The BBC Time Flyers programme that was never broadcast

I once had a previous 12 year career in television documentary production, and I thought that the following story from that period might be of interest to those of you interested in all things Jacobite...!

You may remember that there used to be an aerial archaeology series on BBC2 called Time Flyers, which had two successful runs in 2002 and 2003. It was produced by BBC Scotland for the UK wide BBC network, and yours truly was involved it in right from the start! Having returned to the BBC in Glasgow in November 2000 as a development researcher (having previously worked on the Gaelic series Eòrpa there in 1997, and on various documentaries at BBC Bristol from 1995-1997), I was soon promoted to be an assistant producer or 'AP' (a role I previously held at Scottish Television).

One of the tasks I was asked to look into for a possible series idea, by my creative director, Neil McDonald, was the topic of aerial archaeology, and at the end of the development process we eventually came up with the series format that was eventually presented by Mark Horton, Jo Caruth and Dave McLeod. All three came from various parts of the archaeology world, with Dave in particular an aerial archaeologist, whose very job was to go up into the air to photograph crop marks, formed when the ground is dry, and which hid archaeological treasures beneath with some incredible stories to be told. The series was called Time Flyers.

There were two series of Time Flyers produced, comprised of twelve episodes in total, of which I produced and directed three - The Missing Castle, filmed at Croft Castle in Herfordshire, Clash of the Clans, filmed at Dùn Eistean in Lewis, and my fave, Villages of the Dammed, filmed at the Derwent Dams in England's Peak District. The rest of the programmes were made by Andrew Thompson, Sandy Raffan, and Jane McWilliams, with myself acting as the AP on most of the remaining programmes (basically back up support for the producer/director!); Andrew also acted as the series producer on the first run, with Steve Evanson taking the role on the second, and with Neil acting as our executive poducer throughout. Incidentally, the title of the series, Time Flyers, came from yours truly - I was a huge Doctor Who fan, and there was Peter Davison story called Time Flight, which sounded close enough to what we needed, and which the exec liked as a suggestion (although I don't think I explained the TARDIS connection at the time!)!

What you may not be aware of, however, is the fact that there was an episode of Time Flyers that was not ever transmitted. As part of the development process, we were asked by the network heid-yins in London to produce what is known as a 'pilot programme' - a programme that will test the concept and to give an idea of what might be encountered during its production. If the idea worked, it would be hoped that the programme might even be broadcast in due course, but it was not the main priority - the concept was. So yours truly, as part of the development process, was asked to come up with some possible ideas for stories that could be filmed, soon joined by Sandy, who was tasked with directing the production. 

The subject front runner initially was an idea that was to be filmed in the Yorkshire Wolds in the north of England, looking at some neolithic landscaping lines that could still be made out from the air, and trying to determine their purpose. We were all set to go into production on this, when the unthinkable happened, with foot and mouth disease leading to Britain's agricultural landscape going into something of a lockdown in 2001. This forced us to abandon the idea at this stage, although the programme was eventually made when the series was formally commissioned (Reading Between the Lines, very capably directed by the wonderful Jane McWilliams).

We therefore needed a plan B, but fortunately I had another story in the kitty, which was soon adopted as the pilot programme, and which we soon titled The Hidden Garden. This was to be filmed at Castle Menzies in Perthshire, near Weem, which is well known for its gardens close by on the hill to its rear. However, a photograph taken by an aerial archaeologist working in Edinburgh showed that there was a huge crop mark in a field to the east/south-east of the castle that looked something like a giant tennis court, as can be seen here: 

(Source: Canmore - https://canmore.org.uk/collection/1702286)

What could it be? There was only one way to find out, and with the permission of the castle authorities we commissioned an archaeological excavation (via Glasgow University's archaeology service, GUARD), which Sandy filmed for the pilot programme, with myself in tow as the AP. At this stage, the presentation team included Dave McLeod, Jo Caruth, and architectural historian Simon Thurley.

The archaeologists soon uncovered the remains of a garden, including planting trenches and an old well, and with a bit of research we determined that the walls to the garden had been pulled down in 1746, by the Duke of Cumberland's redcoat forces, hot in pursuit of Bonnie Prince Charlie. The prince had previously stayed at the castle, as he and his Jacobite forces made their way to north to their eventual tragic fate at Culloden, and when Cumberland arrived the walls were pulled down to prevent opportunities for Jacobite soldiers to hide and take pot shots at both he and his men in the castle. In the aftermath of the Forty Five the garden was simply left to ruin and grown over.

The following images were taken by me during the filming, showing the mains of the garden that we found, and which I subsequently uploaded to Historic Environmnt Scotland's Canmore site (https://canmore.org.uk), appreciating their historic value:

 

Upon completion of the filming, the programme was assembled, and the concept found to work to the network's satisfaction. However, at this stage, Simon was appointed to a position at English Heritage, and was unfortunately unable to commit to the filming, which was a real pity, as he was great at it! In the following months the green light was given for the series to be produced, and Mark Horton was brought into to ably complete the vacancy in the presentation team. However, because of the change in the line-up, as well as a couple of other formatting tweaks, The Hidden Garden was unfortunately never broadcast, as happens with so many pilot programmes.

So if you ever make a visit to Castle Menzies (https://www.castlemenzies.org), which I would thoroughly recommend, take a look to the field just to the south-east of the castle building, and be aware that yet another small incident in the story of the Forty-Five happened right there!

Chris    

Order Tracing Your Belfast Ancestors in the UK at https://bit.ly/BelfastAncestors. Also available - Tracing Your Irish Ancestors Through Land Records, Sharing Your Family History Online, Tracing Your Scottish Family History on the Internet, Tracing Your Irish Family History on the Internet (2nd ed), and Tracing Your Scottish Ancestry Through Church and State Records - to purchase, please visit https://bit.ly/ChrisPatonPSbooks. For purchase in tthe USA visit https://www.penandswordbooks.com. Further news published daily on The Scottish GENES Facebook page, on Threads at @scottishgenesblog and via Mastodon at https://mastodon.scot/@ScottishGENES.