The Dig: What Happened To Basil Brown After The Movie

WARNING: Minor Spoilers for The Dig.

What happened to Basil Brown after the events depicted in The Dig? Now streaming on Netflix, the 2021 drama is based on a true story; however, some narratives are fictionalized for the sake of quality entertainment. The Dig ends just as it begins, with Basil toiling away at work and doing what he loves best — exploring the past to better understand the “continuous” nature of life.

Portrayed by Ralph Fiennes, Basil is one of the primary subjects in The Dig. He’s initially hired by Edith Pretty (Carey Mulligan) to investigate a burial mound on her property in Suffolk, England, with the storyline staying true to the actual 1939 Sutton Hoo excavation. In real life, the professional collaboration led to the discovery of a 7th-century Saxon ship; a burial site for a great leader (presumed to be Rædwald of East Anglia). The Dig explores the personal and professional dynamic between Edith and Basil, as the former is a widow with health concerns and the latter is an amateur excavator/astrologist who fully believes that committing to his work will naturally create a legacy, whatever that may be. The Dig utilizes a side character, Robert Pretty (Edith’s son, portrayed by Archie Barnes ), for a broader societal commentary about hopes and fears in 1939 England, just as the country was about to enter World War II.

Because The Dig takes place entirely in 1939 and has a traditional narrative structure, the film doesn’t spend too much time exploring Basil’s career. Instead, the filmmakers establish him as a self-motivated and reliable man, someone who showed up for work even if his contributions were necessarily appreciated by professional archaeologists. The Dig also reveals that Basil was a married man, and that he was somewhat of a mentor to Edith’s son, Robert — a concept that ultimately links to his legacy. The Netflix movie ends with Basil working away in a field, with epilogue text revealing that the amateur excavator’s name wasn’t mentioned when the Sutton Hoo treasure was presented to the public in 1949. The text also notes that Basil’s “unique contributions to archaeology” were eventually recognized by The British Museum, but the final sequence doesn’t offer any information about his fate or legacy beyond his work at Sutton Hoo.

After the events depicted in The Dig, Basil focused on civil defense jobs in Suffolk while serving in the Navy, Army, and Air Force. He eventually worked for the Ipswich Museum through 1961, but was forced to retire from physical digs after suffering a heart attack in 1965, and eventually passed away in 1977 at age 89. According to a recent report (via the BBC), The Dig may have dramatized the subplot about Basil’s work being ignored, as one of the real archaeologist characters in the Netflix film actually recognized his contributions in 1940. Per Sue Brunning, the lead curator for the British Museum’s Sutton Hoo collection:

“I don’t believe there was any great conspiracy to omit Basil’s name… In fact, the first full published account of the Sutton Hoo finds, written by Charles Phillips in 1940 in the Journal of Antiquity, included mention of Basil Brown, so he was being acknowledged within a year of the dig, even if you would have had to track it down to read it.”

Basil’s detailed records throughout his career inspired a new generation of archaeologists; a concept that is referenced through the Robert Pretty subplot in The Dig. Edith’s son was indeed a real-life person who lived to be 58 years old, but the Netflix film portrays him as essentially a younger version of Fiennes’ character, somebody who’s interested in archaeology, astronomy, and life in general. Given that Basil is generally regarded as a committed and passionate excavator, the final sequence in The Dig makes thematic sense. It also aligns with the character’s belief that he’s part of something continuous. The film ends, but Basil’s discovery continues on.

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Q.V. Hough
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Q.V. Hough is a senior writer at Screen Rant. He’s also the founding editor at Vague Visages, and has contributed to RogerEbert.com and Fandor.

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