Digging for Britain
8/10
BBC iPlayer Running Adventure • History
The BBC Two series is presented by Professor Alice Roberts and archaeologist Matt Williams as they present the year's most outstanding 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.
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BBC iPlayer
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Seasons & Episodes
Season 1
4 episodes
E01
The Romans
Thu, Aug 19 2010 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology. Roman finds include a fabulous Roman coin hoard found in Somerset and a man buried on a layer of dead animals.
E02
Prehistory
Thu, Aug 26 2010 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology. In Orkney an early farm yields glimpses of Britons' ancestors' earliest religious beliefs and customs.
E03
Anglo-Saxons
Thu, Sep 2 2010 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology. Skeletons at the royal seat of power in Bamburgh show signs of violent death but also of tenderness.
E04
The Tudors
Fri, Sep 10 2010 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Final episode of the series. Dr Alice Roberts goes in search of the Tudor age, visiting excavations at Shakespeare's first theatre in London's Shoreditch.
Season 2
4 episodes
E01
Britannia
Fri, Sep 9 2011 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows an entire year of British archaeology. She looks at Roman Britannia, where finds include the mystery of 97 baby skeletons found by the Thames.
E02
Invaders
Fri, Sep 16 2011 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows an entire year of British archaeology. There's a fresh look at the fantastic Lewis Chessmen, which are currently the subject of major new research.
E03
Age of Bronze and Iron
Sat, Sep 24 2011 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology. She discovers what kind of a place Britain was before the Romans invaded, in the Bronze and Iron Ages.
E04
Ice and Stone
Fri, Sep 30 2011 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Dr Alice Roberts follows a year of British archaeology. She visits Jersey where she meets a team of archaeologists hoping to shed new light on the Neanderthals.
Season 3
3 episodes
E01
East
Tue, Feb 3 2015 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Alice Roberts and Matt Williams present 2014's most outstanding archaeology. In the east of Britain, sites include Must Farm, Colchester, Oakington, Lyminge and Silchester.
E02
West
Tue, Feb 10 2015 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Alice Roberts and Matt Williams present 2014's most outstanding archaeology. In the west of Britain, sites include Barrowclump, Durotrigues Big Dig, Winchester and Ipplepen.
E03
North
Tue, Feb 17 2015 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts and archaeologist Matt Williams present 2014's most outstanding archaeology from the north of Britain, including a 5,000-year-old temple in Orkney.
Season 4
3 episodes
E01
West
Thu, Mar 10 2016 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
This episode visits sites in the west of Britain, including one uncovering the rituals of Stonehenge.
E02
East
Thu, Mar 17 2016 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
A team unearths a mass grave, divers search the Thames for clues to a 17th-century tragedy, and a metal detectorist makes the find of a lifetime.
E03
North
Thu, Mar 24 2016 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
A team discovers clues to Scotland's first kingdoms, metal detectorists unearth a hoard of Viking treasure, and a new housing development reveals a graveyard of Iron Age warriors.
Season 5
3 episodes
E01
West
Tue, Dec 6 2016 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts with the very best in British archaeology 2016 - filmed by the archaeologists themselves, straight from the trenches, so you can see each exciting discovery as it happens. The teams then bring their best finds - from skeletons to treasure - back to the Digging for Britain lab, to examine them with Alice and reveal how they are changing the story of Britain. This episode looks at the west of Britain, and archaeologists are in the lab to look at the new finds and what they mean. Finds include: the lost WWI training trenches on Salisbury Plain; Britain's first 'double henge' - discovered just down the road from Stonehenge - where the evidence suggests our ancestors feasted and made sacred offerings as part of a visit to the ritualistic Stonehenge landscape; and luxury foreign goods discovered at Tintagel, the legendary childhood home of King Arthur.
E02
North
Tue, Dec 13 2016 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts with the very best in British archaeology 2016 - filmed by the archaeologists themselves, straight from the trenches, so you can see each exciting discovery as it happens. The teams then bring their best finds - from skeletons to treasure - back to the Digging for Britain lab, to examine them with Alice and reveal how they are changing the story of Britain. This episode is from the north of Britain, where finds include: evidence for the first Roman siege in Britain, including the biggest cache of Roman bullets discovered anywhere; Britain's most famous monastery - Lindisfarne - rediscovered for the first time since it was violently sacked by the Vikings 1,000 years ago; and the incredible discovery of the ancient Scottish man-made islands that entirely rewrite our understanding of Stone Age tech.
