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General => The Common Room => Topic started by: trystan on Monday 01 November 04 20:18 GMT (UK)
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(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/images/wdytya_logo.jpg) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory)
The fourth episode of the BBC's celebrity Family History series
- 9pm Tuesday 2nd November 2004 on BBC2 in the UK (& Europe for Digital Free to Air viewers)
(http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/images/promo_celeb_gal.jpg) (http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory)
WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?
"Too boring to bother with
When asked to research his family's history Jeremy Clarkson's response was an abrupt one: 'Too boring to bother with,' he said. Decide whether he's now been proved wrong, on Tuesday 2nd November." http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/familyhistory/
Jeremy Clarkson is best know for his straight-talking and sometimes scathing comments and reviews on cars. If your husband (or wife) is not into family history, but into cars - then this can be your chance to stick them infront of the TV for an hour - by shouting "That Jeremy Clarkson chap is on BBC2" (It might help too if you play some top gear music too). ;)
This series is well worth watching. Also if you've not used your interactive button before (the red one), then give your thumb a bit of a treat (Sky Digital and Freeview viewers & some Cable areas) - the interactive bit gives you tips on conducting your own research.
Followed at 10pm with "Family Ties" on BBC4 (the TV channel available for free on Freeview, or on Sky Digital/Cable)
"A Journey Around My Grandmother: The story of four generations of women told by the youngest, Javotte, who along with her mother attempts to uncover her grandmother's story."
BBC4 Website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbcfour/listings/index.shtml?day=tuesday&service_id=4544)
So will you be keeping us company and joining us again on the RootsChat sofa and watching Who Do You Think You Are?
See comments on the previous programmes here:
Episode 3:
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=16836.0
Episode 2:
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=15727.0
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=15673.0
http://www.rootschat.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=14764.0
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Yup, I'll be watching but possibly through gritted teeth. Is it me or is Mr Clarkson one of the least sympathetic characters on TV?
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I'll be watching it as well. Trying to tempt hubby with Jeremy Clarkson didn't work though ::) ;D ;D
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Wouldnt miss it for the world..
I've watched all 3 so far, and am looking forward to tonights episode. I quite like Jeremy Clarkson.. he has my sense of humour... ;D and makes me chuckle..
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Tonight's episode with Jeremy Clarkson was, for me, the best so far.
They made it clear at the beginning that a professional researcher had done the family tree, and they showed Jeremy having a hard time finding out what happened to the family millions.
I was surprised to see though that he appears to have my elusive Isaac Hole in his tree, we caught a very quick glimpse of the name when he opened up the family tree at the beginning. I wondered where Isaac had been hiding. ::)
Kazza.
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Kazza loved it - hated it. My wife had the right idea, she watched tennis while this non-discovery programme was on. BBC, no more like this please. :(
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To quote my son this program was " a bit of a mix".
There were aspects of it I hated ..... his dismissal of many of his ancestors as "chopping barley" or the colliery carpenter by saying something like "didn't have the brains to even go down the mines" ...... what did he think a colliery carpenter did.
It did come around at some points .... his investigation of the court case and a few comments which alluded to a slight interest in the detective side of things
But overall I have to say that for me this was the Worst of the series so far.
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I agree - I still think it makes out that the research is easy ! You just go on-line and there are all these wills just sitting there !
Jeremy Clarkson - there's no middle ground is there - you either love him or hate him........ he's very much the stereo-typical Yorkshire- man .......even id he doesn't think so !
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I agree with Kazza - I enjoyed it. I have to admit I am a Jeremy Clarkson fan. Yes he's arrogant, but that's what makes him funny! The programme made me think about my own family tree and new angles to take on it. After eight years of chasing around I needed a new idea! I'm now going to start looking for the money!!
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I didn't think it was as good as episode 3, but Jeremy is a funny man and I do like his style - I especially like his views on political correct thinking. Wouldn't it have been funny if one of his ancestors had been a Victorian eco-warrior!
