Meet The Ancestors
Monday 27th February from 7am
The man behind Meet The Ancestors, Julian Richards, lives and breathes archaeology. Find out more about him...
From school dropout to archeologist
Julian discovered his passion for archeology on his doorstep. Born and raised in Nottingham, Julian soon left Nottingham Boys High School where he didn't take to discipline and rugby, in search of work at Nottingham's Castle Museum. Following two years of excavations in and around town, the young wannabee archeologist set off for Reading University convinced he'd found his life's great love.
Stonehenge: Julian's destiny
Julian and Stonehenge seemed to be destined for each other: a first visit as a child, another as a student amongst the hippies and druids, and finally a ten year stint discovering the mysteries of the bluestones and surrounding fields. Julian ran the Stonehenge Environs Project in Salisbury throughout the eighties and that's where he got his first taste of the limelight. Often interviewed as a specialist on the area, it wasn't long before the BBC beckoned.
Introducing the ancestors
The idea for Meet the Ancestors came about when Julian and a BBC researcher, Tania Linden, worked together on Secrets of Lost Empires, about the building of Stonehenge. By 1996 the first series was all set to go so Julian took a year off from his English Heritage day job. When it was clear there would be a second series Julian quit the day job altogether. Since then he's been working in TV full time with six series already... and more!
Things to do, people to see, shows to shoot, stuff to dig...
Julian has gone way beyond Meet the Ancestors with several other TV projects on the go including a five part series called 'Blood of the Vikings' and eleven series of the hugely successful 'Mapping the Town' on Radio 4. Both TV programmes have spawned books, interactive games online and regular writing stints for the BBC History Magazine. Who knew archeologists could dig so much up?
Not quite Dr Jones
Unlike his better known colleague, Dr Indiana Jones, Julian can't claim to be called Dr. With a degree from Reading he never moved onto postgraduate work and therefore can't even add a 'Professor' to his name. Shame, it would suit him.
But not to worry, Julian is a fully fledged member of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) and of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (MIFA). He is also the proud owner of two British Archaeological Awards for the 'Hunt the Ancestor' game and for 'Chariot Queen'.
Downtime
At the moment Julian is working on new TV concepts, radio shows, scribbling away and finally taking the time to catch up with his a backlog of notes, and vast collection of slides and photography amassed over the past seven years on location. Any spare time left from that is spent relaxing at home with friends and family in Shaftesbury.
Julian discovered his passion for archeology on his doorstep. Born and raised in Nottingham, Julian soon left Nottingham Boys High School where he didn't take to discipline and rugby, in search of work at Nottingham's Castle Museum. Following two years of excavations in and around town, the young wannabee archeologist set off for Reading University convinced he'd found his life's great love.
Stonehenge: Julian's destiny
Julian and Stonehenge seemed to be destined for each other: a first visit as a child, another as a student amongst the hippies and druids, and finally a ten year stint discovering the mysteries of the bluestones and surrounding fields. Julian ran the Stonehenge Environs Project in Salisbury throughout the eighties and that's where he got his first taste of the limelight. Often interviewed as a specialist on the area, it wasn't long before the BBC beckoned.
Introducing the ancestors
The idea for Meet the Ancestors came about when Julian and a BBC researcher, Tania Linden, worked together on Secrets of Lost Empires, about the building of Stonehenge. By 1996 the first series was all set to go so Julian took a year off from his English Heritage day job. When it was clear there would be a second series Julian quit the day job altogether. Since then he's been working in TV full time with six series already... and more!
Things to do, people to see, shows to shoot, stuff to dig...
Julian has gone way beyond Meet the Ancestors with several other TV projects on the go including a five part series called 'Blood of the Vikings' and eleven series of the hugely successful 'Mapping the Town' on Radio 4. Both TV programmes have spawned books, interactive games online and regular writing stints for the BBC History Magazine. Who knew archeologists could dig so much up?
Not quite Dr Jones
Unlike his better known colleague, Dr Indiana Jones, Julian can't claim to be called Dr. With a degree from Reading he never moved onto postgraduate work and therefore can't even add a 'Professor' to his name. Shame, it would suit him.
But not to worry, Julian is a fully fledged member of the Society of Antiquaries of London (FSA) and of the Institute of Field Archaeologists (MIFA). He is also the proud owner of two British Archaeological Awards for the 'Hunt the Ancestor' game and for 'Chariot Queen'.
Downtime
At the moment Julian is working on new TV concepts, radio shows, scribbling away and finally taking the time to catch up with his a backlog of notes, and vast collection of slides and photography amassed over the past seven years on location. Any spare time left from that is spent relaxing at home with friends and family in Shaftesbury.
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