E03
East
Tue, Dec 20 2016 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts with the very best in British archaeology 2016 - filmed by the archaeologists themselves, straight from the trenches, so you can see each exciting discovery as it happens. The teams then bring their best finds - from skeletons to treasure - back to the Digging for Britain lab, to examine them with Alice and reveal how they are changing the story of Britain. Finds include: new revelations from 'Britain's Pompeii' - the 3,000-year-old perfectly preserved village in Cambridgeshire - including how our Bronze Age ancestor's designed their homes; the theatre where Shakespeare premiered Romeo and Juliet and Henry V, complete with sound effect props and evidence that the original audience was much rowdier than you might expect; evidence that we may have finally found the location of the Battle of Barnet, the Wars of the Roses site where Edward IV defeated Warwick the Kingmaker in a battle that would eventually bring the Tudor dynasty to England's throne.
Season 6
4 episodes
E01
West
Wed, Nov 22 2017 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts explores some of this year's most exciting archaeological finds from the west of Britain. Each discovery comes straight from the trenches/site, filmed by the archaeologists themselves. We discover the camp from which Vikings invaded Britain, and find groundbreaking new evidence that the world-famous Avebury stone circle isn't just a sacred site but a place where our ancestors lived and worked - a discovery that's also changing our understanding of neighbouring Stonehenge. In Staffordshire, the oldest Iron Age gold in Britain is unearthed - a set of beautiful gold torcs, mysteriously abandoned 2,500 years ago.
E02
East
Wed, Nov 29 2017 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts explores some of this year's most exciting archaeological finds from the east of Britain. Each discovery comes straight from the trenches/site, filmed by the archaeologists themselves. We unearth the biggest collection of Roman writing tablets in Britain, giving insight into what Roman London was really like. Off the coast of Kent, we dive into the English Channel to complete the biggest marine excavation since the Mary Rose - an 18th-century East India Company ship, packed with silver. Also in Kent, we're on the detective trail to find the very first evidence of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain - an ancient fort scattered with human skulls and weapons.
E03
North
Wed, Dec 6 2017 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts explores some of this year's most exciting archaeological finds from the north of Britain. Each discovery comes straight from the site, filmed by the archaeologists themselves. Alice discovers the well-preserved writing tablets, swords and domestic items left by Romans at Vindolanda during a time of British rebellion. On the Scottish island of Iona, there are traces of a long-lost monastery and pilgrimage site that was originally built by the legendary saint Columba, and has been compared to Jerusalem. In the east of Scotland, a weapons hoard belonging to a wealthy Bronze Age warrior is unearthed.
E04
The Horsemen of Hadrian's Wall
Wed, Dec 13 2017 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Professor Alice Roberts reveals the forgotten story of the Roman Army's secret weapon in Britain - their cavalry. These fearsome horsemen were the key to defending Britain's most famous Roman monument fortification. Alice sets off across Hadrian's Wall to investigate any evidence the Roman cavalry left behind, while a team of archaeologists and historical re-enactors attempt to re-stage a Roman cavalry tournament - a spectacle that no one has seen for over 1,600 years. Alice joins them at a public display in Carlisle where 30 riders perform in front of a crowd of spectators. The film also explores the latest archaeological digs happening across the UK, each of which is searching for new evidence of the Roman cavalry. Alice visits some of the most iconic sites associated with the Roman cavalry, including Chester's Roman fort, Vindolanda fort and museum and Hexham Abbey. Along the way she builds a picture of the horsemen's lives here on the northern frontier of the Roman Empire.
Season 7
4 episodes
E01
North
Wed, Nov 28 2018 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Alice Roberts celebrates the biggest and best archaeological discoveries of 2018 from the north of the UK.
E02
West
Wed, Dec 5 2018 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Alice Roberts shares archaeological discoveries from the west of the UK, including the biggest maritime excavation since the Mary Rose, a Roman bath house and a German camp.
E03
East
Wed, Dec 12 2018 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
This year's best archaeological finds from the east of the UK: a monument as old as Stonehenge, a dig at the site of Britain's first tank battle and some disturbing Roman burials.
