Time Team S10-E08 Athelney,.Somerset

To mark the 100th episode, Tony Robinson and the Time Team return to a site they investigated in the very first series.
Athelney is one of England's most important historic sites, where King Alfred established his stronghold and organised the campaign to wrest England from the Vikings. But it has never been excavated - ten years ago, the team weren't even allowed to dig!
But this time the trenches go in and, amid the reminiscences, the famous fortified abbey yields its secrets, among them a remarkable revelation about its origins.

[@nealweirich2311]

Time Team is what's getting me through this quarantine. I've watched these so many times over the years, and they never get old.

[@kathypogue9644]

I so understand K

[@susanrivard3959]

My husband and I are relaxing to this series as well...because its...relaxing. The news is not.....

[@Dal606BBN]

Same here lol. Love the Time Team!

[@ritawahn6934]

I discovered this show a few months ago and I'm addicted, great was to take your mind off of lock up!

[@dianetersigni7359]

Agree!👍

[@thomasandersen2534]

Thank you for uploading these episodes. It helps me forget my world falling apart. Going through a tough divorce. This helps me get away from all that mess. It will certainly help me once it’s all over with as well. Thanks again ! Love Time Team

[@MrSOLOPIANIST]

The 100th TIME TEAM ... And I have just watched every single episode since the beginning. Not even half way. One of the very best programmes ever. Endlessly fascinating and interesting. Glorious interplay between the team. Heartwarming. Genuinely funny. Lifts the spirits. A masterpiece of modern culture.

[@susanf.7737]

MICHAEL MULROY been doing the same, and here I am at show 100. Loving every minute, thanks you Reijer Zaaijer!

[@mischelle9530]

These are lies from liars making up history and making the English look evil that’s their only goal damn game of the Romans for about 3000 year if not longer.

[@adelechatelain6160]

I just retired..and discovered TIME TEAM; I've been watching the series non-stop since my first day of retirement. I LOVE this program. I just wish my father was still alive to watch it with me! I got my love of archeology and history from him.

[@Pauldjreadman]

Very hands-on history-based show. I watched most of this when it was the first broadcast. First broadcast.

[@paulbriody297]

I agree 100%, I get excited watching this and all the brusies of modern life feel somewhat healed.

[@vampifrog]

I love all the crafts that go into this show - excavating, the geophys, the computer reconstructions and animations, enactments and the cooking, and I love Victor's drawings!

[@derrickguffey4775]

In my humble opinion Time Team has ushered archeology into the modern era. The team makes what most consider a stodgy and boring academic pursuit in an involved and exciting investigation in to history which to face facts affects all with an ancestry in the British Isles.

[@candy-janes6934]

I'm hopelessly dependent on Time Team if I am to get anything done in a day. I need them chatting in the background of my life. Thank goodness there's twenty years worth of TT to have in a continuous loop.

[@cathjj840]

And I get absolutely nothing done, because I'm glued to the screen. To the point m'backside doth protest, but to no avail.

[@ashleye1048]

I paint apartments & this is what keeps me going !! Gosh, how i wish they would put this show together again. Mick is definitely missed as is Ian, the jcb operator.

[@frederikstoumann9796]

Candy-Jane S i know the feeling. Im a viking age re-enacter and today ive been working on making a new bed, for my viking tent. And of course I had time team going on my iPad, next to me all day😂 I love this series.

[@Nellsbells79]

Glad to read it’s not just me. I’m completely hooked

[@CaptainAMAZINGGG]

I find that it helps me feel soothed, it's helped me reprogram my mind away from anxiety and other bad feeling things, it helps me sleep so I'm now no longer really experiencing insomnia for the first time in years, and, I do also e joy paying attention to it and learning things, as well. I listen to ones I've already seen, when it's at a lower volume as I do other things or sleep. It's the best thing 💕💕💕💕

[@marilyncuaron3222]

Seems odd that folk felt like they had to invent Arthur when they already had Alfred, who embodied all the traits of a worthy ruler. Plus, he was a real flesh and blood person!

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Hard to make up a fantasy about someone people have known I guess 😊

[@nb8936]

Mick was a real one.Walks over and says right away "that could be a scythe" Sure enough, its a scythe. RIP

[@StuartDavies]

Speaking as a professional artist, Victor is VERY talented!

[@tubaniels]

He IS the master.

[@angelitabecerra]

"Both beards and printing times have shortened" 😂

[@BenSHammonds]

I really enjoy this episode, and the first at this location, very interesting.

