Bonekickers: Series 1 - Episode guide
From the co-creators of Life On Mars and Ashes To Ashes comes a new BBC One drama that is groundbreaking in every sense. Starring Julie Graham, Adrian Lester and Hugh Bonneville, Bonekickers is a six-part series about a dynamic team of archaeologists.
Episode 1: Army Of God
Tuesday 8th July 2008
The excavation of 14th-century medieval soldiers alongside Saracen coinage in Somerset leads to the hunt for the True Cross.
Brilliant archaeologist Dr Gillian Magwilde has a passion for history and a hunger for the truth. She's aided by her loyal team, forensic expert Dr Ben Ergha, eager new intern Viv Davis and the erudite but disreputable Professor Gregory Parton.
Using their archaeological skills the team discover that the medieval soldiers were Knights Templar. Analysis of a small piece of cedar wood from the dig indicates that it's 2,000 years old – and from the Holy Land. Could it be part of the True Cross?
Gillian needs to buy some time to survey the site, but right wing religious extremist Edward Laygass, who believes that the country is at war for its Christian soul, acquires the land and declares it Holy Ground. Laygass calls on a cell of violent modern day crusaders to aid him in his quest, and the team find themselves in mortal danger.
An enigmatic symbol carved on the back of a crucifix could give them the clue they need to find the True Cross...
Episode 2: Warriors
Tuesday 15th July 2008
Bones thought to belong to 18th- century slaves are discovered in the Bristol Channel, as the team of archaeologists, led by Professor Gillian Magwilde, uncover another compelling mystery.
A ship's bell is also found in the mud flats, linking the bones with the ship The Somerset. Dr Adabankah, a charismatic academic from Ghana, demands that the bones are taken back to their homeland. Gillian finds there are no records of The Somerset carrying slaves and accounts suggest the ship ended its days in North America, rather than the Bristol Channel. But pages from the ship's ledger were tampered with in the Sixties.
Unexpected results from the bone analysis throw the investigation off on a tangent just as Senator Joy, a black presidential candidate, arrives in Bath from America. Crucial evidence suggests Maroon warriors were on The Somerset, and a link to the American War of Independence surfaces. Danger escalates when Adabankah is murdered, and anyone who gets close to the true story of The Somerset dies.
On a remote island, the true story of the heroic Maroons and their extraordinary connection to George Washington is revealed, but Joy and the team are attacked in a gripping shoot-out, in which loyalties are tested to the limit.
Episode 3: The Eternal Fire
Tuesday 22nd July 2008
Professor Gillian Magwilde and her team of archaeologists uncover another compelling mystery this week, as the high-risk exploration of secret Celtic chambers beneath the Roman Baths unlocks a love story past and present. The ancient and tragic tale of Celtic Warrior Queen Boudicca and Roman soldier Quintanus is unravelled in the present by Gillian and Ben, who confront their own unresolved relationship amidst dark, claustrophobic chambers.
When an Earth tremor at the Roman Baths dislodges highly toxic gas and the area is evacuated, Gillian has the opportunity to prove to her team that Boudicca was captured and imprisoned by Quintanus. The team's excavation uncovers 1st-century Celtic metalwork, a jawbone and an Iceni coin bearing the face of Boudicca. Gillian is positive that these are remnants of the Celtic villages described in an ancient text.
Gillian and Ben dig deeper into the chambers while Gregory and Viv apply strontium analysis to a tooth from the jawbone. When the tooth is proved to be Roman, Gregory and Viv question if Boudicca could have killed Quintanus, but Gillian discovers a mosaic of Cupid and a Celtic Queen and is convinced that this is a tale of love. Gillian's archaeological imagination leaps forward, while Ben attempts to be pragmatic and rational. Trapped by a cave-in and seeping gas, they are forced further into the caverns where they discover a minefield of Roman explosives.
Gillian and Ben confront their past and learn the truth of Boudicca's fate, while Gregory and Viv struggle to decode a cryptic clue from a palimpsest that could save their friends.
Episode 4: The Cradle Of Civilisation
Tuesday 29th July 2008
The looting of Babylonian relics from the Iraq war starts a trail that intertwines with the destiny of the Middle East, as the drama continues.
