The real-life Sutton Hoo dig

The success of The Dig, starring Carey Mulligan and Ralph Fiennes, has reignited public interest in the spectacular archaeological discovery at Sutton Hoo and the people behind it.

Here's a collection of BBC archive clips - including first hand testimony from the real-life excavators themselves - about the extraordinary events of 1939, and further information about what happened to the Sutton Hoo site and the treasures uncovered from it.

The following interviews are taken from the 1965 documentary The Million Pound Grave.

Originally broadcast 17 August 1965

"We came across a heap of clench nails from a ship, these are usually associated with Scandinavian boats."

Basil Brown, a self-taught archaeologist and astronomer from Bucklesham in Suffolk - who worked for the Ipswich Museum as an excavator on a contractual basis - discusses the moment he discovered that there was a boat-shaped grave in one of the mounds at Sutton Hill.

Mr Brown was portrayed by Ralph Fiennes in the film.

"The mere finding of very valuable things alone is not enough to satisfy an archaeologist."

Margaret Guido, a skilled archaeologist, prehistorian and excavator from Beckenham in Kent, recalls how the whole nature of the Sutton Hoo excavation changed when she uncovered the first piece of jewellery, a beautiful garnet and gold ornament.

Portrayed in the film by Lily James.

Incidentally, in the film Peggy mentions a famous BBC recording of a duet between nightingales and cellist Beatrice Harrison, which you can find on the History of the BBC site here.

"The usual question; 'Well old boy, have you found any gold today?' 'Yes,' I said, 'my pockets are absolutely full!' "

Petersfield born archaeologist Stuart Piggott recounts popping in to the hotel pub in Woodbridge with a pocketful of gold, and how the size and significance of the project gave him sleepless nights.

Stuart Piggott was portrayed in the film by Ben Chaplin.

"This was of course an astonishing sight, nothing like it had been seen in England before."

Charles William Phillips discusses his first impressions upon seeing Basil Brown's excavation site, and how he was 'flabbergasted' when he was asked to take charge of the project.

Ken Stott portrayed CW Phillips in the film.

"I believe he'd have slept here if he'd had his bed here."

Jack Jacobs, the gardener of landowner Mrs Edith Pretty, discusses the dedication to the project shown by Basil Brown, and what it was like to work under him on the dig despite being a self-confessed 'green hand'.

Jack Jacobs was portrayed in the film by Joe Hurst.

"I was trusted with a trowel, and I had one of those strokes of rare good fortune that come all too rarely in an archaeologist's life."

Archaeologist John Ward Perkins recalls visiting the Sutton Hoo site for a single day, and finding himself in the right place at the right time to witness a series of significant discoveries.

"Easily the most magnificent collection of Saxon jewellery ever found."

This clip from the 1965 documentary The Million Pound Grave showcases the incredible treasures recovered by the excavation team at Sutton Hoo, that are now housed in the British Museum.

Items include a sword pommel and decorated crosspiece, a beautifully ornate coin purse, an intricate and fully-functioning jewelled belt-buckle and a range of coins. How were they used, where did they originate from, and what they can tell us about Anglo-Saxon society?

A battle school was established on the heath here, and armoured vehicles ran through the trench where the boat was

In 1966, the BBC archaeology programme Chronicle was on hand to document the next stage in the Sutton Hoo project.

Twenty-seven years on from the initial discovery, a new team of archaeologists led by Rupert Bruce-Mitford returns to the abandoned site - which had been left abruptly, with little preservative measures in place, due to the outbreak of World War Two - to re-excavate it and see if anything at all of the ship remains.

This clip is from Chronicle: Royal Ship, Royal Palace, Royal Grave. Originally broadcast 17 August 1965

The problem was how to preserve this unique and insubstantial ghost ship

In an ambitious attempt to preserve the enormous ship at Sutton Hoo, technicians at the British Museum decide upon an ingenious course of action; to make a complete 90ft-long cast of the vessel and reconstruct it, to bring the great Anglo-Saxon warship to life once again.

This clip is from Chronicle: The Ghost Ship. Originally broadcast 16 November, 1968

Professor Martin Carver goes in search of answers to the strange practice of boat burials in northern Europe and faces the reality of being shipwrecked in a Norwegian fjord. A new excavation project explores the Saxon mounds in Suffolk, to find out more about this part of 7th-Century England.

As well as revealing some of the latest discoveries, this edition shows how more modern excavations are conducted and features film footage of Basil Brown's original dig at Sutton Hoo in the 1930s.