Sixteen years ago a conversation took place in the Little Chef on the Honiton bypass between Tim Taylor, an ex-school teacher turned video producer, and archaeologist Mick Aston from Bristol University. It went something like this:

Tim Taylor: The trouble with archaeology is that it takes so bloody long.

Mick Aston: Not necessarily. Nowadays geophys can run their gadgets over a field, and locate stuff it used to take us months to find.

Tim: (eagerly) So how long would it take to do a little dig for television – a month?

Mick: Probably even less.

Tim: (beginning to twitch) A week?

Mick: Less.

Tim: (slavering) Three days?

And that is how one of the legendary Channel 4 programme proposals was born – archaeology in just three days! And as an afterthought...

Mick: My mate Tony Robinson could be in it.

Tim: What, Baldrick? Are you mad?

I can’t imagine any other TV network responding positively to such a pitch, but this was Channel 4 in its early days, when it relished making quirky programmes for minority audiences and being a bit daft. It touted the idea round its various departments; even light entertainment tinkered with it for a few months. Eventually it landed on the desk of Karen Brown, who ran continuing education. Predictably the channel’s education budget wasn’t huge, but Karen took the plunge and commissioned a pilot.

The most successful Channel 4 factual programme at the time was Treasure Hunt, and our pilot attempted to be Treasure Hunt II. Clues written in wobbly, ancient writing were discovered nailed to church doors or shot unbidden out of photocopiers; archaeologists struggled furiously through cobweb-strewn tunnels; the presenter, with his long lank hair swirling round his head like a drug dealer in a storm, gasped with wonder at every rusty nail that appeared from the spoil heap. But despite this inauspicious start Channel 4 decided to commission a whole series.