[@kbaise931]

all those beautiful abbeys,cathedrals,monasteries destroyed on one man's whim. then cromwell came along and finished up.great show tho.love it when there are lots of artifacts.

[@jonb6417]

@Danny Isambard Why don't you keep your childish, political inanities away from decent youtube videos like this? If you want to have a go at Trump, clear off and post your rubbish on the Guardian's channel along with the rest of the leftie morons.

[@mimiboulanger2358]

I've said it before and I'll say it again , thank you , thank you ,and thank you again for bringing us this amazing series.

[@lindasue8719]

“Distinguished by lack of wall“! lolololol !! Thanks for the upload!

[@patriciaheil6811]

I think it's neat that the forge wasn't just part of an armory but also making agricultural or woodworking implements -- it was a general purpose forge possibly already there and taken advantage of in the war.

[@mermeridian2041]

Love Robin Bush, really sad he's gone.

[@Go-Dawgs]

One of my favorite episodes💖 thank you Time Team!

[@benediktmorak4409]

----- we got just 3 days - good that never changed. but anyone and everyone knows how much work goes into each episode BEFORE those - 3 days - and also after those 3 days. And i think it is a good idea to revisit previous -digs-. Just to see what had happened. Well done! And while the -banter - between the team members is for sure mostly carefully scripted, it still explains to us, why what is done where and for what reason.Though one thing for sure inis in no script. The experience of the individual team members.And -English heritage - and other beancounters and -preservers - finally also have realised that Time Team and Tony Robinson are not some -black digger outfit - that is after artefacts only...

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

I love how the dad is trying hard to be interested in a rock from his fields, Phil is showing him.😊

[@talamioros]

this is fantastically belated of course, but OMG Carenza's expecting! Congratulations! That explains why she wasn't around last couple episodes I was getting worried!

[@GrahamCLester]

Staggering achievement by King Alfred. Have to wonder how he kept all his army fed.

[@wewenang5167]

IT WAS NOT A BIG ARMY, MAYBE JUST A FEW THOUSANDS, PROLLY JUST TOOK WHAT EVER HE WANTS FROM LOCAL PEASANTS BECAUSE AT THAT TIMES DURING WAR THEY OFTEN DID THAT.

[@kirkmorrison6131]

This is so much better than watching Abbot and Costello meet Frankenstein for the 100th time

[@stannousflouride8372]

The monument that appears between the two trenches is here: 51.058870ºN, 2.934472ºW And the Iron Age ditch is still visible here: 51.058494ºN, 2.942908ºW

[@granskare]

I like the mention of William of Malmesbury...I first visited friends who lived in the town in 1959...I wish I were more interested in history at the time but that's a 21 year old for you.. thanks for this series....kiitoos!

[@judeirwin2222]

My god, during the first dig, the beards, sideburns, pony tails and Phil's flowing locks provided enough hirsute exuberance for another 20 men!

[@deborahparham3783]

Back in those days most of the guys in our generation had lots of hair. Phil is about 17 months older than me and reminds me so much of the guys I knew back then. The only difference is that the guys I knew were mostly artists and craftsmen. I still love all that hair.

[@Roaproductiondk]

Thanks for the upload

[@victoriaeads6126]

Oh. My. Gosh. This is the PERFECT way to celebrate 100 stories! Which ugh... The beautiful archeology!!

[@Toontex]

fantastic thanks for posting

[@TheSuzberry]

This video has the best thumbnail of all.

[@harbourdogNL]

31:10 Just common sense that the Anglo-Saxons would have re-used Iron Ages sites...think about it...we are still "re-using" London, that has been here since Neolithic times...continuous occupation, continuous use. Simple.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thanks

[@antoinetteconnolly5419]

Duuude TT is awesome! Cant stop watchibg since I discovered it

[@rogeriusrex1]

Whoa! In that old episode, Phil looks like he could have been in Hawkwind with Lemmy!

[@colinp2238]

Singing I gotta a brand new combine harvester?

[@monjiaitaly]

Phil Harding has exquisite legs.

[@paulbriody297]

Agreed, I questioned my sexuality, hehe.

[@charlotrisch5138]

Phil is just a sexy man anyways

[@robinandrews5478]

He’s a bull!

[@deborahparham3783]

He does indeed have exquisite legs and the rest of him is drop dead gorgeous.

[@deborahparham3783]

He's just a big lovable teddy bear. Makes you want to give him a cuddle.

