-Old Shoes and Giant Axeheads"| Not listed| TBA| Dominic Ozanne| 10 January 2024 (2024-01-10)| N/A

Southern England

Sites and archaeology featured:

* North Kent Marshes madlock leather objects
* Leather shoe reconstruction
* Paleolithic handaxes Maritime Academy Med Valley Gillingham
* Neolithic remnant of the ovalbarrow and the stone circle near Tenants Hill
* Roman Town ruins near Exeter Cathedral
* Medieval shipyard in Smallhythe
* II World War artillery guns inplacements and installation Fan Bay, Dover

6| "Forgotten Fortresses and Lost Villages"| Not listed| TBA| Dominic Ozanne| 11 January 2024 (2024-01-11)| N/A

Western Britain

Sites and archaeology featured:

* Medieval Snodhill Castle
* Early Medieval mosaic in Chedworth roman villa
* Stone roundhouse in Iron Age promontory fort, Caerfai Bay near St Davids
* "Oldest house" of Cardiff from Bronze Age
* Modern remains and medieval roots of deserted village of Imber

### Series 12 (2025)

[edit]

No. in
season| Title| Directed by| Producer(s)| Series Producer| Original air date| UK viewers
(millions)

|
|
|
|
|
|

1| "Saxon Gold and Buried Coins"| TBA| TBA| TBA| 7 January 2025 (2025-01-07)| TBD

East of Britain

Sites and archaeology featured:

## Archaeologists

[edit]

* Matt Williams[12][13][14][15][16][17][18]
* Raksha Dave[7]
* Naoíse Mac Sweeney[8]
* Cat Jarman FSA[19][20][21][9][22][23][24][25]
* Stuart Prior[9][26][27][28][29][30][31]
* Richard Osgood [Wikidata], MOD archaeologist, Guest, Series 1–present[32]
* Phil Harding

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Includes one special episode.
2. ^ a b c d Credited as Studio Director.
3. ^ Special Episode.
4. ^ a b Listed in end credits as Series Producer/Director.
5. ^ Judging from the place in the credits might be Nick Gillam-Smith for this episode, mistitled as Series Producer only.
6. ^ Each episode is about 30 minutes in length.[11]
7. ^ Each episode is a compilation of material from previous series.
8. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l Credited as Executive Producer.

## References

[edit]

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 Britain". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 24 December 2023.
5. ^ "Digging for Ireland". BBC Programmes. Retrieved 7 February 2022.
6. ^ Digging for Britain (Documentary), 360 Production, Northern Ireland Screen, Rare-TV, 19 August 2010, retrieved 12 January 2022
7. ^ a b "Raksha Dave". Pitt Rivers Museum. Archived from the original on 17 January 2019. Retrieved 4 July 2020.
8. ^ a b "Digging for Britain, Series 8, WWII Special". BBC Two. BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
9. ^ a b c "BBC Two - Digging for Britain". BBC. Retrieved 12 January 2022.
10. ^ 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.
11. ^ "BBC Two - Digging for Britain, the Greatest Discoveries, Episode 1".
12. ^ "Matt Williams". Our People. bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
13. ^ "Digging for Britain". Bradshaw Foundation. 11 March 2016. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
14. ^ "Matt Williams Interview". The Post Hole. Department of Archaeology, University of York. February 2012. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
15. ^ "Digging for Britain, Series 4". BBC Two. BBC. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
16. ^ "the Trust and the 'Fenwick treasure' on TV: "Digging for Britain"". The Colchester Archaeologist. 4 February 2015. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
17. ^ "New Time Team crew members hail from Bournemouth University". Bournemouth University. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
18. ^ Norton, Andrew (31 May 2016). "Our New Man in Wales". Wessex Archaeology. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
19. ^ 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.
20. ^ 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.
21. ^ "Cat Jarman". Peters Fraser and Dunlop, Literary Agents. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
22. ^ "Cat Jarman". Jaipur Literature Festival London at the British Library. 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
23. ^ "CAT JARMAN - Encouraging potential archaeology students". Current Archaeology. 15 March 2013. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
24. ^ Jarman, Cat. "What archaeology tells us about human migration". TEDxBath. YouTube. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
25. ^ "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.
26. ^ "2010: Gravedigger to archaeologist". News and features. University of Bristol. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
27. ^ "Stuart Prior". Our People. bristol.ac.uk. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
28. ^ Ravilious, Kate (January 2014). "The Scientist's Garden". Archaeology Magazine. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
29. ^ "Stuart J Prior". University of Bristol. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
30. ^ "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.
31. ^ Perfect Weapon (TV series)
32. ^ "MOD archaeologist awarded MBE in New Year's Honours list". GOV.UK. Retrieved 28 January 2024.

## External links

[edit]

* Digging for Britain at BBC Online
* Digging for Britain at IMDb

*[No.]: Number