ARCHAEOLOGY
I fell in love with Anglo-Saxon history at A-Level history, and subsequently chose archaeology as my university subsidiary alongside a degree in medieval and modern history.
My studies did not include field work, but I made up for this early in my TV career by spending two years as a researcher on Time Team, experiencing some of the finest 'champagne archaeology' in the UK. This included two underwater specials in Scotland and Cornwall as well as a host of shows from Bronze Age Britain to WWII. Whilst providing historical and archaeological background to the team, I took the opportunity to hone my own digging skills in the trenches and eventually qualified as an 'Archaeologist' with the Institute of Hirst & Sloane in 2001.
Time Team presented me my earliest experiences of directing crew, and also exposure to live television as archaeology went out in real time in Canterbury in 2000 and rural Hampshire in 2001. After cutting my teeth as a director elsewhere, I returned to the Time Team in 2010 when I produced and directed episodes on Iron Age, Roman, Medieval, and early modern Britain. Presenters included Mick Aston, Phil Harding, Bettany Hughes and Alex Langlands.
I have also filmed two of Britain's most important archaeological hoards; directed shows on Churchill's bunkers in London and Nazi bunkers in Berlin; and produced an underwater special about some of the most important WWII wrecks found in the Pacific.
My studies did not include field work, but I made up for this early in my TV career by spending two years as a researcher on Time Team, experiencing some of the finest 'champagne archaeology' in the UK. This included two underwater specials in Scotland and Cornwall as well as a host of shows from Bronze Age Britain to WWII. Whilst providing historical and archaeological background to the team, I took the opportunity to hone my own digging skills in the trenches and eventually qualified as an 'Archaeologist' with the Institute of Hirst & Sloane in 2001.
Time Team presented me my earliest experiences of directing crew, and also exposure to live television as archaeology went out in real time in Canterbury in 2000 and rural Hampshire in 2001. After cutting my teeth as a director elsewhere, I returned to the Time Team in 2010 when I produced and directed episodes on Iron Age, Roman, Medieval, and early modern Britain. Presenters included Mick Aston, Phil Harding, Bettany Hughes and Alex Langlands.
I have also filmed two of Britain's most important archaeological hoards; directed shows on Churchill's bunkers in London and Nazi bunkers in Berlin; and produced an underwater special about some of the most important WWII wrecks found in the Pacific.
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UNDERWORLD: SLOVENIA (45 mins / Curioosity Stream / ZDF / Off The Fence 2022)
Producer / Director / Cameraman Real time adventure following expert cavers and scientists into the heart of one of Europe's largest ice caves. As the team take scanning technology down perilous ice and rock faces in order to investigate the effects of climate change, the show opens up to tell stories from some of the other 12,000 known caves in Slovenia. We meet Valvasor, the who practically invented Speleology and cave investigation in the seventeenth century; discover the bones of the extinct Ursus Spelaeus or cave bear still lying in situ; reveal the discovery the world's oldest instrument from sediments in a Slovenian cave; and investigate the standing remains of a 100 year old elevated railway used in the harvesting and export of cave ice. Camera: George Pagliero / Rob Franklin Series Producer: Sophie Elwin Harris |
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DRAIN THE OCEANS: PACIFIC MEGAWRECKS (60 mins / Nat Geo / Five / Mallinson Sadler / 2019)
Producer / Director In a groundbreaking deal, Vulcan Inc. - the renowned deep sea exploration company led by Microsoft billionaire Paul Allen - opened its expedition archives to Drain the Oceans for an exclusive look at some of their biggest and deepest discoveries of the past few years. With previously unseen footage we tell the story of how Vulcan located and filmed the wrecks of the USS Lexington, USS Juneau, USS Indianapolis and the Japanese mega-battleship Fuso. And using their data we specially commissioned fifty CGI plates and shot interviews across the United States in order to tell a rounded narrative of the Pacific war, from Pearl Harbour through to the dropping of the atom bomb. *Maritime Media Awards 2019: Best Television or Film Production Camera: Tom Fitz / Stephen Greaves / Andrew Jernigan Executive Producers: Phil Craig / Crispin Sadler |
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DIGGING FOR BRITAIN: THE LEEKFRITH TORCS (10 mins / BBC2 / 360 Production / 2017)
Director / Cameraman Through Staffordshire Museums, I was granted access to the top-secret discovery site of the Leekfrith Torcs - the oldest Iron Age gold jewellery ever found in Britain. Filming actuality of their archaeological team making a sweep to look for other related items and place the torcs in proper context, I also interviewed the lead archaeologists and the two metal detectorists who originally discovered the hoard. Further access was permitted to film the torcs behind the scenes at Stoke Museum, fresh out of the museum safe. All this material went on to make up an item on the hoard on 'Digging For Britain' later that year. Camera: George Pagliero |
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THE STAFFORDSHIRE HOARD (Birmingham Museums / 2016)
