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The Best Episodes of Time Team

Every episode of Time Team ranked from best to worst. Let's dive into the Best Episodes of Time Team!

The Best Episodes of Time Team

Time Team is a British television series which has been aired on British Channel 4 from 1994. Created by television producer Tim Taylor and presented...

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  1. 9.0/10(29 votes)

    #1 - A Saintly Site - Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides

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    S17:E2

    Time Team descend on the Isle of Mull at the invitation of two local amateur archaeologists to investigate a mysterious set of earthworks in a forest near Tobermory. Could they be the remains of a chapel from the time of St Columba?

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  2. 8.9/10(39 votes)

    #2 - The Celtic Spring - Llygadwy, Powys

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    S8:E3

    In deepest Wales lies an extraordinary site, with a Megalith, a Neolithic tomb, a Norman watchtower, early Christian symbols, and a natural spring. From this spring, the landowner has recovered an astonishing variety of coins, sculptures and jewelry. It is almost too good to be true, rather like an ancient theme park. So begins one of Time Team's most remarkable digs. Geophysics shows no structure anywhere on the site. The megalith is far too shallow to have stayed upright for thousands of years. And when the team unearth a sword, they start to get suspicious. They are joined by Celtic ritual expert Miranda Green, architectural historian Will Hughes, and Iron Age specialist Ian Stead. Results show that the site has been 'salted' and the finds have all been placed or build between the 19th century and as late as the 1980s. More info can be found at Llygadwy.

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  3. 8.8/10(19 votes)

    #3 - The Trouble with Temples - Friars Wash, Hertfordshire

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    S16:E1

    Time Team has never found a Roman temple. But a 30-year-old photograph clearly shows double square cropmarks in a field. Surely this time they will strike lucky? The trouble is, the site may have suffered plough damage. Francis takes charge. Though initial excavations are encouraging, John and Stewart are puzzled by a geophysical anomaly. Including a tessellated pavement and a coin hoard, a picture gradually emerges of not one but four temples - in fact a whole complex of buildings. It proves to be one of the most important excavations in Time Team history.

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  4. 8.8/10(19 votes)

    #4 - Warriors - Figheldean, Wiltshire

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    S20:E5

    Tony and the team work with veterans of the war in Afghanistan, investigating the ancient Barrow Clump on Salisbury Plain, where they discover burials from 2000BC and rare Saxon finds.

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  5. 8.6/10(23 votes)

    #5 - The Puzzle Of Picket's Farm - South Perrott, Dorset

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    S12:E10

    Time Team heads to South Perrott in Dorset, inspired by the intriguing discovery of Roman brooches and coins in a hilltop field. The Team are pretty sure they're going to uncover a Roman Temple, but the search gets off to a bad start when all the pottery turns out to be medieval and there's no sign of any buildings. Something has clearly been going on in this field, but it's not what they thought. The trenches gradually reveal their contents, painting a very different picture from a very different period. Have the Team stumbled across a Stone Age burial site that had, extraordinarily, been honoured for thousands of years right into Roman times? Prehistory specialist Miles Russell explains some aspects of Bronze Age features.

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  6. 8.6/10(9 votes)

    #6 - Time Team's Greatest Discoveries

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    S19:E13

    Revisiting digs that produced rare and fine jewellery, gold coins, huge and intricate mosaics - and some extraordinary archaeological fakery - Mick Aston, Phil Harding and Helen Geake defend and debate their choices for Time Team's greatest discoveries.

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  8. 8.5/10(33 votes)

    #7 - The Mosaic at the Bottom of the Garden - Cirencester, Gloucestershire

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    S7:E2

    In 300 A.D. Corinium Dobunnorum was England's wealthiest city next to Londinium. Now it's the pleasant Gloucestershire town of Cirencester, and Time Team are visiting the leafy suburban Chester Street, where they hope the back gardens will yield clues about the bustling Roman city and its main highway, Ermine Street. Could a Roman temple have occupied this site - or even rarer, an early Christian church? They need to knock on a few doors to ask about digging up their plots. There is a bottle of champagne for anybody who can find a tessellated pavement. They are joined by Roman architectural historian Tom Blagg, coin expert Richard Reece and mosaic expert David Neal. The Ermine Street Guard offer Tony venison stew, and use a wooden crane to erect a stone column, fashioned by mason Giles MacDonald. In the public presentation, Stewart outlines a picture of the whole city, ably assisted by Victor's drawing. Among many Roman finds are coins, a brooch, a spoon and a bone die.

