BBC TV "WDYTYA?" Series 6 Episode #4: Zoe Wanamaker

[LizzieW]

But Zoe was lucky to be able to find a family grave

.

I was interested in the fact that although her g.gran was buried in the equivalent of the paupers' part of the cemetery she still had a large headstone.  I wonder who provided that?

Celebs always seem lucky in that even in a foreign land, Ukraine in this instance, there are still records available giving information about their family.  How fortunate that event though lots of Jewish synagogue records were destroyed by the Russians, the ones with Zoe's ancestors were still available - and I can't even find the death of my g.g.grandfather somewhere between 1841 and 1851 in England.

Hali-Benny you just beat me with your comment about the paupers graves.

[downside]

There was no mention whatsoever of her mother's side of the family.

I vaguely recall that she was Jewish and from Toronto, Canada.

There was a really good potential programme in there on McCarthyism and it would have been interesting to see Zoe research that and how it affected her father and the acting/arts profession in general.

That's already been done in the past, mainly covering the bloke that wrote the early episodes of Robin Hood in the 1950's and the film director Joseph Losley.

The general trend of this series of WDYTYA is to spend 30 minutes exploring the father of the subject and rest of the program exploring other ancestors of interest.  Take it or leave it.

[lookingforold]

Is it the same Production Team in this series?  Something is lacking somewhere.

[bevbee]

I thought this was one of the worst episodes. 

Anyone who has ever heard of Sam Wanamaker would know why he left the USA so I'm darn sure his daughter would have, so I thought that part of the programme was a complete waste of time.

I didn't think there was anything in it at all to be honest. I'm not sure I'll bother watching the show again, as I've only enjoyed one episode this series and have fallen asleep in two others.   

[Inchworm]

I did think that it was better than last weeks, but too much time spent on her father. They needed to move the prog. on at a faster pace.
Still. she had a nice kitchen though - equal to Fiona Bruce. 

[bevbee]

Still. she had a nice kitchen though - equal to Fiona Bruce.  Wink

I liked Rory Bremner's myself - very countryfied. 

[GeoffE]

I was interested in the fact that although her g.gran was buried in the equivalent of the paupers' part of the cemetery she still had a large headstone.  I wonder who provided that?

Didn't it say Mother on it?  Perhaps a son made good at a later date.

[nort]

Also when Zoe was at the cemetery to see the gravestone,the man behind the desk asked her to fill in a form because they had no family connected with that grave.That was a nice touch.Or maybe they wanted to charge for the upkeep!

[heywood]

I saw it today on i-player and thought it was really good. I haven't watched this series properly- having fallen asleep through Fiona Bruce and couldn't face Rick Stein.
As is often the case, I did think that she would have known lots about her father - if you have a parent who was passionate about a cause, it is transmitted to you in childhood.
However, as a contrast to the 'golden land of opportunity', Sam Wanamaker's story was essential, following on from the union involvement from grandpa.
Lastly, I thought the Ukraine records were fantastic - overall thoroughly enjoyable.