Time Team

It’s the series that changed how we see the past. Starting in 1993 a motley band of archaeologists and a small comedy actor set about uncovering archaeology in three-day, TV-friendly digs.

They wore owlish spectacles and rainbow jumpers. They taught us a new word — “geophys”. And they found ways to re-animate history and give a sense of past lives emerging from the shadows.

Whether excavating a Spitfire crash, some Birmingham back gardens or a royal palace, they did it with a passion and expertise that almost made archaeology sexy, and in some cases re-wrote history books. Here, Tony Robinson looks back fondly.