Digging for Britain

Dr Alice Roberts visits archaeological excavations around the UK, linking together the results of digs and investigations the length and breadth of the country to build up a picture of the year in British archaeology.

Genre: Documentary

Cast:Alice Roberts , Stuart Prior , Cat Jarman , Onyeka Nubia , Matt Williams , NaoÃse Mac Sweeney , Raksha Dave , Miles Russell , Jill Eyers , Andrew Richardson , Kevin Colls , Brett Thorn , Simon Mays , Clive Waddington , Mark Horton , Simon Parfitt , Hazel Moore , Alison Sheridan

1Season 1

S1.E1 ∙ The Romans

Thu, Aug 19, 2010

Prof. Alice Roberts explores finds from Britain's Roman past, examining a huge coin hoard unearthed from a Somerset field, the tragic mystery of a Roman villa site where archaeologists are reevaluating the excavated remains of 97 murdered infants, and a man who was for some reason buried face-down on a bed of meat at a fort near Hadrian's Wall.

2Season 1

S1.E2 ∙ Prehistory

Thu, Aug 26, 2010

Journeying much farther back in time, Roberts heads to Norfolk to see flint tools that push the earliest human occupation in the area back by 200,000 years, to around a million years ago. Far up north in the Orkney Islands, an ancient farm provides glimpses of early religious beliefs and customs. Back down south in Devon lies one of the oldest-known shipwrecks as well as a Bronze Age burial site.

3Season 1

S1.E3 ∙ The Anglo-Saxons

Thu, Sep 2, 2010

The Anglo-Saxons divided Britain and heralded the arrival of the Dark Ages, but were they really just barbarians? Prof. Roberts visits key sites that throw light on this most mysterious of periods, including the royal seat of power at Bamburgh, Northumbria, where skeletons tell tales of violent death but also of tenderness.

4Season 1

S1.E4 ∙ The Tudors

Fri, Sep 10, 2010

The Tudor period brought momentous changes to Britain. Prof. Roberts views excavations at Shakespeare's first theatre and at his home, finding clues about his frugality. She also uncovers the brutal realities of Henry VIII's dissolution of the monasteries in Wales, learns the rich history of a forgotten palace on the muddy banks of the Thames, and explores a shipwreck from this age of discovery.

1Season 2

S2.E1 ∙ Britannia

Fri, Sep 9, 2011

Roman Britain gives up some of its mysteries as Professor Roberts investigates the remains of 97 babies found near the Thames River, visits a newly discovered town in rural Devon, and examines a cult figure that has been buried for more than one and a half millennia beneath a Roman fort.

2Season 2

S2.E2 ∙ Invaders

Fri, Sep 16, 2011

The Norse Vikings have arrived and taken control northeast Britain centered around York. Anglo-Saxon supremacy finally came after a major massacre. The archaeology sessions are a intriguing as always.

3Season 2

S2.E3 ∙ Age of Bronze and Iron

Fri, Sep 23, 2011

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4Season 2

S2.E4 ∙ Ice and Stone

Fri, Sep 30, 2011

Alice Roberts learns more about mankind's Stone Age ancestors, and travels to Jersey to meet a team hoping to shed new light on the Neanderthals.

1Season 3

S3.E1 ∙ East

Tue, Feb 3, 2015

The team gather at Norwich Castle Museum to look at some of the finds from a range of exciting excavations across the East of England. Including Colchester, Silchester and the remarkable Must Farm site in Cambridgeshire.

2Season 3

S3.E2 ∙ West

Tue, Feb 10, 2015

A huge Roman settlement in an area the Romans were not thought to have conquered, a leper hospital, a Bronze Age hoard and the Durotrigues Big Dig are discussed as the team meet at Dorset County Museum.

3Season 3

S3.E3 ∙ North

Tue, Feb 17, 2015

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1Season 4

S4.E1 ∙ West

Thu, Mar 10, 2016

The year's most outstanding archaeology. Alice Roberts and Matt Williams visit sites in the west of Britain, while archaeologists in the Salisbury Museum look at the finds.

2Season 4

S4.E2 ∙ East

Thu, Mar 17, 2016

Professor Alice Roberts looks at some of the year's most exciting archaeological discoveries from across Eastern Britain. Including a mass grave and the find of a lifetime for a metal detectorist.