A little more nitty-gritty would have been splendid - too much Kilner stuff; got a little bored with glass blowing and vast amounts of wealth. I would like to have seen him do some research into his Ag. Lab. ancestors - something more human. Also, he didn't cry...why?
I think the BBC should run a second series after this. Maybe they should get some input from regular family historians, like us, before they start filming. Perhaps the BBC should get rid of Eastenders, sport, chat shows and childrens' programs, and show two, three or even four hour episodes on BBC1 next time - heck, let's have a family history day at least once a week, and really indulge ourselves. How about concentrating on one ordinary individual and following him as he researches his tree from the beginning? Maybe the BBC can encourage people to begin researching by offering prizes (free help from a professional, 24-hrs in a records office, of your choice, with no restrictions)?
Family Ties at 10:00. I'm glad I'm not French! What a hastle it would be to find a simple birth certificate.
Kris.
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Its TV............
Light and entertaining?
All so far have included the element of the chase.
I just wonder how many man hours the programmes have taken to produce, particularly how many researchers were used? As we know it can take many months just to find a certificate or will.
Our expertise has us saying - well Jeremy! get along to the probate and you will see where your mothers families money went, yours is still down the pit.
If only the last bit actually was expanded with some real tips and advice
BenB
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I personally didn't find last nights episode as interesting as the others, but having said that I still enjoyed it and it was a good compromise with my husband! as he too could watch someone he could tollerate!
:P
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Now I know why some of my family yawn while I'm rattling off the lastest info on someone who dropped off the twig over 100 years ago ;D - my least favorite of the programs so far.
I agree with Kris, a little too much on the Kilners, but the programe did show that even if you do have a professional researcher to do the 'bare bones' at least you can still 'put the flesh on' yourself..
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As i have quite a few Glass Blowers in my tree last nights episode was particularly fasinating to me. It was'nt pretentious in anyway, we were told right at the begining of the programme that a profesional had wrote up his Tree. I would liked to have known just how his GGGGrandfather had squandered the fortune though.
Kazza, I spotted the HOLE too and wondered about him! lol
Although i'll never be able to look at my Coffee Container again without thinking about Mr Clarkson! ;)
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Hmmm, not as good as episode 3 but I love Clarkson - I think he is hilarious. I know I'm a minority!
There was a lovely little touch which I would like to do but I guess you need the wealth in the family. At the end of the programme they flicked through generations of photos of the generations.
I know it isn't an in depth study, but I like the focus on resource type.
Pam
;D
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Well, I thought it was the weakest show of the four so far from a genealogy point of view, largely because Mr Clarkson (in his own words) thinks genealogy "too boring to bother with" and seemed to be driven only by the possibilities of discovering evidence of fame, power and money in his tree.
Personally, also, I don't like class snobs or anti-environmentalists. The court case may have been brought becuase of factory smoke damaging the trees in the adjacent park; but you can be sure that if local beech trees were dying, the same smoke was not exactly an elixir for the workers and neighbours of the glass factory.
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I think the mystery here was not about who do you think you are, but how did all that loot disappear! I think we all have these sorts of mysteries and possibly we all try to sort them out, starting with the "who" part. If you get past that, then "how" comes naturally. From a genealogical point of view, it was not that satisfying, but I think it showed very well how much more there can be to a family history story than just names and dates. It also showed how caught up with events (even past events)we can get, so that sometimes we don't "do" good genealogy.
And Kazza, I spotted the Hole family and thought of you. Amazing that you knew some of them!
Nell
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I quite liked it - I cried laughing when he found out about the court case on environmental grounds, you could tell Clarkson did not like that one bit.
I'd love to have a professional helping me, I think all the celebs have been lucky in that respect.
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I like clarkeson, but didn't really enjoy last nights show as much as i had expected too..
