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General => The Common Room => The Lighter Side => Topic started by: Trish1908 on Monday 11 January 16 12:24 GMT (UK)
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Hi All
just wondered who you would like to see featured on WDYTYA?
To start the ball rolling -
Guy Martin
Helen Mirren
Paul O Grady
Pam Ferris
T1908
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Mick Jagger because he was born in my home-town and I may learn something new ;D
Rishile
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Canadian born author David Gibbins :D
I hope we are related :)
Heres an idea to toss around the boardroom table. Fictional Characters.
Sherlock Holmes
Bob Cratchitt
The guy from chapter 8 of HG WELLS Invisible Man... now what was his name? Oh David Gibbins :D
Father Brown
Van Helsing
Colonel Brandon-Sense and Sensibility
Now I understand you wont have a family to work with but showing where the name originates and how - like brickwalls - you can utilize census records to find close matches and then match them to birth records. Such as the series the magazine ran in September to ?? Last year.
Just a thought - oh and I was serious about the author :)
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Michael Parkinson - to see if it was as boring as WDYTYA claimed or a lack of imagination by them
June Whitfield - she has traced a lot of her ancestry herself (alleged this is why WDYTYA won't do her) and I would like to see if it does go back to Whitfield in Northumberland as rumoured. Also just got a shock just now when I found out she was born in 1925, I thought she was about 80 not 90.
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Bryan Ferry, to see if his Ferrys are related to mine.
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Taking angelfish58's idea.............. Tim Henman to see if he is related to my Henmans! :D
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I'd like to see somebody off Rootschat have a brick wall smashed down. ;D (Me for instance ;) )
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I'd like to see somebody off Rootschat have a brick wall smashed down. ;D (Me for instance ;) )
Now that't s brilliant idea. We could raise funds by selling £1 tickets for a lottery of whose brickwall it is.
Otherwise Grayson Perry gets my vote.
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I think that if WDYTYA did a series of programs on "ordinary people" members of the public who applied, they would probably find some very interesting progams, and stories of inventions, bravery, etc.
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Whilst i understand all these people who say it would be nice if they did a member of the ordinary public the truth is that shows that have done this in the past have not lasted very long and i suspect that would be the case if WDYTYA went down that path
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Whilst i understand all these people who say it would be nice if they did a member of the ordinary public the truth is that shows that have done this in the past have not lasted very long and i suspect that would be the case if WDYTYA went down that path
They could just have one ordinary person in the series and take it as far back as possible giving tips and hints instead of concentrating on one ancestor's remarkable life story.
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I'd like to see the gorgeous Neil Oliver from 'Coast' on WDYTYA.
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Hi All
just wondered who you would like to see featured on WDYTYA?
To start the ball rolling -
Guy Martin
You probably already know this but there was a programme on recently about Guy Martin finding out about the life of his Latvian grandfather. http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=737116 (http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php?topic=737116)
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I Agee with other posters about Michael Parkinson seeing as they said he had lots of ag labs or miners. Surely they could make something of that to show people that lots of families had these and how to research things properly so you don't end up going down the wrong track. Also June Whitfield would be interesting. I'd like to see someone decscended from a composer to see if the musical genes have passed through, or someone who ,is a composer to see if the genes are apparent. Our roots chat own Igor Strav ( Ivor Stravinsky) springs to mind :)
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Whilst i understand all these people who say it would be nice if they did a member of the ordinary public the truth is that shows that have done this in the past have not lasted very long and i suspect that would be the case if WDYTYA went down that path
They could just have one ordinary person in the series and take it as far back as possible giving tips and hints instead of concentrating on one ancestor's remarkable life story.
That would interesting to Family Historians - and mind-numbingly boring to Joe Public!
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I would like to see Maggie Smith...she is amazing.
Carol
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Austin Healey, former rugby player. Yum!!
But setting aside the lustings of a middle aged woman, I'd like to see Alun Armstrong & Simon Weston.
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Austin Healey, former rugby player. Yum!!
I had to google (image) him. ;) Not my type at all. :P ;D
I much prefer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aidan_Turner
or going back a few years https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_(bass_guitarist)
;D
Agree with Carol about Maggie Smith, but there are so many others.
