Digging Up Britain: A New History in Ten Extraordinary Discoveries

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Commissioning Editor Tim Hancock said: “There’s something properly magical about finding important pieces of British history in your own back garden. Cummins also said it is important would-be detectorists learn the ropes – including how to use the machines and dig a hole properly. What I love about Digging for Britain is that, when we set out to film the series, we have no idea what discoveries might come to light. Toby Jones and Mackenzie Crook struck comedic gold with this much-adored series about two oddballs scouring the English countryside for treasure.

digging-up-britain-s-past - My5 digging-up-britain-s-past - My5

Once you get past the overly-dramatic production, this series is actually both nerdy, and watchable – it applies 3D scanning to some extraordinary ancient sites, and produces some pretty attention-grabbing discoveries. Executive Producer for Rare TV, Rory Wheeler says: “This series is bigger and better than ever with Alice Roberts on site to witness first- hand the important archaeological discoveries made in Britain last year.Everywhere in the country is owned by somebody even if it’s the council for your local park,” he said.

Digging for Britain: Secrets of Rutland Roman villa mosaic Digging for Britain: Secrets of Rutland Roman villa mosaic

Highlights from this bumper series include the Roman mosaic and surrounding villa found in a field in Rutland, described by archaeologists on site as the most important mosaic discovered in the last 100 years. Dave is an advocate for increasing the diversity of archaeologists, [6] was a trustee for the Council for British Archaeology (CBA) and is a patron of its Young Archaeologists Club. The series was engaging, and held my attention quite well even though I was already familiar with many of the sites. It was commissioned by Patrick Holland, Director of Factual and Arts and Clare Sillery, Head of Commissioning, Documentaries, History and Religion.The same format as in series 3 was adopted for series 4 and 5, which first aired in March and December 2016, respectively.