E04
Iron Age Revealed
Wed, Dec 19 2018 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Alice Roberts follows the excavation of Iron Age Britain's most spectacular grave. A team of archaeologists in East Yorkshire have uncovered the remains of only the third upright chariot burial ever found in Britain, and the only chariot burial ever found in this country with the chariot harnessed to two standing ponies. This sensational find is the lead dig for the Digging for Britain Iron Age special.
Season 8
4 episodes
E01
West
Wed, Nov 20 2019 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
In the Cotswolds, a secret location, which appears to be a high-status Anglo Saxon cemetery, gives up a very precious and fragile artefact.
E02
North
Wed, Nov 27 2019 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
More than is expected is found in the remains of a house thought to be the childhood home of Lady Jane Grey. Plus the graveyard of a Victorian workhouse sheds new light on the Great Famine of 1845.
E03
South
Wed, Dec 4 2019 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
How a lobster led archaeologists to the discovery of an 8000-year-old neolithic settlement. And Naoise Mac Sweeney visits a construction site as it gives up the secrets of its Elizabethan past.
E04
WWII Special
Wed, Dec 11 2019 9:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
In this special edition of the programme, the team are on the hunt for archaeology from our more recent past as they follow the search for artefacts from World War II.
Season 9
6 episodes
E01
Episode 1 - East
Tue, Jan 4 2022 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
The astonishing discovery of a mosaic has art historians, archaeologists and Alice very excited as they slowly reveal its full beauty.
E02
Episode 2 - South
Wed, Jan 5 2022 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
The astonishing discovery of a mosaic has art historians, archaeologists and Alice very excited as they slowly reveal its full beauty.
E03
Episode 3 - North
Thu, Jan 6 2022 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
The best archaeology from the north of Britain, including Scotland's oldest railway, one of the best-preserved Norman castles and an extraordinary find from a Neolithic tomb.
E04
Episode 4 - Midlands
Tue, Jan 11 2022 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Unearthing a Jurassic giant, investigating finds from an Anglo-Saxon cemetery and uncovering the hidden heart of Roman Leicester.
E05
Episode 5 - West
Wed, Jan 12 2022 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
A new Roman town and hundreds of finds are discovered. The Cerne Giant finally gets a date, and a World War II air crash mystery is laid to rest.
E06
Episode 6 - North
Thu, Jan 13 2022 8:00 PM GMT+0000
60 min
Featuring a Roman fort on Hadrian's Wall, evidence of early writing by the Picts in Scotland and a 3000-year-old Bronze Age coffin buried under a golf course.
Season 10
6 episodes
E01
Roman Towns and Tudor Shipwrecks
Sun, Jan 1 2023 6:00 AM GMT+0000
60 min
Digs in southern England reveal a previously unknown Roman town, a Tudor ship buried beneath a quarry and evidence of Henry VIII's financialforgery under the Tower of London.
E02
Arthur's Stone and a Georgian Mine
Sun, Jan 1 2023 6:00 AM GMT+0000
60 min
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.
E03
Ice Age Camp and a Saint with Syphilis
Sun, Jan 1 2023 6:00 AM GMT+0000
60 min
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.
E04
Mystery Shipwreck and a Roman Army Camp
Sun, Jan 1 2023 6:00 AM GMT+0000
60 min
Alice Roberts reveals a Dutch ship sunk by the English, a Cornish Roman fort and a 5000-year-old Neolithic monument.
E05
Roman Mosaics and Ancient Weapons
Sun, Jan 1 2023 6:00 AM GMT+0000
60 min
Travelling east, Alice discovers a Roman barn conversion, unearths a Tudor fort and finds intricately carved 10,000-year-old weapons.
E06
Headless Romans and Anglo Saxon Gold
Sun, Jan 1 2023 6:00 AM GMT+0000
60 min
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.
