Replayed service absorbing lots of time (5)
I believe the answer is:
reran
'replayed' is the definition.
(eg ran a tape again)
'service absorbing lots of time' is the wordplay.
'service' becomes 'RN' (abbreviation for Royal Navy).
'absorbing' is an insertion indicator.
'lots' means to remove the last letter (I've seen 'lots of' mean this (the majority of the word)).
'of time' becomes 'eral' (I've seen this in another clue).
'eral' with its last letter taken off is 'era'.
'rn' enclosing 'era' is 'RERAN'.
(Other definitions for reran that I've seen before include "Broadcast again" , "repeated" , "tipped from seminar erelong" , "Showed (a film) again" .)