3Season 4

S4.E3 ∙ North

Thu, Mar 24, 2016

The team gather to look at some of the most interesting sites across northern Britain. Including a graveyard of Iron Age warriors, a hoard of Viking treasure and clues to Scotland's first kingdoms.

1Season 5

S5.E1 ∙ West

Tue, Dec 6, 2016

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2Season 5

S5.E2 ∙ North

Tue, Dec 13, 2016

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3Season 5

S5.E3 ∙ East

Tue, Dec 20, 2016

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1Season 6

S6.E1 ∙ West

Wed, Nov 22, 2017

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2Season 6

S6.E2 ∙ East

Wed, Nov 29, 2017

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3Season 6

S6.E3 ∙ North

Wed, Dec 6, 2017

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4Season 6

S6.E4 ∙ Special: The Horsemen of Hadrian's Wall

Wed, Dec 13, 2017

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1Season 7

S7.E1 ∙ North

Wed, Nov 28, 2018

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2Season 7

S7.E2 ∙ West

Wed, Dec 5, 2018

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3Season 7

S7.E3 ∙ East

Wed, Dec 12, 2018

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4Season 7

S7.E4 ∙ Iron Age Revealed

Wed, Dec 19, 2018

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1Season 8

S8.E1 ∙ West

Wed, Nov 20, 2019

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2Season 8

S8.E2 ∙ North

Wed, Nov 27, 2019

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3Season 8

S8.E3 ∙ South

Wed, Dec 4, 2019

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4Season 8

S8.E4 ∙ WW2 Special

Wed, Dec 11, 2019

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5Season 8

S8.E5 ∙ The Greatest Discoveries: The Early Settlers

Tue, Mar 17, 2020

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6Season 8

S8.E6 ∙ The Greatest Discoveries: A Land of Tribes

Tue, Mar 24, 2020

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7Season 8

S8.E7 ∙ The Greatest Discoveries: Roman Conquest

Tue, Mar 31, 2020

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8Season 8

S8.E8 ∙ The Greatest Discoveries: Anglo-Saxon Kingdoms

Tue, Apr 7, 2020

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1Season 9

S9.E1 ∙ East

Tue, Jan 4, 2022

The discovery of a mosaic has art historians, archaeologists and Alice very excited as they slowly reveal its full beauty.

2Season 9

S9.E2 ∙ South

Wed, Jan 5, 2022

The South of England reveals the earliest money made in Britain and a massive haul of Roman treasure that brings to life the fall of the empire in Britain.

3Season 9

S9.E3 ∙ North

Thu, Jan 6, 2022

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4Season 9

S9.E4 ∙ Midlands

Tue, Jan 11, 2022

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5Season 9

S9.E5 ∙ West

Wed, Jan 12, 2022

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6Season 9

S9.E6 ∙ North

Thu, Jan 13, 2022

A Roman fort in Hadrian's Wall, evidence of early writing by the Picts in Scotland and a 3,000-year-old Bronze Age coffin buried under a golf course.

1Season 10

S10.E1 ∙ Roman Towns and Tudor Shipwrecks

Sun, Jan 1, 2023

Digs in southern England reveal a previously unknown Roman town, a Tudor ship buried beneath a quarry and evidence of Henry VIII's financial forgery under the Tower of London.

2Season 10

S10.E2 ∙ Arthur's Stone and a Georgian Mine

Sun, Jan 8, 2023

In the west of the UK, a spectacular monument older than Stonehenge, a 200-year-old mine trapped in time and a lost medieval friary.

3Season 10

S10.E3 ∙ Headless Romans and Anglo Saxon Gold

Sun, Jan 22, 2023

A gatehouse riddled with Civil War bullets, a unique Iron Age shield made from bark and Roman burials with pots where the heads should be.

4Season 10

S10.E4 ∙ Mystery Shipwreck and a Roman Army Camp

Sun, Jan 29, 2023

Alice Roberts reveals a Dutch ship sunk by the English, a Cornish Roman fort and a 5,000-year-old Neolithic monument.

5Season 10

S10.E5 ∙ Roman Mosaics and Ancient Weapons

Sun, Feb 5, 2023

Travelling east, Alice discovers a Roman barn conversion, unearths a Tudor fort and finds intricately carved 10,000-year-old weapons.

6Season 10

S10.E6 ∙ Ice Age Camp and a Saint with Syphilis

Sun, Feb 12, 2023

In Scotland and the north of England, Alice investigates an Ice Age camp, the mystery of a medieval skeleton and the earliest evidence of salt making in Britain.