A group of archaeologists, normally led by either Mick Aston or Francis Pryor, and including field archaeologist Phil Harding, congregate at a site, generally in the United Kingdom. The site is often recommended by a member of the viewing public who is aware of the unresolved historical mystery, or maybe who actually owns property which has not already been excavated and is potentially interesting. Time Team uncover as much as they are able to concerning the archaeology and history of the site in 3 days, frequently in conjunction with the local archaeological unit.

At the beginning of the particular programme, Tony Robinson describes, as part of his "piece to camera", the reasons for the team's visit to the site, and during the dig he passionately encourages the archaeologists to explain their own judgements, developments and final thoughts. He attempts to be sure that all aspects are comprehensible to the archaeologically inexperienced.

The show also features special episodes, typically documentaries on history or archaeology, and live episodes. Time Team America, an american version of the programme, has been broadcast on PBS from July 2009.

Excavations are not just completed to amuse tv audiences. Tony Robinson claims that the archaeologists associated with Time Team have released more scientific papers on excavations completed in this show than just about all Uk university or college archaeology departments put together within the same period of time