I don't think it would matter if their families weren't wildly interesting either - their (genuine) reactions to the findings would be worth watching. I liked some of the earlier WDYTYAs when the celebrities did a bit of their own research, or at least were seen to be doing some, with coaching from the experts. (rather than just being handed a piece of paper with the appropriate record on it) Barbara Windsor comes to mind as I remember she did a bit of digging around the censuses. More like an instructional/educational programme but with celebrities.
I think it might also be interesting to research some dead famous people.
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Personally, I agree it would be nice to see Joe Soap (someone ordinary).
Genealogy has taken off over the last few decades with popular programmes such as WDYTYA, Heir Hunters & other programmes such as Surprise Surprise where long lost relatives are found through research.
What the makers of WDYTYA don't think of is the fact that "Normal" people, just like "Celebrities/Stars" have history too.
I think this would encourage people to have an interest in their ancestry when they see Joe Soap's story?
Why "Celebrities"? They can afford their own research...why not give the opportunity to people less fortunate to be able to trace theirs & let other normal people off the street see what is done to find out their roots.
Best one I saw was Sue Johnson as she wasn't happy with what she found in her ancestry.........
I liked her until I saw her on WDYTYA.
Annie
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Slightly off topic,
It would be nice to see more programmes that help and get people to 'start' hobbies and interests. I'm afraid I'm old enough to remember series like Watercolour Challenge, Alwyn Crawshaw's How to paint, and there was a DIY series that showed how to do simple jobs and projects. Remember 'The Green Goddess' Keep Fit! There was usually a dvd sold afterwards! These programmes usually went out around 3pm in the afternoon (I was home with young children).
Bake Off, Sewing Bee, the various antiques series prove there is an place for programmes like this. Trouble is they are all geared up to have a winner!!
Most councils have 'cut' evening classes that they used to run for 'ordinary people' learning 'ordinary things', be it hobbies, getting fit, etc.
YouTube is great for video's helping people do almost anything, but not everyone uses a computer. TV puts the 'thought' "I would like to do that". With the 100's of stations available now and 'catch up', iplayer there should a space somewhere.
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I would like David Jason, Martin Lewis, Steve McFadden and John Nettles.
These celebs on WDYTYA have it easy, they have a team of dedicated researchers digging up their ancestors for them no matter where the journey takes them, whereas Joe Soap has to save up and book special trips to travel to record offices and/or have to fork out to pay for a researcher who often lists down any examples of a surname you are after even if they are common, just so they can make more money. I can understand less common names but not Smith or Brown or Jones.
I had one researcher who found examples of a not rare surname 200 years before my earliest known ancestor with that surname, and charged me for the info. Best to start from what you have then work backwards. Never find a man 500 years ago and hope to track descent to yourself, that is putting the cart before the horse. I then stopped hiring this researcher, she was useless anyway. I do all the research myself now.
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Plus it's really difficult to go forwards Coombs!!
Forgot to say I would like to see Paul O'Grady as my choice as he's from my home turf (kind of) and no doubt he'd have a few Irish brick walls to smash down.
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Drat! my long-winded reply just vanished. That'll teach me!
I'm not in favour of "ordinary people" on WDYTYA?. It's the joy of poking around in the history of someone well-known, and seeing that there were ordinary roots, that makes it work.
A "Joe Soap" series would close it down. It'd be great fun for the person "being done", but boring as old socks for everyone else. A programme or an Open University course on researching might work, but that's a different matter. Most people in "ordinary" families get a bit stuck once they've worked back through census reords
Like everyone else, I'd really quite like someone with one of "my" names, in case there was a link, and looking on earlier replies, yes, Maggie Smith, John Nettles, and others would be great - I think! But I'd like to see others than actors - the Jeremy Paxman one was good, because most of us knew only a public face, in one role. First rate scientists, serious presenters, writers .... oh, dear, they're all too busy doing their real jobs.... but a Brian Cox, a Dar O'Brien, or similar may work well. And especially when they say "I know quite a bit about my father's side ... but not about mum's, and there's always been this tale about great aunt Nellie...." It's interesting too to see their "Family legends" debunked or made true, like the rest of us. (I did enjoy Sue Johnson's episode - but yes, it totally put me off the woman) I'm not so keen on the bits where someone's great grandfather was a baker ... so they bake a loaf.
BUT like most of the rest of us, I'm always interested when a new series is announced.
With "celebs" - I almost never know who the "Celebs" on things like seasonal University Challenge or Mastermind are, - but I think that's more down to my age group (never seen CBBC) than anything.
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Reckon I must be the lucky one?