Season 11
6 episodes
E01
The Roman Emperor's Bathhouse
Tue, Jan 2 2024 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
Digs in northern Britain reveal a Roman emperor's lost bathhouse, the sunken treasures of medieval pilgrims and a formidable fortress perched on top of a Scottish mountain.Â
E02
Anglo-Saxon Gold and Rebellious Nuns
Tue, Jan 2 2024 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
In central England, an RAF airbase with a Roman past, a forgotten medieval nunnery, a gold pendant from a 7th-century grave and a pub with a very long history of hospitality.Â
E03
A Norman Panic Room and a Mesolithic Fish Trap
Tue, Jan 2 2024 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
In the west of Britain, there's a rare medieval cemetery, a disappearing Mesolithic landscape, a mysterious Iron Age burial and the ruins of a Gothic masterpiece.Â
E04
A Roman Mystery and Waterloo's Disappearing Dead
Tue, Jan 2 2024 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
Roberts reveals the most fascinating archaeological finds this year in the East of England: a Roman dodecahedron, the secrets of Boudicca's hill fort and Waterloo's disappearing dead.Â
E05
3000-Year-Old Shoes and Giant Axeheads
Tue, Jan 2 2024 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
Archaeology in the south of England unearths Britain's oldest shoe, the lost shipyard of one of England's greatest warrior kings and Britain's top-secret WWII defences.Â
E06
Forgotten Fortresses and Lost Villages
Tue, Jan 2 2024 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
Digs in the West of Britain reveal a forgotten fortress teetering on the edge of a cliff, evidence of the oldest house in Cardiff and a discovery at a Roman mosaic that shocks the experts.Â
Season 12
6 episodes
E01
Saxon Gold and Buried Coins
Tue, Jan 7 2025 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
The most incredible grave goods ever found on Digging for Britain, a strange Roman sarcophagus filled with plaster and an intriguing medieval coin hoard.
E02
Dinosaur Highway and Roman Sauna
Tue, Jan 7 2025 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
A quarryman makes the discovery of a set of very large footprints, and a chance find reveals a spectacular Roman villa with mosaics and a sauna.
E03
Island Treasures
Tue, Jan 7 2025 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
Exploring Britain's islands: a 5,000-year-old Neolithic tomb, an international effort to save a WWI warship, and a Neanderthal hunting ground off Jersey's coast.
E04
Roman Crime and Ancient DNA
Tue, Jan 7 2025 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
Gold is found at a bishop's palace, a Roman crime is uncovered, detectorists unearth a staggering bronze age haul, and ancient DNA solves a medieval mystery.
E05
Chariots and Slaves
Tue, Jan 7 2025 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
In the west of Britain, there's one of the largest Roman buildings ever discovered in Britain, an Iron Age chariot is saved, and evidence is found of the transatlantic slave trade in Devon.
E06
Lost Mansions and Impaled Prisoners
Tue, Jan 7 2025 6:00 AM GMT+0000
58 min
Extraordinary digs from the south - a Romani encampment in the New Forest, a convict's burial ground, discovery of a civil war mansion and London's best-preserved Roman cemetery.
Season 13
6 episodes
E01
Scottish Massacre and 70s Skate Park
Wed, Jan 7 2026 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
Featuring visceral evidence of a bloody massacre in the Scottish Highlands, one of the largest Roman cemeteries ever found in Britain, Bradford's first Muslim burial, more finds in Carlisle from a Roman bathhouse, and from the 1970s, Scotland's first skatepark.
E02
Our Rarest Find and Biggest Dig
Wed, Jan 7 2026 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
Featuring two incredibly rare finds from an Iron Age hoard, a look inside the UK's largest and most complex dig in a generation, an Iron Age site perched on the very edge of the White Cliffs of Dover, and the earliest example of an artist's signature from Roman Britain.
E03
A Mysterious Bone Box and Admiral Nelson's Favourite Ship
Wed, Jan 7 2026 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
Rare Anglo-Saxon swords, a mysterious and macabre Roman bone box and a cross-continental investigation into Admiral Nelson's favourite ship.
E04
England's Last Anglo-Saxon King and Scotland's First Whisky
Wed, Jan 7 2026 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
The lost estate of Harold Godwinson, last Anglo-Saxon king of England, a completely intact 4,000-year-old cremation vessel and an unprecedented Roman whetstone factory.
E05
Medieval Murder and Roman Pets
Wed, Jan 7 2026 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
Featuring a vast first-century Roman compound, the warhorses that changed the course of history, a medieval murder mystery, the thriving farmstead belonging to Isaac Newton's mother, thousands of animal bones from a Roman farm, and a 300-million-year-old forest that built the modern world.
E06
A Cornish Legend and an Ancient Wishing Well
Wed, Jan 7 2026 6:00 AM GMT+0000
59 min
Professor Alice Roberts returns to uncover fresh archaeological treasures and discoveries.