Who do you think you are

[TipsyLaird]

Anyone watch? Zoe Ball this week, Amy Dowdwn next.

I do watch it sometimes, but for me, they spend far too little time explaining exactly how they did the research and far too much time on 'Here's one we found earlier'.

There's also a bit of a tick box exercise about what the 'story' is going to be about this time. 16 great-grandparents, and they research the one who went to prison for stealing 3d and forget about the other 15. Unless one of them was descended from William the Conqueror, in which case they choose that one instead.😁

Yes I watched Zoe Ball.
I thought it was a bit boring to be honest. Im sure it was fascinating for her but it didn't really make interesting TV.
It always sad when you hear about relatives who have been in mental health institutions but thats a story thats been featured a lot in previous series.

@Ted27 "thats a story thats been featured a lot in previous series"

True, along with several other themes which crop up with considerable regularity.

For once, I'd be more interested in seeing a programme about a celebrity's ancestors whose births, marriages & deaths can be traced back for hundreds of years to the same small group of villages in the countryside. There's one branch on my tree that I've traced back to a small area of Buckinghamshire, which turns out to be pivotal to the English Civil War. Were my ancestors Parliamentarians I wonder, or Royalists? Or did they keep well out of it?😂

I think they’d argue they are making a general interest show rather than a specialist genealogy show whist focuses on the methodology. I also think tgat there is a finite number of stories, most people will have infant death, criminals, mental illness so showing that gives viewers something to relate to. Showcasing people in a small village for centuries does not have mass appeal.

I think you can tell when celebrities are engaged with the topic and interested in what the experts have to say, and Zoe definitely seemed interested.

Sorry I can't keep up - Zoe is too fast thinking and talking for me. 😵‍💫