[@edlechleiter7042]

Intriguingly , Victor has graduated from computer drawing in season 1 to using a pencil in season 10 . " What is old has become new " /

[@pergrning736]

Underlig professor 😳🤨. Godt gået , Corenta 👍🙏✌💪

[@emmahardesty4330]

This show is just wonderful, compelling, lots to learn. It would be nice if it occasionally showed the world of ancient women. When "other out buildings" are mentioned but not concentrated upon, not excavated, it surely has a wealth of daily life: cooking, weaving, beer-making...some glimpses to show that women were nearly always a part of any site, and that their contributions were just as important, just as intriguing, as war and mayhem.

[@DaithiKerr68]

keep watching, they have shown it multiple times

[@donnal.oglesby4806]

I find it amazing that Robin talks about the BLLOD Eagle, which the vikings were known for doing, in tourture and before killing their enemy, and Tony say's I find that totally revolting" but what does he think of the englsih and all that they did to Sir William Wallace?? Love the fact that after 10 yrs, they all actually went back to this site and were finally able to dig it!

[@granskare]

chuckle :) I was the 21 year old :)

[@kevingee4294]

Ahhh farmer tim is still the same.........

[@dorianleakey]

I think saw him last year I pushing his dad in a wheelchair through Musgrove hospital, and though i don't know them, I felt very sad.

[@judeirwin2222]

I don't believe for one minute that they fried the cakes in butter, which burns at a relatively low temperature. To 'bake' cakes properly in a pan means higher heat. I think it more likely they used pig lard or rendered cow or sheep fat.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

Frying in butter is a very old cooking technique.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Butter in the dough, an I get to keep the animals alive for later 😊 They were pan baking on a fire not frying it😊

[@t.j.payeur5331]

33:32..Robin looks totally lushily buzzed...

[@ChristaFree]

They found a giant in the 1600's. 8 ft tall. I've watched this episode 100 times and just caught that.

[@patukott]

That's a 21 year old indeed... (No insult meant, for goodness's sakes, just constatation of the fact - your humble servant is well in her forties :) )

[@ginnysnyder9703]

Second time watching Even Better !!

[@Pauldjreadman]

As Tony once put it "We had the credentials"

[@saintboudreau1545]

great

[@leslietarkin5705]

This episode was aired in 2004. That means that Carenza's child is, as of 2023, 18-19 yrs. old.

[@ndotgw]

Oh, for the good old days of cut-off jeans before men started wearing shorts so baggy and shapeless they look like skirts and that hang down almost to their ankles. Phil 28:50

[@cyrus76hb]

+E! Carroll...Tell you what...I still wear them and i dont give a shijt what people think about it.It´s just nice to give beloved jeans a second chance/life and i bet Phil stll wears them too. xD

[@lameesahmad9166]

E! Carroll There is one thing I always admire about the work of these archaeologists and that is how hard it is. There is an incredible amount of hard labour involved. You want a fashion statement from guys who dress in the most comfortable gear for their occupation. I would like to see you bending, crouching and shoveling dirt in mud up to your ankles with Levi jeans cutting into your crotch. It must take special dedication and a passion for your work for extremely intelligent and qualified people to face such challenges. Another thing I find quite amazing is that they do this in all weathers. I am surprised that they have not yet died of exposure or influenza. I know that occasionally one or two of them have broken bones from the dangerous digs they have done. (Mike broke his leg) I often pity their lot. A lot of jokes have been thrown at Phil for his denim shorts but maybe he cut his jeans short because he could not work in them.

[@tphvictims5101]

E! Carroll , it would be nice if he trimmed his claws. Very distracting.

[@Itsjustkat1003]

TPHVICTIMS he's a classical guitarist. He needs his nails long to play his instrument.

[@barbmcconnaughey3070]

Oohhhaaarrrr

[@swedmiroswedmiro1352]

"Saxons were unparalleled steel makers until..." - 20 million viking descendants raises an eyebrow!

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

How many eyebrows? 🙃

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Viking steel was considered inferior to other people's. They just used it very well 😊

[@kaylind5227]

40:17 did I just hear Mick swear? 😀

[@13ECHO20]

It's good to see Carenza again.

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

thanks

[@areyouavinalaughisheavinal5328]

42:00 you won't need to dig... lol because geophys will make everything come to the surface by itself.

[@Gribbo9999]

The "scythe" as shown in Victor's sketch has a very short handle so might more correctly be called a sickle

[@goransgirl1]

What ever become of Sue Francis? It seemed like she was in many episodes and then nothing!