Barbara Windsor links into my tree! We are both related to John Constable.
But most of what was discussed, once she got onto the trail of my family, I knew already.
What I think you have to remember is that WDYTYA is an entertainment program, designed to appeal to the masses.
And "the masses" want to know about people they know (or think they know!).
Even then, there has to be an interesting story behind the facts.
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I usually only watch if a) I like the celebrity or b) their research is similar to mine in any way.
Really enjoyed the Barbara Windsor episode as we both originate from Bures.
I'd love it if someone researched their oyster dredging ancestors on the Essex coast -I'd really learn a lot about my bunch.
A non-celeb version would be good daytime BBC2 fare... obviously with a much lower budget and less travelling! I'd only watch if I could learn something to help my own research. I reckon my lot are interesting enough to fill an hour's programme. (Then again, I've done so much research that they wouldn't let me on!)
Would like to see Brian Cant on it, to see if we're related ;D
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I haven't watched every episode of this show. I really like Sue Johnson but after reading comments on here from 2 people who have gone off her after watching her episode I am torn between trying to find it to see why they did and not wanting to because I do rather like her............first world problem. ::)
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I usually only watch if a) I like the celebrity or b) their research is similar to mine in any way.
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If I took the same view I would probably never have watched any of the WDYTYA episodes. ;D And you don't know where the research will take them anyway so how can you know if it is going to be similar to yours. ;)
I have found some of the most interesting episodes to be about celebrities I either wasn't keen on or had never heard of.
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Unless I've completely missed it, I don't think there's ever been an episode where they were predominantly from mining/iron work stock so that would be great to see as would link in with the majority of my lot!
Someone from the Black Country would be fab (Julie Walters' one focused on Ireland - plus she annoys me lol).
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Yes! Let's hear it for the midlands! Ireland did seem to have a lot of coverage in the last few series, there must be some "celebs" hailing from the midlands - don't think anyone could be linked to my very few midlanders, so not making a personal shout here. Birmingham, Nottingham, Leicester etc must have well-known people hailing from them, who would make a good programme - and I agree with KGarrad ( not for the first time) it is ENTERTAINMENT.
Beeonthebay: it was mainly her reaction, and response that put me off.
I'll have a look at each, doesn't matter if I know/like the celeb, it's the hunt that's interesting, after all, isn't it?And it's ENTERTAINMENT!
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Martin Shaw's episode was all Birmingham based.
There are a lot of areas that haven't really had any coverage, but of course it depends on where the Celeb's ancestors lived.
I enjoyed Barbara Windsor's episode, but them I'm biased as have a lot of ancestors from London's East End and also Suffolk. Interestingly I have three separate Deeks (Barbara's birth surname) family lines in Suffolk but as far as I can see there is no connection, although one of my lines hailed from not far from Bures. That said, there are an awful lot of Deeks in Suffolk and north Essex. ;D
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Yes! Let's hear it for the midlands! Ireland did seem to have a lot of coverage in the last few series, there must be some "celebs" hailing from the midlands - don't think anyone could be linked to my very few midlanders, not making a personal shout here.
I'm sure my nans cousins cousin was someone from slade but don't ask me who and when lol
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Ian Lavender and anyone else from Birmingham would be nice.
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Jenny Agutter Craig Revel Horwood Peter Kay. Think they would be an interesting bunch!
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I thought they'd done Jenny Agutter? Is Peter Kay the comedian? No idea who the three central names are, sorry. Main thing is, hope they get another series out soon. Manchester too as a place of origin seems to miss out a bit - loads of families migrated into Manchester from the Agricultural jobs, into really often foul conditions, didn't they, in 19th C.?
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The "middle 3" is 1 person!
Craig Revel Horwood is a judge on Strictly Come Dancing ;D
The nasty one!!
And he's Australian - so not a great subject for a British series?
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Thank you KGarrad - I've never watched it, so that's why I didn't recognise the name(s).
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The "middle 3" is 1 person!
Craig Revel Horwood is a judge on Strictly Come Dancing ;D
The nasty one!!
And he's Australian - so not a great subject for a British series?
Jason Donovan did an episode - he's Australian, and it was one of the most interesting ones in my memory.
And there are several others who have explored family abroad. A few involving the Holocaust. Hugh Quarshie went to Ghana. Davina McCall and J K Rowling both went to France.
