On the Edge of an Empire | FULL EPISODE | Time Team

Season 1 Episode 2: A trip to Ribchester in Lancashire reveals evidence of Roman military presence. Join the Time Team for another dig into Britain's history.
#TimeTeam #Archaeology #Ribchester
Tony and the Time Team investigate a unique piece of military engineering at Ribchester, Lancashire that reveals how the Roman army survived - around AD100 - at the northern frontier of their Empire.
Time Team is a British TV series following specialists who dig deep to uncover as much as they can about Britain's archaeology and history.

[@northernskys]

It is quite heart warming, after watching these early episodes from Season 1, and so on, where the guys are so nervous, and "raw", in front of the camera, and then watching the later episodes, to see how they have not only became accustomed to the camera "in their faces", but also how they became a great working Team in all the senses of the word. From sharing a drink, to a laugh, to the shear joy of finding even the minutest relic of forgotten History. Love it all.

[@CzechMirco]

In some behind the scenes stuff Tony said that professor Mick was at first extremely hesistant to even participate, arguing that he isn't a "camera person" and that he wouldn't know how to talk and how to be funny, but immedieately a few shots into the first episode Tony overheared him saying "Lets try it again and maybe this time from this angle, what do you think?" :D

[@alexandersvensson5654]

Imagine this: Swedish 28 y/o discovering this series now during the pandemic in 2020. Golden days!

[@randomnickify]

Look at the bright side, there is 20 seasons of this if you look deep enough :)

[@pipellis6672]

Enjoy, my friend. I’ve loved visiting Sweden over the years. Stay well.

[@Strongfortress7]

59 year old resident of Hawaii, 2021, pandemic continues. Time Team is great!

[@josthobic9860]

Enjoy it!

[@realdealljungstrom1178]

😂 35 år och upptäckte också serien 2020

[@flederfox]

Tony getting his hands on Vegetis's military manual was like watching a kid in a candy shop

[@bostonrailfan2427]

it could very well be the unintentional start of his second career there: history presenter

[@vsznry]

Wow, so the name Vegeta wasn't pulled out of obscurity.

[@Sapharone]

Oh my, they're all so young! John comes across as really sweet and Phil is much calmer than in later series.

[@randymarsh625]

Its funny that they give John greif from the very beginning. Through the entirety of the Time Team years he's been good for a wind up

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@randymarsh625 he knows that he’s a great target and lets them get their jokes in, they love him and he knows it

[@bostonrailfan2427]

respect for the homeowner who got them there and showing that you have to work with amateurs sometimes even if it’s not helping much…

[@randymarsh625]

@@bostonrailfan2427 absolutely

[@snazzypazzy]

Weirdly I think John looks older with this long beard? But they are all so awesome.

[@a.westenholz4032]

I can't say how much I have enjoyed Time Team over the years. From the first moment I saw my first episode on TV when visiting the UK. I am grateful to now be able to enjoy these episodes in high quality online. Thank you so very much.

[@pwile2002]

Mick's explanation of the find to the young boy was sweet.

[@royvarley]

Nerds - salt of the earth. I love folks who are so interested in something that they explore to the point of trying to replicate. And thereby discover so much and educate the rest of us.

[@royvarley]

By the way, I like to think of myself as a nerd but inhabiting a different nerdiverse.

[@ColtGColtG]

It's called experimental archeology and if you haven't heard of it look up Guedelon Castle in france. where they are building from scratch a small 13th century castle using nothing but period techniques, materials , tools, and even dress. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gu%C3%A9delon_Castle

[@Tom_Quixote]

Interesting that you feel the need to label him as a "nerd" just for having a hobby that he's interested in. If people have passion for sports results, gardening, or going to the gym, you wouldn't call them nerds. Why suddenly in this case?

[@bostonrailfan2427]

the lot of them are nerds but they’re happy with their jobs and want to bring others the joy that they get from learning about the past. Tony loved it so much that his career revived because of it!

[@ImpendingJoker]

@@Tom_Quixote Actually, I call them sport nerds all the time. My older brother loves NFL football, and can quote you all kinds of facts and stats from the hundreds of games played over the years. He and I were both in the Army, and I do call him a nerd for his love of football, and antique cars, like he does me for my love of aviation and aviation history. Nothing wrong with being a nerd, it means you've taken time to learn something that others think is too difficult or beneath them.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

“who were they afraid of…well not these two” Oh Tony, you joker 🤣 Mick turning a joke into a teaching moment and genuinely catching Tony off guard and in shock is epic and to me was one of his turning points in his career towards history presenting especially as he gave a right guess about the ditch that the others dismissed!

