A spectacular find of a major Roman villa was the centrepiece of this year's first-ever special Time Team Live programme. Over the Bank Holiday Weekend in August of 1997, Time Team went live broadcasting an archaeological dig against the clock and as it happened. Turkdean had lain untouched since the landowner accidentally discovered it over 20 years ago. Subsequently aerial photos of one of the fields, taken in the summer of 1995, clearly showed strange lines in the ground that looked like the outlines of buildings. Experts suspected that the site was Roman and, given its size, believed they may have a significant find on their hands. Presenter Tony Robinson and the rest of the team – joined by a number of celebrity guests – broadcast live from the site three times a day.

Once again Time Team went live, broadcasting an archaeological dig as it happened and against the clock. For this dig, the team were in Bawsey St James in Norfolk where an enigmatic ruined Norman church on a small mound in the middle of a Norfolk farmland was the focus of this year's live broadcasts. Providing the exciting culmination was a skeleton whose owner had met a violent end. Aerial photographs revealed a large ditched enclosure around the site, and metal detectorists – working closely with the local archaeological unit – unearthed a staggering amount of finds, ranging chronologically from the Bronze and Iron Ages to Roman, Saxon and medieval. Alongside the main action, there was also a virtual recreation of a Saxon village, including house-building and explorations of a variety of crafts such as cloth-making, metal-working and cookery. Presenter Tony Robinson and the rest of the team were joined by Sandi Toksvig, and Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall – broadcasting live from the site at least twice a day.

Time Team faced its toughest challenge yet when presenter Tony Robinson and a team of experts tried to explain at least 1,000 years of British history in just three days. In the historic city of York, Time Team simultaneously excavated three separate sites containing archaeology from three distinct periods – all under the eagle eyes of 'live' television cameras. York was chosen because of the prolific remains of the Roman, Viking and medieval periods that lie beneath its buildings and streets. The Roman cemetery: A hotel next to York railway station was built by the Victorians over a Roman graveyard. Who were the people buried here more than 1,500 years ago? The Viking buildings: Under what is now a derelict plot, Time Team believed that they might find structures that, more than 1,000 years ago, were part of the bustling Viking city of Jorvik once ruled by the notorious Eric Bloodaxe. The medieval hospital: In the Museum Gardens by the River Ouse are the ruins of the enormous medieval hospital of St Leonard's, the largest in the north of England, established by the son of William the Conqueror in about 1100. Here a dedicated order of monks looked after 200 of the local poor, sick and orphaned. Time Team hoped to uncover artefacts and ruins of the hospital buildings that could throw light on the unique conditions and lifestyle of this important medieval institution.

Canterbury played host to the 2000 Time Team Live, with three sites being excavated simultaneously. Time Team excavated Greyfriars, Britain's first Franciscan friary; a site at Blue Boy Yard, within the precincts of the former Roman temple; and the medieval tile-making complex just outside the city at Tyler Hill. They also looked at medieval Canterbury itself, and, with a bit of help from Chaucer and some local schoolchildren, at the life of a medieval pilgrim.

Time Team Live 2001 took the Team back to the ‘Dark Ages’ in search of clues about the lives of our early Anglo-Saxon ancestors. The usual crew of regulars and experts were called in to investigate a barrow, or burial mound, now almost flattened by centuries of ploughing. A number of Saxon graves had been identified, probably forming part of a cemetery serving the scattered ‘Dark Age’ settlements in the area, and the surrounding landscape is full of features dating from pre-Roman times through to the present day. The barrow itself was thought to be Bronze Age. Time Team was first alerted to the site as a result of a remarkable discovery by metal detectorist Steve Bolger who found one of the rarest objects ever shown on Time Team – a sixth-century Byzantine 'situla', or bucket, which would have formed part of the grave goods in a Saxon burial. Made from a single sheet of brass and plated with tin, the bucket is decorated with a beautiful frieze of leopards, mythical beasts and naked hunters. It is inscribed with the words: ‘Use this lady for many happy years.’

For this live event thousands of viewers all over the country took part in activities related to the Big Dig. Starting on the Sunday, Time Team's Big Dig got underway with 40 holes being dug in the village of Great Easton, Leicestershire. Throughout the week saw several guest appearances which included: Bill Wyman, Kim Wilde, Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall, Al Murray and Eddie Izzard. Two Bald Men In A Trench featured Paul Blinkhorn and Al Murray.

Digs took place at: Great Easton, Leicestershire / Wolverhampton / Barnet / Oakamoor / Preston / Cheltenham / Upminster / Swindon.

For this years live broadcast, Time Team are to do their most ambitious exploration of Roman Britain. The Big Roman Dig will be a week of televised excavations and events on the theme of Roman Britain. As well as ten locations being televised throughout the week, thousands of people from all over the country took part by doing test pits in their own back gardens so as the team could get a view of what the whole of Roman Britain looked like. Televised digs were at: Charterhouse / Dinnington / Frilford / Heronbridge / Kenchester / Llandeilo / Maryport / Medbourne / Turnershall / Whitehall.

For this live event, Tony and the team celebrate the Queen's 80th birthday by digging up the gardens at Buckingham Palace, Windsor Castle and Holyrood House in Edinburgh to explore the history and origins of the palaces and to answer some intriguing questions about the buildings' past, and hopefully unearth a few royal mysteries.