[@donaldwatson7698]

Maybe this interview will answer the question for whomever may still be reading it: kzbin.info/www/bejne/f2nafKSDoNd5ga8

[@JonFrumTheFirst]

Don't rely on Robin and his 'blood eagle' talk. It's the typical kind of thing that the enemy - whoever that is - is accused of. WE would never do such a thing, would we? It's mostly mistranslation of accounts written hundreds of years after the event. There was another mention of 'cruel killings' by the Viking king earlier in the episode. As if the Anglo-Saxons punished their enemies by brutally insulting them.

[@harbourdogNL]

6:46 Dead ringer for Father Jack from the 'Father Ted' series! "Drink!! Arse!!!!!! Feck!!"

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Oh hell yes😂

[@tammydriver5759]

Alfred to me is 47 generations direct bloodline.

[@margomoore4527]

I would have liked more info on the skeletons. Nameless monks or peasants though they might have been, I would have enjoyed learning their estimated heights and ages, had DNA tests to learn their background, I’d like a good look at the teeth (always fascinating)….ppl are always if interest despite the endless allure of ditches….

[@erinobrien8408]

I don't understand why, in the Anglo Saxon to Norman eras in particular, it was common to have more than one church or chapel on a site at one time. Could anyone please explain this? These videos are brilliant, thanks ever so much for uploading them!!!

[@aimeebrass5266]

26:30 The guy in red almost looks like Russel Crow. Lol

[@lauravalancy2521]

Aimee Brass I had the same thought! 😂

[@kristianstipe]

Maybe the scythe was used to cut reeds in the marshes to roof houses, and/or to get fresh water, or water to fish in.

[@theknave4415]

fwiw, 'athel' is a cognate of the Proto-Indo-European "white", also, a cognate word for 'elf' and/or 'prince/royalty'. Albho- . 'Bh' = 'f' sound in English, or 'ph' as in 'phone'. Alfred, Aelfstan, etc. also, see: Elbe River. also, Germanic tribes: Aelvaeones, Elouaiones, Elvaiones, Aelvaeones, Ailouaiones, Alouiones, Ailouones

[@makrsk09]

This is what I was wanting to know. Thank you!

[@machellep1]

They won’t allow digging, but the plowing has destroyed everything. How is that preserving history ?

[@tjs114]

I was always sad that Robin got his description of a Blood Eagle wrong. I've read the same books documenting it and they all describe it being done from the back, which makes more sense- no other organs in the way.

[@helmuttholen6053]

It is also said that the lungs would collapse immediately to about kitchen sponge size taking quite some spectacularity out of it.

[@Uhtredrag1080]

Archeology having a no dig policy? Seems counterproductive.

[@seanlane1051]

Did anyone catch what happened with Tony's griddle cakes?

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

*Sean Lane* Oddly they seem to have left that out. Perhaps his weren't so much burnt as cremated?

[@tompahdea9263]

You mean there are two different striped jumpers? LOL.

[@KellyBurnett138]

😂😂😂

[@minimaker5600]

I've been binge watching, and have noticed at least 5 or 6 different ones. Tony has said that Mic has groupies who knit them for him :o) My favorite is the one with narrow horizontal stripes.

[@MelancholischerMond]

Saxons were unparalleled steel makers... Let's talk about the history of damascus steel...

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

The two are different kinds of steel plus he was actually referring to steel in the *UK* and should have mentioned that.

[@TeresaTrimm]

First aired February 23, 2003. It is their 100th episode.

[@ElizabethDMadison]

I felt a pang when they said the destruction was part of the dissolution of monasteries after the protestantization of England! Absolutely not the monks' idea!

[@JETWTF]

Scheduled site to be preserved for future archeology... allow it to be plowed and slowly destroyed that way instead.

[@JETWTF]

​@alanrtment porter Season 1 episode 1, scheduled and plowed. They were not allowed to put a ditch in but the farmer was allowed to plow and pull up evidence. Then they were allowed to did the site later and still plowed.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@JETWTF Scheduling a site means that the landowner must take all precautions to preserve the archæology. This definitely means _no_ deep ploughing.

[@supervillain3213]

The scheduling is going to be different for every site. One episode they were specifically looking for evidence in order to get a site scheduled. They were saying that after a site is scheduled, it will have it's own management plan that will dictate what can and cannot be done at the site. It may be with certain sites that the archaeology is low enough to allow for plowing, but not digging or trenching.

[@Awitsaduck]

Robins last episode I think?

