Treasures of Time

When the BBC plans a programme on the dig which made archaeologist Hugh Paxton famous, a host of memories are disinterred, and lives disrupted. Kate adored her father and considers the TV scheme an intrusion. Laura Paxton, lonely and bored, is delighted at the prospect of being seen as the charming widow of a distinguished scholar. A cynical on-looker to the filming is Tom Rider, Kate's fiance. While completing his thesis on an 18th century antiquarian, Tom observes the perplexities of being English and the parasitism of making a living out of the past. For Paxton's family and colleagues, the site, a Neolithic barrow, becomes the focus for recollections as selective as the filming which will in turn distort the Wiltshire scenery.