I would hate a professional to get my tree information mainly because I get the biggest buzz when I come across it myself.. it wouldn't be the same if somebody else did all the detective work - there wouldn't be the same satisfaction.. ::)
Although I do wish I had the same time and money he and the others have to drive around and visit the places that are connected with my family tree..
The lack of emotion and dismissal of the normal folk in his tree was a little annoying too
so for me this one was probably a 4/10 compared to last weeks where I think its fair to say Sue J gets a 10/10.. :)
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I watched it and would not miss it .
It is the only program that gets me away from the computer.
But I do agree they make it look as though it is so easy. :)
Does anyone know where we get the family tree printed out like the one in the program last night
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Does anyone know where we get the family tree printed out like the one in the program last night
That would have been from the professional researcher. Though there are companies that provide some resources for you to do a similar thing. Have a look at our For Sale board.
Kazza.
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This week's episode is the only one I haven't watched. Not because I don't like Clarkson or anything, but because I was to tired to even watch TV!! I went to bed with my book instead! By the looks of all these posts I don't think I missed much anyway!! Who is it next week?
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Next week it is Ian Hislop - one of my broadcasting favourites. He is the editor of Private Eye and appears on one of my most favourite TV programmes Have I Got News For You.
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It would be quite nice to get my research verified by a professional genealogist, just because I can't believe that I'm actually related to all of those people who were alive in previous centuries. Jeremy might not think much of his farmer ancestors, but I think they are fascinating people. I love the social climbing that they did; I wonder if I'd get away with giving my occupation as "gentleman"!
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Yes I thought Jeremy completey ignored his farming ancestors and concentrated on his Kilner ancestors with "the money" Good Hunting regards Eileen
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Each one of the programmes has only focused on a small proportion of a tree in order to illustrate a type of resource. Sue Johnston wasn't criticised for only focusing on her railway ancestors?
I don't think any of the people focused had done anything on their family trees before being approached by the BBC. Therefore in order to make a television programme you NEED the professional otherwise the programme would take a year to make!
Excuse me but I'm in rant mode - having a tough day. :-[
I'm going to defend Mr Clarkson. When he was standing at that pond he looked genuinely overwhelmed, happy, excited that this was the spot his ancestor fished at - a simple pleasure.
The Ian Hislop one seems to be focusing on the Boer war & WWII. I have enjoyed them all - low expectations are always met and often surprised! ;D
Pam
;D
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Each one of the programmes has only focused on a small proportion of a tree in order to illustrate a type of resource. Sue Johnston wasn't criticised for only focusing on her railway ancestors?
I don't think any of the people focused had done anything on their family trees before being approached by the BBC. Therefore in order to make a television programme you NEED the professional otherwise the programme would take a year to make!
Sorry you are having tough day Pam,
I agree with your point about the professional, I would be surprised if they did not use one. My point is that they have not mentioned that until this week, thus making genealogy appear easier than we know it to be.
This has been shown, see post about Liverpool Records Office, to lead to lots of enthusiastic new researchers being disappointed by false expectations.
I welcome the BBC making a series like this, and they should use a professional, but they should have made it clear from the start, and not made it look easy. There are no brickwalls that the celebs have been baffled by, unlike us mere mortals.
My worry is only that it leaves a false impression of what family history is really about.
And I like Jeremy anyway, particularly when he is at his most arrogant.
Kazza.
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;) "And I like Jeremy anyway, particularly when he is at his most arrogant."
That will be most of the time then !
there were some aspects of the show which did well and while I realise that the BBC are out to create entertainment using genealogy as a basis they have glibly missed many of the points that so many on here have experienced. Clarkson was the first to make no bones (pardon the pun) about the fact that all the research was being done for him .... he was the front man as he would expect to be in his shows .....
Still my opinion of him was improved by the more humanising sections ,the court case, the fishing hole and lastly explaining to his daughter at the end where her ancestors had came from.
I also feel that the added sections at the end could be improved in a number of ways.