[@haplessasshole9615]

I love how, in the very first episode, Prof. Mick sends the future Sir Tony tearing up a bank with one end of a tape measure, and in an aside to the crew says, "We'll make an archaeologist out of him yet." The banter about the columns is a wonderful example of Sir Tony keeping the energy going by trying to "take the mickey," and turning out to have brought about a teachable moment for Prof. Mick. His spotting of the Roman stonework along with his "untutored eye" picking out the ditch make me wonder if he's a fan of hidden object games.

[@ShortBusScotty]

I enjoy the fact that you all get along on camera. Living in 'Merica the producers would have you all at each others' throats.

[@jeffburnham6611]

@Maury Hancock that's only if there was some prize at the end, pitting each against the other. These are professionals, and while they do have egos and disagree from time to time, the end result is the team effort.

[@Entiox]

Either that, or they'd have another person on the show saying that aliens had to have helped them with the construction, or maybe blabbering on about ghosts, or faeries.

[@melaniecarver5719]

I don't watch American TV anymore. Don't miss it. I pick what I want to watch and the minute it goes sideways I am out of there. These shows are very enjoyable and I am learning a lot of interesting things--win, win.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

not true at all, their US version was the same companionship and fun as the UK version…PBS reality shows aren’t usually forced drama like the network shows

[@campcrafter4613]

FACT! SO DISGUSTING !

[@MarcusAgricola]

I love Time Team... not only that the digs are just fantastic, but also it is great to be able to see how much development there was since the beginning of it in terms of technical equipment. I am so happy to have discovered this gem back in 2009 and I don't know how often I have seen the episodes by now! I wished we had such a TV show in Austria...

[@JohnVance]

It’s almost 2020 and this is my favorite TV show.

[@MrVvulf]

For my favorite series, you have to go all the way back to the 80s. "Cosmos" (Carl Sagan version) has yet to be topped as the pinnacle of educational programming that was also extremely entertaining. Time Team is also awesome, which is why I'm here watching it!

[@awesomeferret]

It's almost 2021 and I just discovered this (wow, had I been missing out) and it's my new favorite TV show.

[@OstblockLatina]

Same here! I still remember watching some of the earliest episodes on Discovery Channel in the 90's

[@MrKmoconne]

Doing my part to stay isolated during the Covid-19 outbreak by watching Time Team! Thank you!

[@davebeat]

I tested positive on Tuesday and have been watching episodes randomly, but decided to start from the beginning this evening.

[@hannahclark6099]

Found this show last week and now I am binge watching😂 I love it!

[@mesugo]

Same!!! Only 10 months later :D

[@mesugo]

@C. S. Robinson Thank you! I meant I was replying to this persons' post ten months after they posted it, lol. Such a great show, glad I have so many to binge watch!

[@chiseldrock]

truly one of the finest series ever filmed ...kudo's to the team for making it so. Even my Dad's watching it he's almost 90

[@bethbartlett5692]

It's amazing that they could *"get a Plan Method", and follow it, to do Academic Professional Archaeology, in 3 days, and actually have "Finds, nevermind a story to accompany them".* I'm gonna guess they were criticized by Mainstream Archaeologists and a number of Peers. Obviously the had perfected the "Points to determine a worthy Dig" and that was a major 🔑

[@NZHazard]

I'm grateful for you adding these episodes as I used to watch this as a child, and i couldn't find any place to watch time team later as i grew up... and given i live in NZ, it was hard to predict when it would be shown. Thanks!

[@nickacelvn]

Kiora cuz (from kiwi kentish lad)

[@dotcassilles1488]

I'm an Aussie. As a teenager I used to watch time team (before I was 13 we didn't have a Television). My idea of fun back then was researching terms I'd heard on time team at the local library and reading any book I could get my hands on. Got into trouble a few times because I wanted to know stuff that the librarians thought was "too adult" for a 13 year old. My dad had to explain that I had read all the kids books, the young adult books and was nagging him to come to the library to borrow books for me to read.

[@wackyd9863]

I love this older formula for the show so much better than the later formula.

[@cindymosgrove4046]

I absolutely love this show. Everyone is so so very young. Wow. I love this... Thank you for sharing Time Team with us...

[@kathygoodman6159]

Wow, Tony looks so young in the first season. I've never seen these episodes, thank you so much for posting them online for us.

[@jhb1493]

Time Team has itself become archeology of a sort, over the years. Going back you see them young and fresh faced, then you can watch them get a little older (and wiser) as the series went on. Great stuff.