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And there are several others who have explored family abroad. A few involving the Holocaust. Hugh Quarshie went to Ghana. Davina McCall and J K Rowling both went to France.
Oh, dear - maybe I'm being extra sensitive BUT - isn't the whole essence of recent WDYTYA to go off on a "jolly" across the seas :-X :-X :-*
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There's always someone kicking up a fuss if a celebrity gets an expensive trip abroad courtesy of the BBC. To shut everyone up, the next series will entirely consist of people whose ancestors are farmers in Hertfordshire and Kent ;D
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Hurrah!!!!
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Kylie Minogue has been on WDYTYA and she is Australian.
Craig Revel Horwood is not nasty! Don't be fooled by what you see on the television.
I didn't think Jenny Agutter had been featured but if she had it must have been so long ago I'd forgotten :)
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The "middle 3" is 1 person!
Craig Revel Horwood is a judge on Strictly Come Dancing ;D
The nasty one!!
And he's Australian - so not a great subject for a British series?
But doesn't that make him even more interesting? Horwood is a name that originated in the UK so at one stage his family would have emigrated.
It would be interesting, for British viewers, to see the ins and outs of how that works. Also Horwood-Bagshaw is the name of a big agricultural machinery business in Australia , so that would be interesting to see how that developed- especially if the original emigrant was a Fitter from Manchester etc
#not knowing if he has any connection to that family
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Like some others on here I have a connection to Bures through my great grandmother Caroline Louisa Webb and her family. The names include Holmes, Mole, Webber, Boggis (I have Golding Boggis) and Cansdell.
I have found a link to Mary Berry through her Houghton line. (They merge 3 generations back from her baker)
I would love to see a few musicians on the show, and being something of a folkie that would be my bias so Eliza Carthy, Richard Thompson, Simon Nicol. Steve Knightley Phil Beer and Jon Boden! I think Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues would be good too. Jaspar Carrott and Mike Harding??
The author Katie Hickman I would like to see, I know she is my 3rd cousin...
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To shut everyone up, the next series will entirely consist of people whose ancestors are farmers in Hertfordshire and Kent ;D
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I'll watch that one! :D
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Perhaps nobody will agree with me but I find some of the episodes boring when they concentrate on just one ancestor belonging to the "celeb" and only go as far back as the first world war.
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I met Jason Donovan and was glad to watch his episode of WDYTYA.
Patsy Kenist is a relative of mine, a distant cousin through her Cracknell line of Finchingfield so liked her one.
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(Little voice) I haven't got ANY well-known relatives.... at all.
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(Little voice) I haven't got ANY well-known relatives.... at all.
Is that you Rob Brydon :D
TY ,
I keep seeing Threlfalls all over Australia - mostly in Court Lists :P but they are there in the paper and I think of you whenever I do.
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Ah, there are some over there I believe, but I'm not sure of any names or relationships, and it'd be about 4 or 5 generations back. None that I know of were ever transported, "my" mob seem to have been the most boringly respectable ancestors anyone could have, not an "interesting" one amongst them.
That's in part what I mean about no well-known relatives, on any line. It's not fair, is it?
As all of that surname originated in one small area of northern England, and almost all are related back in the late 1600s, you'd hope for someone well-known in all that time, if not on that line, then on another.
postscript: My rellies? In court? No, never, unless on the bench or the jury!
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Colin Firth, think there will be a jolly abroad in that!
Peter Capaldi, bet there will be a trip to Italy ::)
Idris Elba, just because!
Kerry
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I'm related to Tim...not close but he's my 6th cousin
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My 2xgt.grandmother was Charlotte Henman........still looking for a connection to Tim!
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ah okay. My Victorian Henman's lived in Bedfordshire. Most of them stayed there but part of the family branched out into Oxfordshire which is where Tim and his ancestors were based.
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Charlotte was born 1838 in Kent so I guess no link.
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well for a long time Ive noticed a lot of Henman people in the Kent area and have tried to see if there is a link between them. SO far I haven't found one. Some of my Henman family went to work and live in London. This that was around the early 1900s off the top of my head.
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Why the obsession with celebrity?. I am sure there are non-famous people on RC whose story is just as interesting, if not more so, than some of the stories on WDYTYA.
I don't go with the whole celebrity thing.
