Placing viewers at the heart of the action would become a Time Team hallmark. Shots of him in woodland seeking out raw materials for a reconstructed axe allowed the audience to witness the hands-on practical process. Jim Mower (development producer, see his opinion piece here) believes that Phil Harding’s material was among the most innovative. There is a focus on interesting, previously discovered, artefacts, while pipe music lends an almost mystical air to proceedings. Slower paced, Timesigns has Mick talking directly to the camera in a style more akin to a history documentary or Open University broadcast.
Yet despite bringing the past to life using the familiar ingredients of excavation, landscape survey and reconstructions - including Phil felling a tree with a flint axe - Timesigns is a very different beast.Īvailable to view on 4oD (watching it now provides a salutatory lesson in just how revolutionary the Time Team format was. With Phil Harding also on board, three members of the future Time Team core were in place. Exploring the archaeology of the Roadford Reservoir, Devon, this came about after Tim Taylor approached Mick Aston to present the series. Its prototype was Timesigns, a four-part series that aired in 1991. Time Team‘s genesis is a well-rehearsed story. The beginnings of Time Team: season 1 stalwarts (from left to right) Mick Aston, Victor Ambrus, Phil Harding, Geraldine Barber, Carenza Lewis, Tony Robinson, and Robin Bush.
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