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Fitting end if it is he was there from first to finish I'll miss the jolly fatman😊

[@lisakilmer2667]

Very nice that they back to the beginning for their 100th episode. They came a long way in how they treated Carenza, didn't they? This time they listened to her, didn't cut her off or ignore her ideas.

[@tomthx5804]

Dry up

[@cathjj840]

pitiful, Tom

[@yolazerbeam3205]

Nobody cut everyone off more than Carenza did...she was so annoying despite being so highly intelligent, talented and beautiful, I admire Time Team for their patience around her and the editing team having extra work put on them by her constant interuptions because of her passion and love for archeology.

[@joeduggan5431]

And then there's this blooming thing..the bones of someone...really !

[@robertareilly4847]

Areed. Surprised the bones were not investigated as in other episodes.

[@eoyguy]

Completes the pregnancy trifecta for me, I had seen Helen pregnant in a number of episodes, then Brig. Now Carenza.

[@troybohnet9334]

Why is it always just 3 days?

[@kevingee4294]

Troy Bohnet prodoction cost.....its has a budget just like anyother tv program.

[@dianadrb]

Many of them have week day job.

[@terryyakamoto3488]

thats the longest phil can go without getting drunk

[@RKHageman]

Because Mick Aston planned it that way from the beginning.

[@1101millie97]

My image of the blood-eagle is what I saw from the series 'Vikings', and they involved slicing the victim from his back. Which is quite different from what the historian is telling us. Who is correct?

[@Pikkugen]

It's easier to slice through the sternum than through the spine, and the ribs bend easier there too. Also it's easier to keep a sacrifice alive if you don't split their spinal column. (Don't ask me how I know.) A sensationalist tv series is probably not the best authority on how to sacrifice people Viking style, anyways.

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

​@Pikkugen I thought the front would be better for suffering an presentation. Ribs arms and spread out lungs time complete the wings😊

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Sorry to not time 😊

[@vladabocanek3703]

I just wonder, if there was abbey with quite big church, why is all arechology so shallow? Big wall needs big foundation. Especialy in such wet land... Mystery.

[@Happyheretic2308]

Buttresses

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

Foundation rafting logs an such😊

[@jobybond9933]

It is so interesting. Oh Me and my dad found a cool rock that was 12 pounds and it was the sise of someone holding there hand up like this 👌.we prot it to the museum and there was a piece of 2 karit gold

[@donaldwatson7698]

I've long wondered if Robin Bush and Stewart Ainsworth were given the project in advance of the 3 days. The amount of books and maps they dredge up seemingly on the spur of the moment and from wide-ranging sources would seem to suggest they had greater time. Not that I'm complaining. Their work is magnificent.

[@talamioros]

yes, they had to do prep work to even begin to know what to expect or to set some initial objective (especially if they needed to make a proposal with a clear objective to English Heritage for scheduled sites) and for the producers to put together the necessary resources (e.g. specialists, aquatic archae). The three day limit is only for digging but each episode would have needed weeks of production and research. When Robin goes to film scenes of research in an archive, for example, the scene has been set up with the right documents taken out and prepared for filming because he, or some other researcher, has already confirmed it is valid.

[@kalvincroft5111]

Hey. Bob Croft. That's my last name also.

[@beardedgeek973]

All the similar people around the norse sea were masters. Vikings were just as masterful as Saxons, but then a lot of their culture, and equipment, were identical.

[@beardedgeek973]

Celto Loco so... Ignorance is a thing, I see. Your logic is like Spongebob, silly and with holes. The Egyptians didn't even know how to use iron for most of those thousands of years. It's like arguing that US fighter jets are bad because the Egyptians were great at geometry (which they really weren't, btw)

[@Roaproductiondk]

Exciting special since a Danish modern Viking, still believing in the old Norse gods, still practicing fighting with the scama sax (the knife)

[@yvonnethompson844]

Celto Loco hand to hand combat is still a skill required the gun isn't always going to work.

[@yvonnethompson844]

Celto Loco being trained yourself you know that many of the fighting styles that have survived. Are steeped in tradition with several claiming that you learn to fight. So you know how to control yourself. A d you understand that any hot head can squeeze a trigger without a second thought then?

[@yvonnethompson844]

exactly. guns have their place, but so do traditional fighting styles.. imagine one of those idiots trying to keep up with capuedo, or the traditional russian styles..real floating like a butterfly and stinging like a bee

[@yvonnethompson844]

Celto Loco sigh.. think strategically. both long and short range tactics are needed for a well balanced defense. the further away you are from your attacker when you strike, the less likely you are to be gettin damage while mounting your defense. then, after a long range strategy fails to neutrilize your oponent completely, you need something to fall back on. guns were developed as long range tactical pieces and as shock and awe weapons. they also come in handy when hunting down dinner, as a bow has not nearly the accuracy or range as a gun

[@yvonnethompson844]

Celto Loco yes. and that counts as close quarter's combat.just like the knife. it's a tecnique that many a style uses. thinking when your opponent can't.