[@PaulMahon-w2b]

I like to think of it's the way us lazy can dig back as archeologist 😊

[@townview5322]

To have such history everywhere: I am constantly astounded.

[@josephmiller997]

Mick was being diplomatic. Leaving a possible tower for some date in the future was definitely the OTHER chap's idea. He wanted the fun stuff for his own team.

[@keetrandling4530]

Ah, Victor! I'm so grateful these episodes are uploaded, so we can revisit the team! Like having a comfy chair and a good cuppa in a classroom!

[@componenx]

Finally an episode I haven't seen before! Tony and the book are hilarious.

[@torceridaho]

my father's family is from east sussex, east grinstead, and this has been amazing introduction to the history of england. i knew a little bit already but his is icing on the cake.

[@aldoboeddha38]

Thank you thank you thank you!!! Watched and loved them back in the day. Saves all episodes but alas most were low-res and hard to find. Copied them on discs and the discs have been degrading horribly so I thought all lost. Wonderful to see them again in high quality and not having to scour torrentsites or buying (incomplete) dvd-series. Longtime fan made happy. Wish they would make a program like this in Holland, being a longtine archaeology fan.

[@dancingwithnature5303]

Thank you so much for posting these!!! During the covid-19 lockdowns it's meant food for the mind and soul! 🙏

[@defyingblueprints6914]

18:28 lol the garden Guy keeps interrupting Phil 😂 I would lose my patience so fast

[@mercedes523]

IKR

[@robocopleextraordinaire4148]

All time favorite series - thank you Time Team. Time to root for Time Team 2020!

[@guyplachy9688]

Watching this in 2024 I can't help but notice the huge leaps forward in geophys technology & results. Real fun watching the early episodes, though.

[@lachlandoig763]

I just discovered that all these episodes are available on KZbin and I am so excited to watch them all. I grew up watching the show and it's one of the reasons I love history.

[@elizabethschaeffer9543]

I love the archeology in the raw the way you can see it on Time Team. But what I really love is the Time Team--all of them! What a team! What a crew! After just (barely) surviving the Trump years in the States, watching the interaction and laughing disagreement that finally pulls a program together each week, and every week, restores my faith in the human race. Many thanks, to each and every one of you!

[@PauluzP]

Barely surviving Trump lmfao youre one of those liberal idiots who voted for this demented old man and that crackling hag who no one even wanted in the primaries.

[@sUASNews]

@@PauluzP oh look a Russian

[@SkywalkerExpress]

is there any compilation of Victor Ambrus illustration work throughout this series? would be awesome to see

[@campcrafter4613]

I think on the website there is a book

[@JessieCochran37]

I love Victor Ambrus's work so much! He rarely ever talked with his soft-spoken voice, but when he did, you listened to every word. RIP, Victor 19 August 1935 - 10 February 2021.

[@WastelandSoldier0885]

Yes, they sell them. I've bought 2 of his illustration books. They are very good.

[@matschmoon]

Soooo funny! Been watching all day Season 8+ .. and now?! Soooo cool! Tony, Phil, the intro 😄😄😄👍👍 Really love it! Thx for sharing 🖖😊👍

[@quokka0.0nraven]

I love seeing the tweaks in both format of the presentation of the show and how n what devices they used during the digs! Plus Carenza n Stewart's obvious relationship, with at least one child I've seen. What a family they are

[@cjamthepatricianakabilldoo7852]

General Callus Tacticus What to Do When One Army Occupies a Well-Fortified Fortress on Superior Ground and the Other Does Not" "Endeavour to be the one inside." "It is always useful to face an enemy who is prepared to die for his country. This means that both he and you have exactly the same aim in mind."

[@scottbaron121]

Crazy, seeing these folks so young. RIP Mick.

[@MessDawn]

i have come across Time Team by accident and i am inhaling the episodes! its wonderful to watch how you guys have developped as a team and as a show through the years. My favorite episode is how Time Team found their first mosaic

[@rknowling]

Fascinating to see how the show format evolved over the seasons! Also, very cool to see the Ermine Street Guard in action and learn a little about them.

[@JonathonCant]

These old episodes are just glorious; they inspired me to take history at University

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

Thank you.

[@jackjones1727]

I love these episodes 🇺🇲

[@maineeveryday3991]

John with a beard!

[@Bigotedechivo]

10:39 "oh look a roman column" lol these guys how didn't I knew about this show before!?

