WDYTYA - have I missed Ruby Wax?

[squashyhat]

She's featured in the opening credits of the most recent series but it seems to have finished without a programme about her. Did I miss it or hasn't it been on yet? It was the one I was most keen to see

[Pemba]

I'm sure it's not been on. There are supposed to be 10 episodes, but you are right it is not listed for this week coming up for some reason. Maybe the following week?

[Pemba]

It's going to be broadcast on 4 October apparently.

www.whodoyouthinkyouaremagazine.com/news/when-ruby-waxs-episode-who-do-you-think-you-are-tv-0

Not sure why the delay.

[Trevorthebikethief]

Could it be because of the Invictus Games? I think they will be on BBC 1 most evenings this week & that could mess the schedules about a bit?

[squashyhat]

I'd forgotten I started this thread! Thanks

[mrswhiplington]

I've just noticed Ruby Wax episode is on Wednesday 4th Oct at 8 o'clock.

[sarasabrownie]

Anyone watch? Incredibly moving. There's been some real duds this series but this was one of the good ones.

[InigoTaran]

It was very moving, def worth a watch!

[sarasabrownie]

I'd love to know how she processed what she learnt in the programme. Whether it helped her with her own issues or threw her off kilter. I'd love to hear her speak about the impact of making this programme as I'm sure it would be fascinating.

[PoppyPopcorn]

That was a great episode. Ruby's story was remarkable, especially the stuff about her great aunt and great grandmother being "agitated".

[SoupDragon]

I found her story very moving but I found her startled goldfish expression very off putting.

I would like to know whether she did get a headstone for Olga. I thought it was very sad that she had none. It did seem that Ruby had a greater understanding of her family's mental health issues, especially those of her mother, and I wonder whether it has helped to know it's not "her fault" IYSWIM.

[MrsJayy]

I think Rubys look was the result of some newish surgery it was very distracting, besides that her story was fascinating and moving I think she hada hellish time with her mother but understood her by the time she had finished I think she would have got the headstones for her relatives.

[SoupDragon]

She just needed to close her mouth.

I did ale at the somewhat dour German experts not getting her humour, with the older asylum lady even saying "no, it's not funny" with a deadpan look. The British experts would have had a wry smile I think.

It was embarrassing how even the guy in charge of Jewish burials spoke brilliant English though. On the whole, British language skills are appalling.

[SoupDragon]

I've just noticed that the last series of this seems to be on iplayer and there are a good few episode I've not seen. Happy days!

[KathyBeale]

I can't stop thinking about this. I found it really moving and very odd. I thought it was interesting that she said her medication stopped her feeling things deeply - that was very obvious.

But I found it really strange that she had completely 'missed the point' up until then. Like saying her dad taught aerobics in prison (because the Gestapo were known for making sure their prisoners maintained their physical fitness, ffs). Or wondering where the synagogue had gone - looking at the pictures and saying "oh it was here before the Nazis came, I wonder what happened? Where did it go...?" And when she said if only her mum had cried even one day about it all - I get that as a kid you probably wouldn't think about it, but as she grew up and learned about the war and the Holocaust, wouldn't she start to think maybe the sheer horror of it all had affected her parents and that's why her parents wouldn't talk about it?

I absolutely LOVE WDYTYA. I'd love to work on it.

[SoupDragon]

I think that, as a child, you believe what your parents tell you. If, in the case of her mother, what they don't. I think her father told her that about aerobics rather than the truth and she didn't question it. Perhaps as an adult it seemed odd but it had been "truth" for so long. I can imagine that many affects families did not want to talk about the true horror of that time.

I am younger than Ruby and I'm still learning stuff about the Holocaust. I've learnt everything through TV programmes, WDYTYA included.

[SoupDragon]

I guess also, from her point of view, her parents left before the full horror. Realising what they went through, even without being sent to a Camp, appears to have been a shock

[InigoTaran]

On Twitter, she says she's written about this and the impact it had on her in her new book. I hope it's brought her some peace and a better understanding of why her parents were the way they were.

[Lotsawobblybits]

It was a gripping episode- all the more for me watching Ruby's reactions, and knowing a tiny little bit of her personal struggles. I hope it gave her some answers or at least understanding.

I spoke to my DDad this morning about it as I was amazed that she did not seem to know about her parents life in Vienna, and he said that my GParents just did not speak about the horrors- and he can understand why she would not know. Even when pressed they would not give details.

Another thought is would Ruby's formative years in the US given her less education in European Modern History then we receive in the UK at school?

It also made me reflect on the world today & the current political climate both here and in the USA.

[LIZS]

It was very powerful and personal exploration of mh issues as well as the Holocaust. Complete contrast to some other WDYTYA episodes.

[steppemum]

great episode, but I foud her lack of emotional connection disturbing.

I did think that she was very lacking in knowledge about the holocaust given that her family are Jewish. She seemed astonished that the great aunt and unlce left behind were killed. I think I assumed that from the minute she said who they were and when they were writing.
Is that an American thing - that it isn't taught in history in the same way?


One thing she said which was really odd was when she was at the mental hospital. She said it had a calming atmosphere and it was a nice place for her relatives to have lived.
Really? Did she miss the bit about it being so overcrowded and her Grandmother died of TB within a few months? Or that Olga probably had bath treatment where she was starpped into a bath of water for day at a time?

[MrsJayy]

Dh wondered how she didn't know or ask about their background unless she knew now to ask questions maybe Ruby was scared of their reactions or something?

[steppemum]

I can understand her not asking parents, but I don't understand her lack of knowledge about holocaust, given that she is jewish and her parents escaped from it to US.

[SoupDragon]

It doesn't sound as if she had the closest of relationships with her parents so I can well imagine she didn't ask.

Anita Rani's episode was an interesting one too as it went through the partition of India (something I've only learnt about this year through BBC programmes. I'm appalled at my ignorance!)

[lessworriedaboutthecat]

OP Its on Iplayer at the moment although I haven't watched it yet.

[PoppyPopcorn]

I think Ruby's issues with her parents are well documented - she left home as soon as she possibly could to get away from them and didn't have a "normal" relationship with them at all.