Thirty-two years after its humble beginnings on Channel 4, Time Team has experienced a digital renaissance on YouTube, now boasting 350,000 subscribers and 11,000 monthly Patreon supporters. The revival has enabled the archaeological series to fund a new dig at the Ness of Brodgar in Orkney next summer, following a geophysical survey suggesting 'something quite extraordinary' at the Neolithic site.
The original programme ran for 20 years and over 200 episodes before its cancellation in 2013. In 2021, at the urging of fans, original experts reunited to film a dig for their own YouTube channel. The format has proven successful, with films regularly attracting up to 2 million views and about 40% of the audience now based outside the UK.
Original presenter Tony Robinson has returned for some episodes, initially unsure how the format would work on YouTube. He described the revival as 'like one of those bulbs that you plant in the garden and forget about, and then five years later it flourishes again.' Robinson, known for his role as Baldrick in Blackadder, was chosen to present the original series partly because Channel 4 thought the subject needed someone 'who epitomises stupidity on television.'
Geophysicist John Gater, part of the original team, noted that YouTube offers flexibility that the Channel 4 format lacked. 'The three-day format was brilliant, but it became more and more expensive, and Channel 4 found it difficult to justify funding all the post-excavation work,' he said. 'The beauty of crowdfunding is our supporters recognise that it's not just the TV programme, it's the archaeology – and they're supporting that.'
Time Team will mark New Year's Day with a three-hour broadcast on Sutton Hoo, a length inconceivable on linear television. The programme's revival has been described as 'extraordinary' by those involved, demonstrating the enduring appeal of archaeology to a global audience.
