Bonekickers is a BBC drama about a team of archaeologists, set at the fictional Wessex University.
It was written by Life on Mars and Ashes to Ashes creators Matthew Graham and Ashley Pharoah.[ History comes alive in Bonekickers – new "groundbreaking" drama for BBC One , BBC press release, 13 June 2008] It was produced by Michele Buck and Damien Timmer of Mammoth Screen Ltd and co-produced with Monastic Productions. Archaeologist and Bristol University academic Mark Horton acted as the series' archaeological consultant.[ First Look: Bonekickers, the BBC's new 'Time Team meets Indiana Jones' drama series , TV Scoop] Adrian Lester has described the programme as " CSI meets Indiana Jones ... There's an element of the crime procedural show, there's science, conspiracy theories—and there's a big underlying mystery that goes through the whole six-episode series."
Much of the series was filmed in the City of Bath, Somerset, with locations including the University of Bath campus (which does not offer Archaeology courses).
On 21 November 2008 Broadcast magazine revealed the show would not be returning for a second series.
Characters
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Dr Gillian Magwilde – the team's head archaeologist, played by Julie Graham.
-
Vivienne "Viv" Davis – young and promising archaeologist, played by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.
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Dr Ben Ergha – a young, established archaeologist, played by Adrian Lester.
-
Professor Gregory "Dolly" Parton – the experienced and older male archaeologist, played by Hugh Bonneville. .
-
Professor Daniel Mastiff – played by Michael Maloney.
Episodes
Reception
Ratings
According to unofficial figures, the first episode of the series was watched by 6.8 million viewers, achieving a 31% audience share.
This fell to 5.2 million viewers with a 24.3% share in the second week,
and 4.6 million with a 21% share in the third.
And week four fell again to 4.2 million, a 20% share. Week five dropped to 3.8 million. The final episode saw a slight increase in viewers to 4.3 million.
First night reviews
The series debuted to broadly negative reviews.
The Guardians Gareth McLean described the show as "mind-bogglingly dreadful", with "lame characters delivering abysmal lines",
David Chater of
The Times thought it "rubbish",
and
The Independents Thomas Sutcliffe found it laughable and full of absurdities, while also observing that "Professor Magwilde's approach to archaeology is unconventional. She likes to squat at the edge of the trench and mutter urgently, 'Come on! Give up your secrets!'"
In
BBC Two's
Newsnight Review, the author
Kate Mosse asserted it would be "great for teenagers", while the academic and critic
Sarah Churchwell said the "execution was appalling" and that it was "beyond silly"; John Mullan likewise criticised the show's absurdities, saying that "Hokum has to have its own logic".
The
New Statesman described it as "dramatic goo".
[ The Call of the Weird , New Statesman, 10 July 2008 - accessed 10 July 2008.] Some reviews were slightly more positive - Patricia Wynn Davies of
The Telegraph wrote that while lacking in subtlety, the episode had an "action-packed conclusion",
and Lucy Mangan in the
Guardian criticised the episode as "arrant nonsense" and "a clattering bag of madness" and found its characters too "shouty", but praised Paul Rhys and overall concluded that the episode was "utterly bonkers but curiously satisfying" and that, as for the series, "keeping the faith for a few more weeks might well pay off".
Academic reception
In line with the broadly negative reviews, the reception amongst the academic community was mixed, with different complaints around technical accuracy.
Viewer complaints
A scene in the first episode which depicted a Muslim's beheading by an extremist Christian drew 100 complaints. The BBC expressed "regret" that some viewers had found the scene "inappropriate",but defended the decision to show it.
See also
External links
