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. 😵‍💫

Anyone seen the Amy Dowden one?

I watched Diane Morgan's. It was very funny and moving.

I was going to say the same. How terribly boring having to listen to a family genealogy of 100s of yrs that all trace back to just one small village, so what?

It depends on how the story is told though.

I'd be quite interested if you could trace a family back to a small village if it showed how various key events in history, or technological developments shaped the village and the family .

Toby Jones is the only one I’ve seen recently - had no idea his dad was an actor in Emmerdale

@ForAmberPoster

I really enjoyed the Toby Jones one.
I thought it was great that the expert helping out in Stoke turned out to be a distant relative.
Its also interesting to see the truth behind family legends

I like this show but can't help but think if we all went back that far we'd almost certainly all find a link somehow to the big hitters like William the conquerer etc.

I met Zoe Ball in a cafe in Kettering about 6 months ago and she was lovely.

I’ve not seen any of these. I wonder if they’ve ever found themselves researching someone they’ve already researched ie someone who is related to two slebs? Though I suppose once you get beyond a certain generation then the relationship would be incredibly vague eg Zoe Ball and Diane Morgan sharing an 8 x great grandparent.