[@bostonrailfan2427]

his reaction was priceless, he legitimately made a joke and it got turned around on him to be a teaching moment and may have sparked something in Tony that continued on for years: look closer and learn things about where you are

[@RatelHBadger]

Season 1 Episode 2... This is the closest I have come to where it all began.

[@johnpayne2465]

How awesome is that!! Unbelievable

[@davebeat]

Anyone remember Tony's other show "Stay Tooned!" from around the same time?

[@PtolemyJones]

I have real trouble deciding which eras I enjoy the most.

[@platedlizard]

divorcing your husband and running away with his armor-bearer was the 3rd century equivalent of running away with your trainer

[@MendTheWorld]

Watching these episodes does take me back to a different time.... to the days when i had FIRST discovered that KZbin included a lot of really great programming, and I began eagerly watching dozens of documentary programs, especially on history of various time periods, nearly all of them produced in the UK. Reinforced my sense of inadequacy as an uncultured American, but immensely interesting. Time team was one of my favorites, and I really developed an fond attachment to each of the program’s characters, as more normal people would have done watching Seinfeld, or Cheers, or Friends (which i never did). So thanks for this! Nice to see some episodes i’ve never seen before, and to see the show’s early format, which did change somewhat over the years.

[@awesomeferret]

Seinfeld is in a different league than Friends though, you can't even compare the two.

[@jesikebiking]

Man, Phil in his younger days reminds me of David Gilmour of Pink Floyd (being a bass player they are my number one group )

[@thhseeking]

I've watched a couple of the revived series and seeing this, I can't believe how long it was when this show first aired. They're so young. John Gater had hair :P That Jim fellow definitely used to be a school teacher :P

[@theostickle2604]

Remember when. I wonder if the time team looks back and says, "Dam, I can't remember ever looking that young."

[@2pugman]

It appears some were 20 pounds lighter.

[@gwadja]

Episode 2 (Season 1, Episode 2) On the Edge of an Empire, Aired: January 23, 1994

[@paradoxxaudiovisualproduct9430]

Wow jhon had a beard . cools .

[@ingerfaber3411]

Part of the intimidation of the Roman army was that at the time many tribes were individual fighters fighting together but with no cohesion. The Roman army was built of units and fought as a unit, thereby gathering the strength not just thru their numbers but also thru the drill they had gone thru.

[@kyleighhope961]

oh wow! phil had the most wonderful wavy blonde hair!

[@Brinta3]

He’s a ginger!

[@ShadoeLandman]

Daaang, everyone looks so young.

[@sharonarmstrong1016]

Still not use to seeing these older Time Team episodes where both Tony and Phil have lots of hair and has color to it!!! Lol

[@silverhooligan1256]

Where did the earlier series playlists go??? I’ve been starting from the beginning and tonight I couldn’t find them. 😢

[@9751asd]

Sadly jim Ridge passed away January 29th 2003

[@naricewoolon3248]

I would to know if these soldiers, do they get like ice bricks in the metal Armour when you start getting wet? Or when it starts snowing? Curious Gran

[@antlerrot3741]

15.09 Does anyone know the title of the music ? This melody doesn't want to come out of my head.

[@notpublic7149]

35:30 Yay Mick!

[@kariannecrysler640]

Is our time team logo a profile of Carenza? I see her every time the logo pops up. What do you 🤔?

[@Itsaboutthewaterlife]

Wow: at 18:00 you can hear Bell Ringers in the background.

[@HabarudoD]

I love how the retired history teacher speaks at 2km/hr but everyone else speaks at 30 km/hr

[@PaulMahon-w2b]

It's a history teacher speaking 😊

[@Sk8Bettty]

This show is wonderful. Je ne sais quoi . ❤

[@elfeneule103]

Talk about archaeology and historical objects: today the cars and the computers would count as such. Especially the black and green screens. From today's perspective they look positively ancient. And yes, I used them at the time as well. But still! 😂

[@DavidBarkes]

Wow. "Mick Aston, landscape archeologist". Not Professor yet when this was filmed. :-)

[@philaypeephilippotter6532]

He was a professor of archæology _and_ a landscape archæologist.

[@georgedorn1022]

Mick was appointed Professor of Landscape Archaeology at Bristol University in 1996, two years after this episode was broadcast. The position was created specifically for him.

[@bostonrailfan2427]

he was just a tutor and not the professor, the UK university system boggles my mind as it seemed like he wasn’t an academic yet he actually never stopped being one and got promoted to what in the US would be the dean of the department from being a full time tenured professorship

[@bostonrailfan2427]

@@georgedorn1022 he was promoted as he was a tutor, it was their way of promoting him and dealing with an influx in students thanks to his work

[@nolasmith7687]

I’m interested in getting a copy of Tony’s “Dummies Guide for Roman Recruits and their Leaders”. His quotes were brilliant. Anybody know it’s title and/or where I could get a copy?

