[nik61]

This was a Time Team Special in 2005 [Series 18, Episode 138], unfortunately named the "King of Bling". The location was given as Prittlewell, Essex [on the outskirts of Southend]. For non-Brits, Time Team has been a very long-running series on British TV, popularising field archeology to a very wide audience. It took a 'quick hit' approach following-up local suggestions to do a single week's digging with good resources. It reported the week's progress in a single, compact and well-structured broadcast. Much loved, it is now in hiatus, if not gone forever. Why it was not mentioned in connection with this 'discovery' is hard to say...

[robotmay]

Because unfortunately, behind the scenes, Time Team is not well respected in the Archaeology community. A couple of their archaeologists were good, but overall they misinterpreted sites and caused problems when they dug (e.g. mattocking through a skull by mistake).

This site is quite old news really, but the notable part is that they've finished some of their analysis and are publishing, hence why it's showing up in the news now.

Source: archaeologist partner

[timthorn]

I think it depends on the part of the community you speak to. Yes, they had a very unrealistic dig schedule, but they brought resource that most sites can't dream of to many locations that would otherwise not be investigated, and delivered full reports as well as proper Reithian television.

Source: archaeologist mother & sister, and appeared on Time Team myself... :)