BBC TV "WDYTYA?" Series 5 Episode #4: Esther Rantzen

[lizdb]

Having read all these comments I am now not SO disappointed that the "box" failed to record it for me last night. Was a bit mad at the time!
I will still look out for the repeat, but at least I know I didnt miss a classic.

[JenB]

I just wish they would all stop crying.

It's become obligatory. Sheila Hancock started it all, if I remember rightly.

Jennifer

[carol8353]

Having read all these comments I am now not SO disappointed that the "box" failed to record it for me last night. Was a bit mad at the time!
I will still look out for the repeat, but at least I know I didnt miss a classic.

Repeated tonight on BBC2 at 6 ish?

I'm looking forward to Ainsley too 

Carol

[chris_49]

I was disappointed they didn't try to find out more about Montague Leverson's sojourn in the US. They found an entry on the 1880 (yes I just looked at it) where he is living with a 39-year-old widow whose youngest is a mere 5 years old. There might be some American cousins she didn't know about! Needs a look on the 1870, pity the 1890 is missing.

I agree about the Warsaw 1945 events mention. Last week on the Jerry Springer episode, the fate of his grandmothers, especially the one from the Lodz ghetto who died at Chelm, was highly relevant and very moving. This week's reference was a bit tenuous.

Chris

[Nick29]

Absolutely fascinating !  Related to the richest man in England (at the time) ?  Just shows that you can come from poverty and make it.

[BuddysMummy]

I recall that she was very interested (for the duration of the programme at least) in finding where the Rantzen side came from, but did she have any interest in the other side of her family at all (where they originated) ?

I just found her rather false.

Was very amused when she welcomed (rather stiffly, I thought) the "old lady" into her home then it was revealed that this was her sister! 

I guess surgery only works on your own face, not that of your peers

[genjen]

I guess surgery only works on your own face, not that of your peers

Lovely!!! 

[CarolBurns]

Well it was interesting at first about the Grandfather but I had to laugh at her horror that she had someone like that in HER family. For goodness sake how many of us have found the odd jail sentence in our searches? I am sure there are plenty of us here that have.

The other thing that annoyed was her strolling past each gap in the street when she was on her way to meet someone - those shoes and handbag!! She does tend to like pink doesn't she?

I was also expecting her to say how proud she was of her family but to hear about survivors guilt threw me a bit there.

Not as good a programme as I was expecting but entertaining nonetheless - if only watching her reactions to everything

Oh and by the way - the whole family is on GR as well - had to check it out just to see lol

[Simon G.]

I must also echo what was said about the mention of the Warsaw Ghetto rising...in the context of this episode and Esther's family history, it was completely irrelevant.  It strikes me that whenever they research someone with Jewish ancestry, there's an unspoken rule that they must shoehorn a mention about the Nazis in there somewhere.
Don't get me wrong, what happened during those years was a tremendous horror and something that should never be forgotten, but forcing a mention in when you're discussing events from a century before is just completely ridiculous.  Family history (and indeed all history) has to be seated in the correct historical context, which the findings in this episode were not.  Surely it would have been more relevant to discuss something such as the 1863 January Uprising or the earlier 1830 November Rising against Russian rule, for example - events that were going on around the time Esther's ancestors left Poland?

But then when she acted so surprised about her ancestors being involved in diamonds.  Why?  Did she think her grandparents picked the middle name Barnato for the sheer fun of it?  It just struck me as entirely false.