[@JulianneTure]

The author is a fourth-century Roman named Vegetius, and the book in English translation is “Epitome of Military Science”. It’s readily available online.

[@PtolemyJones]

Wow, this is the earliest episode I have seen, never seen them so disrespectful to Tony before.

[@cleot151]

Archaeologists hundreds of years from now, researching 2021: Why were all of these people staying in their houses and not going out?

[@patrickwentz8413]

I wish that I had a bit of olde Roman forte in my back yard. :(

[@pipellis6672]

Buy an old house in Caldicot or Caerleon, S Wales...

[@CattoRayTube]

Tony Robinson in this episode is a vision of Brian David Gilbert's future visage.

[@CattoRayTube]

Baldrick David Gilbert

[@Foxttellio]

23:30 roight, roight, roight, roight, roight, roiight.

[@greenquartz]

I'm sure there are legal restrictions for the sake of preservation to the idea, but I would dig it out and incorporate it into my garden if I had that in my back yard, and if I were allowed to. Lol!

[@TealCheetah]

Oh snap Tony with hair. I didn't recognize him.

[@Damien_Clarke]

I noticed that a LOT of public houses in the UK are named from animals. Is there any significance to this historically?

[@greenquartz]

I'm surprised how short the tunics were. I didn't expect them to be long, but a bit closer to the knees at least.

[@lteht6919]

How long has this show been running? Hes got hair in this one. Wow they alll got hair! These guys have been doing this so long and still keep it so totally interesting

[@matt47110815]

20 Seasons

[@bostonrailfan2427]

1994-2013

[@415s30]

Robin Bush is oozing British, are we sure Phil wasn't in Led Zeppelin? Actually Phil and Kath look like a cool band. I accidentally called Carenza, credenza.

[@CreatingwithWinglessAngel]

Hum reminds me of Astárex and Obelex in britania playing football Against the romans😆

[@lindageorge8209]

"I'm going to meditate about ancient Rome now. Back soon..." great modern euphemism!

[@mercedes523]

Can we talk about the Mullet?

[@1701enter]

Who knew John Lennon was into Geo Phys?

[@wewenang5167]

ONE OF THE ROMAN SOLDIER IS BLOODY HANDSOME !

[@venust.4119]

7:46 They seem pretty funny looking to me, I'm sure a roman soldier would not have shared my feelings.

[@georgielancaster1356]

Mick: This is Tony Robins...

[@angrybird9925]

Where there's smoke...theres GEO PHYS

[@cindygr8ce]

Besides the teams younger age nothing dates thus episode as much as the computers being used. If this was someones first time team they watched they would at least recognize the "ancient" tech

[@brittoncooper1251]

Half the fun is trying to date the episode based on the clothing and Tony's hair, while they date potsherds. :D

[@mightaswellbe]

My wife and I have a disagreement. That young roman soldier that Tony is reading the manual to is Matt, my wife disagrees. Anybody want to settle the question?

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

This episode pre-dates Matt by several years. Matt suited-up with the same mob many years later.

[@jeanpeuplu5570]

Sadly you have to admit it: your wife is right, once more.

[@jaded_gerManic]

*smiles hugely* "It's quite heavy!" Ngl, little jelly... 🙃

[@KingOfPentacle5]

Watching these Roman occupation videos, I often wonder how Britain would have evolved as a society had the Romans never tainted the island.

[@koitsenka]

i prefer to see mr. harding wearing shorts.

[@RandomPlaceHolderName]

Not any shorts either, jorts ...

[@christinem3914]

I think he wears a mean pair of jeans as well though 😁

[@HarryJamesBooks]

They're all children in this episiode 😁

[@AnnaAnna-uc2ff]

First aired 23 January 1994

[@neild3074]

So much hair and almost none of it grey. In Australia we only got TT from about 2005 so never saw these early seasons, where's Tony's gut?

[@EliasGraves]

Archaeologists: We want to know what happened here! Also archaeologists: Yeah we found it but we’re not looking.

[@Jean-yn6ef]

💚

[@annerimler]

Music is too loud and when they talk, the volume is barely loud enough to hear. These videos are wonderful but could use a bit of sound engineering help, please?

[@omikronweapon]

While I agree, the recordings are from 20years ago. Even if the masters survived, I doubt anyone is going to redo the sound mix in order to put them on KZbin.