Opportunistic war-zone journalist Jimmy Paul attempts to flog a Babylonian necklace and sacred tablet to dodgy antiquities dealer Max Garris, while Kahmil Hammadi, an Iraqi archaeologist and Gillian's ex-lover, arrives in Bath with a cultural delegation.
Gillian is suspicious of Kahmil's story to reclaim a looted brick from the Hanging Gardens of Babylon and, when Garris is found murdered, she knows there's more at stake than an ancient brick. The looted necklace, etched with a snake image of the Babylonian goddess of evil, Tiamet, leads the team to the writings of ancient gods. Kahmil is looking for The Tablet of Destinies, a sacred object which is inscribed with prophecies and has remained hidden since Alexander entered Babylon. He believes that it will bring hope to Iraq, but his brother is concerned that it will draw out occultists who follow Tiamet and Gillian fears that Kahmil is after glory – is he behind Garris's murder?
Photographic evidence locates the Tablet but the team is attacked by a venomous snake and they witness the grotesque death of Jimmy Paul. Are the followers of Tiamet behind this? Could Ali, the security guard who is looking after Khanna, a child chess genius from Iraq, be responsible or Rachel Highgrove, who is organising the cultural delegation?
The team must decipher the ancient cuneiform inscriptions of the Tablet that predict the name of "The Gate" – a person who will rise up and bring peace, unification and hope to Iraq.
Episode 5: The Lines Of War
Tuesday 5th August 2008
A British First World War tank containing the burnt remains of six bodies is uncovered in France, as the team of archaeologists uncover another compelling mystery. The tank has been buried since 1917 and the discovery ignites an international archaeological feud between Professor Gillian Magwilde and her German counterpart, Dr Becker, while bureaucratic French official Monsieur Luc struggles to remain neutral.
Evidence of a war crime emerges and tensions rise between nations. When John Athorn from the MOD arrives at the dig site, he is engulfed in the fractious dispute over the finds. The team has been able to identify one of the bodies as Major Banks of the Greenwich Fusilier. Banks brought the tank to Verdun with war correspondent Captain Roberts. The investigation soon changes direction when a German dog tag naming Gruber is discovered.
It soon becomes clear that someone is determined to put an end to the investigation and cover up the truth when Gillian's tent is set on fire and the lab tent is ransacked. Through Roberts's writings, Viv discovers that the Fusiliers were looking for a weapon to win the war. Just as evidence mounts, Gillian loses control of the finds but clues left by archaeologists and a medieval obsession drive the investigation forward. The horrors of a long-hidden war crime soon revealed, with terrifying consequences.
Episode 6: Follow The Gleam
Tuesday 12th August 2008
Professor Gillian Magwilde risks her reputation, friendships and even her life on a quest for her deepest obsession, the greatest sword in history, in the final episode of the series. This obsession is steeped in Arthurian legend and the poetry of Tennyson, and it drove Gillian's mother, Karen, mad. Now Gillian needs to end this quest. She must come to terms with her relationship with Viv and the mysterious man who has been trying to contact her, Henry Timberdyne.
When well-funded and media-aware archaeologist Michael Gift and his team dig up an intriguing Arthurian find near Glastonbury, Gillian becomes obsessed. Kevin Schaffer, who tipped off the team about the find, is found dead. Gillian begins to drive her loyal team away. She fires Viv and watches Gregory leave when she refuses to listen to his words of caution about Timberdyne and the Disciples of Good Use. Haunting visions of a younger Karen and a man with a white mask flood back to Gillian. The Disciples were the start of Karen's calamity – will they also drive Gillian mad? When Ben suggests that Gillian has drawn a white mask on the wall of her secret room she pushes her last ally away.
The Arthurian connection proves to be a dead end and Gift's body is found mutilated. Timberdyne and the Disciples interrogate Viv while Gillian turns to Mastiff to help her decode Karen's research on Tennyson's poetry.
Will Gillian's brilliant mind and a lifetime's research be enough to find Tennyson's Gleam? Can she reunite her team on this quest?