Cameraman I was employed by Birmingham Museums to film and photograph the Staffordshire Hoard, the largest ever discovery of Anglo-Saxon gold and silver metalwork. The images were used to support static and touring exhibitions in Birmingham and Stoke Museums and on loan around the country. Camera: George Pagliero |
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SECRET BRITAIN: NORTHERN IRELAND (60 mins / BBC2 / BBC Bristol / 2015)
Producer / Director Ellie Harrison uncovers a forgotten First World war trench system on a British Army base; Chris Hollins explores a 4th Century 'Lettered Cave' and a 5000 year old neolithic passage tomb before investigating a secret RAF base; and Denise Lewis locates the standing remains of a construction worker's town in the undergrowth at Silent Valley Reservoir. Camera: Will Edwards / Duncan Fairs / Bala Bailey Series Producer: Hannah Corneck |
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SECRET BRITAIN: KENT (60 mins / BBC2 / BBC Bristol / 2015)
Producer / Director Denise Lewis visits a church hit by a V1 rocket strike in 1944 and paddles along the Royal Military Canal to discover its Napoleonic secrets; while Chris Hollins descends a 17th century 'Denehole' / chalk mine before uncovering a 1940s hop pickers' camp and exploring secret aircraft factory tunnels under Rochester. Camera: Will Edwards / Duncan Fairs / Bala Bailey Series Producer: Hannah Corneck |
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TIME TEAM: KING JOHN'S LOST PALACE - SHERWOOD FOREST (60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2012)
Producer / Director Prof. Mick Aston and Dr. Phil Harding lead the team investigating standing remains on the edge of Sherwood Forest in Nottinghamshire. Paul Blinkhorn dates medieval pottery, and Alex Langlands sifts through Tudor maps before taking the excavations one step further - by smashing his way through plaster in someone's living room nearby to reveal an early medieval wall. All of which revealed this was not a palace but a royal hunting lodge for the Norman king and his merry men. I wrote the script, directed presenter PTCs, oversaw three camera teams, helicopter shots, commissioned GFX and edited the show. Camera: Will Fewkes / Denis Borrow / Chris Barham Series Editor: Jobim Sampson Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |
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TIME TEAM: HENHAM'S LOST MANSIONS - SUFFOLK (60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2012)
2nd Unit Director With the help of Francis Pryor and Suzannah Lipscomb, the Time Team set out to re-locate the long-lost stately home of the Rous family on their sprawling estate in Suffolk. Destroyed by fire in 1773, the Georgian pile was quickly re-discovered through geofizz survey and excavation, but evidence from the trenches also threw up the possibility of an earlier Tudor mansion on the site, which took the dig in a completely new direction. I directed second unit camera which followed stories unfolding in the trenches and also in the family archives. Camera: Will Fewkes / Mike Craven Todd / Andy Cottey Series Editor: Jobim Sampson Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |
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TIME TEAM: CASTLES & CANNONS - JERSEY (60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2011)
Producer / Director With 'access all areas' in Mont Orgeuil, Jersey's most famous castle, Prof. Mick Aston and Prof. Warwick Rodwell led the team looking for the earlier 12th century medieval castle under the Tudor structure we see today. This involved abseiling a radar down the steep ramparts, excavation on Castle Green and a full 3D-laser survey of the castle. I wrote the script, directed presenter PTCs, oversaw three camera teams, commissioned GFX and edited the show. Camera: Will Fewkes / Richard Gibb / Mike Todd Series Editor: Michael Douglas Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |
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TIME TEAM: SEARCH FOR THE DOMESDAY MILL - SOMERSET (60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2011)
2nd Unit Director Following up a reference to a mill in the Domesday Book, the Time Team work backwards from the remains of a 19th century mill and a 1783 map in order to look for evidence of an eleventh century flour mill in the heart of Somerset. English Heritage's Stewart Ainsworth conducted an extensive topographical survey on foot, and Prof. Mick Aston used his knowledge of medieval landscapes and leats to site the original mill. I directed second camera on and around this very rural site. Camera: Will Fewkes / Clive North / Mike Craven Todd Series Editor: Michael Douglas Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |
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TIME TEAM: POTTED HISTORY - CUNETIO (60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2010)
Producer / Director Time Team head to the village of Mildenhall in Wiltshire to try to make sense of the 55,000 coin 'Cunetio Hoard' discovered in 1978. Phil Harding, Neil Holbrook and Mark Corney lead the excavations and discover an early Roman Mansio in the middle of a farmer's field, and also evidence of a huge town wall that came much later. A massive 27 acre Geofizz survey and evidence from Roman coins discovered nearby help build a timeline of Romano-British village that thrived and was then abandoned. I wrote the script, directed presenter PTCs, oversaw three camera teams, helicopter shots, commissioned GFX and edited the show. Camera: Will Fewkes / Richard Gibb / Mike Todd Series Editor: Michael Douglas Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |
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TIME TEAM: COMMANDING HEIGHTS - DINMORE HILL (60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2010)
2nd Unit Director After reports of a huge bank and ditch system only recently discovered in ancient Herefordshire woodland, the Time Team set out to discover whether this might be one of Britain's biggest Iron Age Hill Forts. Excavations on the steep slopes of Dinmore Hill were not helped by some of the heaviest and most torrential rain the team had ever witnessed. But assisted by Iron Age expert Francis Pryor and historian Bettany Hughes, the team were able to finally make sense of one of the largest prehistoric sites they have every investigated. I directed second camera which included some very wet PTCs and excavation chats. Camera: Denis Borrow / Mike Craven Todd / Andy Jackson Series Editor: Michael Douglas Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |
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HITLER'S HIDDEN CITY (60 mins / National Geographic / Fulcrum / 2008)
Producer / Director Observational documentary following the Berlin Unterwelten archaeology group digging in a local Berlin park and opening up a giant public air raid shelter not entered since the end of the Second World War. The film also features a number of other wartime bunkers in the City including the deadly anti-aircraft 'Flak Tower' at Humboldthein; long forgotten tunnels and stations within the Berlin subway system used as air raid shelters; an underground Nazi aircraft production line at Tempelhof Airfield, that exploited slave workers from the East; and escape routes under government buildings used in the final days of the war by desperate Nazi chiefs. I directed on location in Berlin, took the show through edit and commissioned 2D and 3D graphics to explain how these bunkers worked and joined up across the city. Camera: Mike Craven Todd Executive Producer: Richard Belfield |
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LOST WORLDS: CHURCHILL'S SECRET BUNKERS (60 mins / History Channel / Atlantic Productions / 2005)
Producer / Director This pilot episode for the History Channel's long running Lost Worlds series involved filming in current and former military and government bunkers in London. It was these bunkers that kept Churchill safe from German bombing as he conducted emergency meetings at the start of WWII; oversaw the crucial hours of the Battle of Britain; communicated in secret with President Roosevelt; and brought Eisenhower and the Americans into the war on the western front. And we look at the evolution of bunker building techniques as Hitler's explosive technology gets more and more powerful through the war. I directed this episode on location in and around London; located historic archive; conducted historical interviews with Dr Piers Brendon, Prof Scott Lucas etc; and took the show through edit - commissioning 2D and 3D graphics of technical breakdowns, maps and fly-throughs. Camera: Vaughan Matthews Series Producer: Lucy Van Beek |
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VOICES OF THE GREAT WAR (60 mins / Discovery / Lion TV / 2005)
Producer / Director / 2nd camera To support the veterans' voices from the audio archives at the Imperial War Museum, we filmed moody visuals in British, French, American and German military cemeteries, and in the surviving front-line trench systems and on the pock marked battlefields surrounding Ypres / Passchendaele and the Somme. We also set-up a rostrum where we filmed evocative wartime items including items of uniform, helmets, gas-masks, bayonets etc. Camera: Neil Robertson / George Pagliero Executive Producer: Richard Bradley |
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LAWRENCE OF ARABIA: AN ARAB PERSPECTIVE (2 x 60 mins / PBS / BBC2 / Lion TV / 2002)
Associate Producer / BTS Camera / Lawrence of Arabia On our journey from northern Syria to the Saudi Arabian border, we filmed the standing remains of the Hejaz railway - twisted track, abandoned stations, viaducts and rusting locomotives - to provide an evocative backdrop to our T.E. Lawrence biopic. The story also took in the World Heritage site of Petra, dust blown desert forts in the interior, stunning medieval souks and impressive Roman ruins in Aleppo and Damascus, and magnificent Crusader castles, including the Citadel of Salah ed-Din and the magnificent Krak des Chevaliers. * CINE Golden Eagle Awards - Winner Director: James Hawes Camera: James Aspinal Executive Producer: Richard Bradley |
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TIME TEAM (20 x 60 mins / Channel 4 / Videotext / 2000 - 2002)
Researcher / Assistant Producer / Live Producer Between 2000 and 2002, I worked on around 20 episodes of Britain's most popular archaeology series, as a Researcher and then Assistant Producer. This included two live specials in 2000 and 2001 where I produced content in the 'Incident Room' using maps, historic archives and cleaned-up finds. The excavations read like a timeline of Britain, from a Bronze Age bridge, an Iron Age village and a lost Roman Villa, through Anglo Saxon cemeteries, a disputed Norman castle and a Medieval leper hospital, to a Spanish Armada wreck, a lost Tudor manor house and abandoned ironworks from the Industrial Revolution. This gave me my first exposure to multi-camera production and experience of directing crew and producing single camera scenes. Camera: Damian Eggs / Vaughan Matthews / Mike Craven Todd / Denis Borrow / Nick Dance / Clive North / Richard Gibb Series Producer: Simon Raikes Executive Producer: Philip Clarke |