[@ste1072]

Phill always jumps in other people's trench when there's something good to dig out it must piss people off claiming there glory finds.

[@Wally-H]

Phil and Karenza were the leading 'hands on' archaeologists on these digs, and so it was their job to ensure rare and valuable artifacts were extracted properly. Time Team gave an opportunity to a lot of young archaeologists to work on something exciting and I doubt they'd have been complaining too much.

[@spivsmith]

K

[@jimsimon2536]

hi you"all

[@jaynorris3722]

Isn't those lions on the floor tile from the Plantaginates? If so then how can they be from King Alfreds time????

[@user-hy7zb2vl3t]

They are not the Abby was later 😊

[@victoriaeads6126]

Really!?! Carenza is a BOSS! You do the work of creating an actual human, then you...nope, can't judge. Every pregnancy and birth is unique.

[@sgrannie9938]

Coincidentally I have seen three programmes in a row with Carenza or Helen pregnant 🤔🤰

[@heula1]

Carenza looks absolutely adorable.

[@Jigger2361]

..in a sistery way lol

[@osiversen]

Ceinwen Paynton is a sweet gal

[@cogidubnus1953]

31:30 I have to ask...who is the very beautiful lady in the wimple?

[@karlD1963]

Nun of your business!

[@hiccups55]

Bob Croft. The father of Lara Croft?

[@martintomlinson7039]

From the wonderful geophys, the addition to the east end of the church is taken to be traces of another, possibly earlier church, due to it having a different allignment. This ignores the fact that these chapels were often added later to a grand church, as the original building had more money lavished on it. Moreover, they often had a 'lean to the right', in imitation of the traditional pose of Jesus on the cross, from the viewers point of view, his head inclined to his left.

[@Rand0mFemale]

I think the pandemic saved this series

[@RKHageman]

No. The series ended in 2013.

[@ConstantineJoseph]

Why would Alfred want to hide away on an open farm land when the enemy could see their fortifications and blacksmith from afar

[@theknave4415]

The land has all been drained in the4 modern era. In ancient times, it was located miles from anywhere, in a swampy marsh - lots of water, tall reeds, brush, etc.

[@lizzy66125]

@19.40 they show that.

[@keithdaniels1238]

It's wonderful to have these important documents available. I reckon they are seriously underrated. It's too late now, but if only the producer/director had made Mr. Harding curtail his ridiculous affected laughter. It gets fight up my nose every time I hear it!!

[@cathjj840]

!!?? Both men and women commenters seem to find it both genuine and fetching, and some of the ladies seem ready to drop everything to have that laughter live in their lives. Les goûts et les couleurs....as they say in French.

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@@cathjj840 _À chacun son goût._

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

@Dixie Ten Broeck I _totally_ agree.

[@BlueBaron3339]

The only unfortunate part is the evident ongoing tension that led to Carenza leaving the show. Her only "flaw" was being as assertive as the men. Mick clearly had a problem with women who were not subordinates which is why Tony is the one you see speaking with Mick's female professional peers over the course of the series. It was Tony, not Carenza, who tried to get Mick to concede that she's gotten it right ten years earlier. Nope.

[@vincerussett7922]

Hello, BlueBaron3339. It's far more complicated than that. I happen to have been a friend of Mick's, and know Carenza slightly. Mick never had any trouble with women who were not 'subordinates': his partner was a frighteningly clever (and very likeable) woman, and is still so. Carenza (like many of us) could be prickly at times, and there was a certain amount of good-natured academic banter between them, which comes over as much more serious on screen than it actually was. Of course they were also encouraged to play it up for the camera. They're making TV, not writing scholarly tomes. Nonetheless, TT did boost public interest in archaeology incredibly - I know this from working as the county archaeologist in Mick's home area. Tony Robinson's sarcasm is part of his nature, and he never uses it to belittle people, but taking the mickey out of your colleagues is perfectly acceptable in England, and we all do it.

[@BlueBaron3339]

@@vincerussett7922 Many thanks for the insight, Vince. Indeed, what appears on camera for television can be most misleading and it's good to know it was largely for show. Mick is so loveable after all and supremely dedicated and principled.