:)
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I'm sure I've seen a program on Craig Revel Horwood - can't remember all the details but there was something to do with the Gold Rush and I think his grandfather/great grandfather turned out to be a tap dancing champion or something like that. He used to have competitions with other tap dancers in places like Sydney and they found a poster or something advertising one. And a medal or cup that he won. Craig was over the moon to find out where his 'dancing' genes came from as no one else in the family was on the stage. Must have been filmed some time ago I think. I haven't seen many episodes and quite enjoyed that one.
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Yes, Craig's episode was repeated just a few weeks ago.
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(Little voice) I haven't got ANY well-known relatives.... at all.
me neither - but if I had had one, I would have chosen Dirk Bogarde for his excellent acting skills.
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Any celebrity who has ancestors from one of the places connected to my ancestors that I cannot afford to go to right now so I can see the places and get an idea for now what they were like beyond what I can get from google maps.
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I think it's pretty obvious, much research is done on any chosen celebs prior to narrowing down the ones who appear on the list of the next prog. i.e. it's unlikely we will see any 'super star' whether Actor/Musician/Writer etc. if they hailed from ordinary people i.e. never expect to watch an episode where the subject hailed from a farming/fishing/crofting background e.g. Highlands of Scotland etc.
It's actually quite disgusting the £ spent on research for those from ordinary folks prior to whittling down to the people who have £, come from £ &/or huge businesses/royalty e.g. Claire Balding to name a few.
Do not expect to see anyone who's roots involved hard lives, doing ordinary fishing/farming (ag. labs)/crofting jobs who were eventually kicked off their land (to be used for sheep grazing), sent to areas which were impossible to establish anything or worse still, forced into migration.
The above have been well documented but much has actually been taken off the internet over the years for whatever reason although still available in books (if your lucky).
I've recently been reading a book "On The Crofters' Trail" by David Craig & it's harrowing, all/most info. collated from speaking to those peoples' descendants!
I know most to be very true as I've actually been researching the info. via certs. & info. from SP (scotlandspeople) & NAS (National Archives Scotland).
Many of the descendants of some of those people are in great jobs e.g. TV but I'm pretty sure would never be used on WDYTYA.
Annie
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Didn't David Tennant have crofting ancestors?
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Didn't David Tennant have crofting ancestors?
I didn't see his episode but his father was a Minister, not aware what Scottish Island he descends from?
Annie
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An awful lot of research is done on each person chosen.
Whether that person gets "chosen" for a televised episode largely depends on whether there is a back story that the producers think would make an interesting episode.
An ancestor of mine appeared in one episode; John Constable RA.
Unfortunately, this means I am also related to Barbara Windsor! ;D
Finally, I have been involved in research, potentially for the program.
Unfortunately, I was working from very common names, with no discernible links to the later generation, and a choice of 10 or 12 potential people who could have been the father!
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Didn't David Tennant have crofting ancestors?
I didn't see his episode but his father was a Minister, not aware what Scottish Island he descends from?
Annie
According to this the crofting family came from Mull.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/david-tennant.shtml
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I think there have been many instances on WDYTYA of very humble ancestry of “celebrities”, but yes, they do need a back story.
David Tennant’s story:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/whodoyouthinkyouare/past-stories/david-tennant.shtml
There have been some sad stories and the first which comes to mind is Jeremy Paxman - Glasgow slums, orphans and the poorhouse.
Not a particularly nice episode about Martin Freeman’s syphilitic great grandfather either.
Griff Rhys Jones - poor families - generally sad events all round.
There are many others.
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As I've said many times, the programme simply wouldn't have enough - if any - audience appeal if it concentrated on one of "our" ancestors, as unknown / non-celebs.
It's the finding out where ( more or less) well-known people originated from that appeals to our sense of nosiness and interest.
"Well-known person" + humble'/ shocking / interesting beginnings = programme of interest to viewers.
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I am sure I have seen at least one celebrity wandering round a highland croft, but I don't recall anyone whose ancestors hailed from an East Kent/South Essex/Salisbury Plain village. Or probably any of the villages any of our ancestors lived in!
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I am sure I have seen at least one celebrity wandering round a highland croft, but I don't recall anyone whose ancestors hailed from an East Kent/South Essex/Salisbury Plain village. Or probably any of the villages any of our ancestors lived in!
Oooh, that's a thought, TotH - a WDYTYA featuring someone with ancestors who 'travelled in work' like my itinerant hard-to-find rellies traversing Surrey and Kent (and Sussex) following all the various agricultural jobs......
not holding my breath though ;)