RIP Professor Mick Aston

RIP Mick, a sad loss.

I have deep respect for anyone involved with Time Team, I know they had their critics who claimed that they did more damage than good or that they didnt follow protocols, but the fact is that they took what many saw as a dusty and dull subject and wrapped it up in a package which interested and inspired millions. I wonder how many people today are moving into the archaeological fields because of Time Teams influence on them.
 
Oh darn. I know he wasn't on the team any more, but -- a bit like with Gandolfini and Tony Soprano -- as long as he was around there was hope he might return.

Bad week. But then the older you get, the fewer good weeks there seem to be!
 
Very very sad news :(

I met him, Tony and Phil on numerous occasions doing "living acrcheology" stuff for the program and he was such a knowledgable and approachable man who was always willing to learn more and change his understanding of what he knew.

The work he did popularising archeology should be commemorated officially somewhere, he has been so important in getting the general public to understand, accept and enjoy archeology.

R.I.P. Prof a lot of people are missing you :(
 
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TV archaeologist Mick Aston dies RIP

http://uk.tv.yahoo.com/tv-archaeologist-mick-aston-dies-230648901.html

:eek::(:(

RIP, you were respected and love by many

Archaeologist and broadcaster Mick Aston, who found fame with TV programme Time Team, has died aged 66.
Close friend and former colleague Phil Harding, who worked on the popular Channel 4 series with Professor Aston, said he had received the news from his son, James Aston.
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Blackvault said:
I didn't know he had died and it took reading a few posts before I saw the 2013 date :( I used to love that show.
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Yeah was many years ago now but good to see that his brainchild is coming back and with the original cast too (rather than the later cast that he didnt really get along with)
 
Having only occasionally dabbled in Time Team when it was on at the time, a couple of years ago I started rewatching the entire series. I've just started series 16, so closing in on the time before Mick left after series 19. I'd always loved Mick on Time Team and was shocked and saddened when I saw he'd died a few years earlier.

I think I read that one of the reasons he'd left was because he was frustrated at the change in style and him being forced to take less and less of a role in doing what he did best - breaking down archaeology so viewers could understand and appreciate it while not diluting it at all - something even in series 16 Time Team seemed to be losing. It seems he was right too, as they managed just one more series after he left before it was pulled.



It's probably worth mentioning that Tim Taylor, the series producer and who is behind bringing Time Team back, recently started uploading full old episodes to Youtube too. 30 episodes so far across Series 12 (2005) to series 16 (2009), so not the really old episodes but still some good ones and before it all went belly up.

Youtube | Time Team Classics (I expect it will be geo blocked in some countries).
 
Blimey a blast from the past thread. I saw the Time Team announcement the other day and I'm absolutely chuffed. It'll be great to see Carenza back (never realised she was one of the victims of Dr James Elwood until recently) and also seems that John and Stewart are signed up as well :)

Strange thing is I think of Mick nearly everyday as I have to walk through Metchley Roman Fort to the front entrance of my workplace at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Mick worked at the late 1960s excavations.
 
Tombstone said:
I have deep respect for anyone involved with Time Team, I know they had their critics who claimed that they did more damage than good or that they didnt follow protocols, but the fact is that they took what many saw as a dusty and dull subject and wrapped it up in a package which interested and inspired millions. I wonder how many people today are moving into the archaeological fields because of Time Teams influence on them.
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Quoting one of your old posts Tombstone, but this is a dead-eyed observation. My interest in archaeology stems way back to learning about the Romans in primary school and being taken on school trips to Hadrian's Wall, 7-8 years old. Time Team is the medium that convinced me to study the subject at undergraduate level. Whilst at Uni, there was almost a sneering attitude among certain lecturers about the show, which I always found at odds with the fact that archaeology is underfunded, considered stuffy and not a typical career path. It needed exposure, public interest.

Time Team brought the relevance of archaeology - and our heritage in a wider perspective - to millions of otherwise indifferent sofa-dwellers, casual observers, amateurs, would-be historians and children - and wrapped it up in a fun, interesting, engaging show. It sparked a renewed interest in the field, shown clearly by the interest in some of the participation series' they did. Sparking a curiosity in young minds is so important.

The show helped to transform the viewpoint of the subject, and did what it could within the medium and resources available to stay true to archaeological practice. That it should earn criticism by academics is truly baffling.
 
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