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  9. 8.5/10(27 votes)

    #8 - A Roman Temple in Sight of the Millennium Dome - Greenwich Park, London

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    S7:E11

    The team dig for Roman remains in Greenwich Park, London. They are joined by Hedley Swain from the Museum of London, Harvey Sheldon from the University of London and Mark Hassel from University College, London. Chris Owen (reconstructor) demonstrates Roman plastering techniques and ingredients, and paints a fresco with Victor. A remarkable find creates much excitement, boosting their hopes of identifying a Roman temple. Stewart suggests that Watling Street may have run through the park. For results and reconstruction see https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/greenwich-park/things-to-see-and-do/ancient-greenwich/roman-remains

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  10. 8.5/10(20 votes)

    #9 - Romans on the Range - High Ham, Somerset

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    S18:E3

    Tony and the Team get a unique opportunity to dig at an army firing range at High Ham in Somerset and investigate a series of mosaics first discovered 150 years ago. Everything indicates a Roman villa, though perhaps not on such a grand scale. The inhabitants may have been Romanised Britons, living from the 2nd to the early 5th century. Matt volunteers as a slave for the day. When the cold east wind sets in, Phil and the other diggers temporarily "down tools". They are joined by Martin Brown from the Defence Estates and Roman finds specialist Philippa Walton.

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  11. 8.5/10(18 votes)

    #10 - Brancaster - Brancaster, Norfolk

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    S20:E2

    Featuring the Team's largest ever range and number of items from Roman Britain and their most ambitious geophysics project to date.

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  12. 8.4/10(24 votes)

    #11 - Back-Garden Archaeology: Revisiting a Roman Villa - Ipswich, Suffolk

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    S11:E11

    As renowned Suffolk archaeologist Basil Brown discovered, Castle Hill near Ipswich is named, not after a castle, but a substantial Roman villa. Brown was unable to complete his excavation, and Time Team have been called in by local schoolchildren to find out more. However, they will need to dig up a few back gardens to do so. Very soon it becomes clear that Brown's measurements were out of kilter. Halfway through day two, Phil makes a breakthrough. But not until 11 trenches are dug in 8 gardens does a full picture emerge. The team are joined by Roman specialist David Neale and site director Miles Russe

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  13. 8.4/10(26 votes)

    #12 - The Monastery and the Mansion - Nether Poppleton, Yorkshire

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    S12:E2

    The villagers of Nether Poppleton, near York, join Tony Robinson and the team for some extensive digging as they try to determine the exact age of their village. The current layout follows a typical medieval pattern but a reference to the village in the Domesday Book has the experts thinking that it could date back to Saxon times at least.

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  14. 8.4/10(19 votes)

    #13 - The Bombers in the Marsh - Warton near Preston, Lancashire

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    S12:E3

    On 29 November 1944, two US Douglas A-26 Invader bombers crashed in Warton Marsh. Both planes, along with a number of others, had left Warton Airbase in formation, en route to join forces in the preparations for the Battle of the Bulge. Only one minute off the runway and 1,000 feet into the air, the aircraft collided and came to rest in the marsh. All the crew died. Their bodies were recovered from the planes, but an investigation into the causes of the crash was inconclusive. For this programme, Time Team enlisted a veteran air crash investigator, along with the RAF's 'crash and smash' team and other experts to try to find out what caused the crash. Each of the planes, including the engines, was believed to be relatively intact and, it was hoped, would provide the necessary information to determine why these two planes collided.

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  15. 8.4/10(21 votes)

    #14 - Norman Neighbours - Skipsea, East Yorkshire

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    S12:E11

    For years Time Team fan Frances Davies has been collecting finds from the field outside her back door in Skipsea in East Yorkshire. She has uncovered Neolithic, Roman and Saxon items, but her best finds are medieval pots dating from the Norman Conquest. It's clear that there was some habitation in the area 1,000 years ago, but a geophysics plot of the site reveals incredible results, far beyond the team's expectations. Could Frances have had a whole Norman village in her field, a village lost to the records? And could there be a clue in nearby Skipsea Castle, the seat of power of the Norman overlord of the whole area? The Team have three days to find out.

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  16. 8.4/10(21 votes)

    #15 - The First Tudor Palace? - Esher, Surrey

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    S13:E4

    The team visit Wayneflete Tower which is all that remains of a palace. Over three days they piece together the story of a site that evolved into one of the most stunning buildings of early Tudor times. They are joined by historic buildings expert Jonathan Foyle, John Guy (historian) and dendrochronologist Mick Worthington.

