To think "Who do you think you are?" is a waste of money?

[moreslackthanslick]

As a TV show?

Surely the only person interested in someone's family history would be that person and close relatives! Why this became a Tv Series is a bit beyond me, couldn't care less about Danny Dyer or Amanda Holden's forefathers!

AIBU?

I found the Nigella Lawson one interesting, as my grandparent x4 had been wealthy then suddenly lost all their money. I couldn't find out why

They were silk weavers and so were Nigellas. The money went when Japan opened up and cheaper silk came in

I remember the Anita Rani one, it was so sad. She met up with a relative who talked to her what had happened to other relatives during the partition of India.
The women and girls in their village had been threatened with rape by a group of men from another village, so their husbands etc thought it was best that the women died.
I think one of Anita's relatives jumped into a well with her child and died. Another relative chopped the head off his daughter, but because he was struggling to cut through the girl's plait to get to her neck, the girl lifted the plait up to make it easier for her dad

You're missing the point about celebrities. It's not about them, they are just a "hook" to get the masses interested in social history. Most normal people would make equally good telly - there was one recently about the history of the Victorian underclass which was fascinating just as gripping as the celebrity ones.

Feel for the OP who started an I HATE WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE THREAD, which is NOW, emphatically, a WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE IS AMAZING THREAD

I agree that the "celebrities" are used as a hook to get the viewings. The one thing we all have in common is that we are only here because of our ancestors.

Genealogy is a fascinating subject, it helps to bring historic events down to a more personal level. I'm biased though, it's what I do!

The main complaint I have about WDYTYA is the way they gloss over the research that has taken place. Obviously sponsored by Ancestry they are going to imply that everything is online at the click of a button and just takes minutes to find. The researchers will have used a wide variety of archives that are not online! Some poor soul probably spent days and days and days researching. I am also assuming that they have checked and verified their sources and not just gone off at a tangent and made assumptions.

But Danny Dyer, despite his very interesting ancestry, is still a Dick.

OP you might like the spoof Armstrong and Miller did of WDYTYA. It's probably on YouTube. The irony is Alexander Armstrong later went on the prog and it turned out he was descended from William the conqueror, I think.

The irony is Alexander Armstrong later went on the prog and it turned out he was descended from William the conqueror, I think

Well, if you go back 1000 years and looked at the tree from then, then most of us probably are related.

Trees spread out. I bet you probably have a common ancestor to the Queen.

We are all related to each other - if you go far back enough.

TBF - a lot of TV is a waste of time and money.

Another fan here, favourites were the dream crushed John Hurt and Alastair McGowan realising his father wasn't simply tanned from working in a greenhouse... Seeing him visiting the Indian mcgowans was amazing and very uplifting. Kim Cattrall too, and Sarah Lancashire learning about the personal impact of the Cotton Famine.
There was another disturbing episode where a celeb discovered her ancestors had been slaves, rightly condemning the plantation owner, only to discover he was also an ancestor. Those kinds of episodes must have an acute impact on the celebs.

Fanjo I thought that was Ainsley? Related to slaves but also the owner

Watched the Amanda Holden one. Met her in real life she's fine. The second half was very moving I knew nothing about the horrific luisitania sinking. 4000 minimum dead. 4000 - worst maritime disaster ever and I knew nothing about it. It's upsetting though so be prepared.

I actually think it's quite a brilliant programme interesting and informative. One of the programmes I can watch with my history mad 10 year old that we both enjoy.

It was the Lancastria that Amanda Holden's relative was on. I had never heard of it before.