This paper presents a boundary element formulation for the transient Stokes equations in which the well known closed form fundamental solution to the steady Stokes equations is employed and the time derivative is taken to the boundary with dual reciprocity method. This approach has the advantage of simplicity of formulation and implementation in relation to the alternative boundary element schemes previously presented. In addition in this paper the dual reciprocity method is presented in a more formal mathematical way using well established interpolation theories which guarantee the convergence of the method. Results are presented for a series of three‐dimensional internal problems in which the accuracy of the method is shown.