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  17. 8.4/10(28 votes)

    #16 - Finds on the Fairway - Isle of Man

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    S14:E1

    The team battle the tail end of Hurricane Gordon to investigate the last keeill standing, preserved beneath a golf course on the Isle of Man. A thousand years ago the island was dotted with these keeills, or small stone chapels, most of which have completely disappeared. Mick, an avowed enthusiast for early Christian buildings, is in his element. Sensational finds keep coming, including perfectly preserved plaited human hair, and a specimen of Ogham script. The team are joined by local archaeologist Andy Johnson, keeill expert Nick Johnson, and Viking specialist Dawn Hadley

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  18. 8.4/10(21 votes)

    #17 - Gold in the Moat - Codnor Castle, Derbyshire

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    S15:E1

    The crumbling ruins of Codnor Castle are a sad remnant of the imposing home of the De Grey family - knights who saw action in almost every important medieval battle including the crusades and Agincourt. Today Codnor Castle lies in ruins and there's almost nothing known of how it looked in its prime. As the remains above ground get an overdue renovation, the Time Team risk the dangers of hidden mine shafts in the Derbyshire coalfields to dig into the heart of a building that once dominated the landscape to trace the castle's history. It lives up to the team's hopes as they strike gold with a 600-year-old gold noble coin as well as uncovering a huge round tower and, for the first time in the history of the programme, a drawbridge.

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  19. 8.4/10(19 votes)

    #18 - Skeletons in the Shed - Blythburgh, Suffolk

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    S16:E13

    Tony Robinson and the Team travel to the picturesque expanses of the Suffolk coast to investigate a very special back garden. When the new owners of a house in Blythburgh explored their potting shed they were shocked to discover a cupboard full of human skulls.

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  20. 8.4/10(23 votes)

    #19 - In the Halls of a Saxon King - Drayton, Oxfordshire

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    S17:E4

    In Sutton Courtenay Tony Robinson and the Team investigate a set of buildings once occupied by Anglo Saxon royalty. It's the rarest of archaeological sites and uncovers the biggest Saxon building ever discovered in Britain. Aerial photography of an apparently featureless Oxfordshire field revealed crop marks that suggested to archaeologists it was once the site of an impressive collection of 1,400-year-old buildings; but Time Team's digging expertise was needed to verify this. The trenches are big and the archaeology complicated but slowly the Team begin to build up a picture of life here over 1,000 years ago, with the help of heroic Saxon poetry. As well as stunning finds and the perplexing possibility that they have uncovered an Anglo Saxon totem pole, the archaeologists also discover a culture where heroism, story telling and drinking go hand in hand, and learn the finer points of how to insult your colleagues in Old English.

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  21. 8.4/10(22 votes)

    #20 - Reservoir Rituals - Tottiford Reservoir, Devon

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    S18:E1

    Tony Robinson and his team celebrate their 200th dig. Jane Marchand from Dartmoor National Park Authority was alerted by a walker to standing stones peering out of an East Devon reservoir at low level. This is Francis Pryor's dream site, but Mick has also been interested in Dartmoor for some time. They have stone circles, stone rows and cairns apparently dating from 3000 to 1500 BC. There is a central mound which interests Francis, and which Phil thinks is Stone Age, thus pre-dating the other monuments. But the cairns may be recent, throwing into doubt the dating of the other features. This is cultivated farmland, atypical of Dartmoor's usual bleak landscapes. John is dubious about getting any meaningful geophysics results, but proposes nevertheless to wheel his trolley through the mud. Stewart and Henry create a 3D image of the prehistoric landscape. Phil teaches Matt his favourite activity, flint-knapping.

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  22. 8.4/10(19 votes)

    #21 - Cannons and Castles - Mont Orgueil, Jersey

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    S18:E8

    Tony Robinson heads to Jersey to investigate the origins of Mont Orgueil Castle. Today's castle is a Tudor structure built on earlier foundations, and it's that early castle, built by King John, that the Team are looking for.

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  23. 8.4/10(17 votes)

    #22 - The Lost Castle of Dundrum - Dundrum Castle, County Down

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    S20:E9

    Tony and the Team search for the remains of a renegade knight's Norman castle in one of Northern Ireland's most picturesque spots.

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  24. 8.4/10(22 votes)

    #23 - An Englishman's Castle - Upton Castle, Cosheston, Pembrokeshire

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    S20:E11

    When Steve and Pru bought pretty Upton Castle in Pembrokeshire they weren't sure if it was a Victorian folly or an Anglo-Norman castle, built to defend 'Little England beyond Wales' from the locals.

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  25. 8.4/10(5 votes)

    #24 - Cornwall: Day Two

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    S21:E2

    The team's investigation into the Iron Age settlement continues and Natalie tries her hand at making some Bronze Age pottery.

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  26. 8.3/10(44 votes)

    #25 - The Lost Villa - Tockenham, Wiltshire

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    S2:E3

    Tockenham village, in the Wiltshire countryside. Despite the fact that there are no Roman remains in Tockenham, the village's 15th century church, St Giles, has a small pagan Roman statue embedded in one of its outer walls.

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Best Episodes Summary

"A Saintly Site - Isle of Mull, Inner Hebrides" is the best rated episode of "Time Team". It scored 9/10 based on 29 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 4/25/2010. This episode scored 0.1 points higher than the second highest rated, "The Celtic Spring - Llygadwy, Powys".