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

[KateW]

Welsh Jules, I have Edward 1 as my 23 x GG!!!  Distant (very) cousins?!!! Actually on that side I have traced back a long way and found that my husband's distant ancestor and mine were siblings....oops     ...I'm talking about 100s of years ago, I hasten to add and I think many of us would find we were connected then.   
KateW

[ankerdine]

I agree with most of the comments here. This week's episode was such much better than the last.

I agree that the McCarthy part was rather prolonged but the latter half of the programme was so much more interesting.

A very good hour's viewing!

Judy

[acceber]

I thought that this was probably the best episode of this series to date, the variety of people in her tree that she researched and how they all fitted together from her GG Grandfather and his family in Russia to herself born in America and then moving to England.

It was also good to see lots of different documents and information, the census, passenger records, pictures etc, and especially the FBI records, which as Downside has pointed out, she couldnt have found out from anywhere else. (Unlike Rory Bremner who could have just phoned his brother)

Lets hope Kevin Whately's episode next week is in a similar style 

acceber

[Marmaduke 123]

I enjoyed the programme, but still feel it has lost the original genealogical focus.

This week we had an exposition of the McCarthy era in the US taking up at least one third of the programme. Last week we had an extended feature on mental illness taking up about half the programme.

Both very interesting in themselves, but not really what we expect from WDYTYA. Perhaps we should all make our feelings known to the production company, who I believe are WalltoWall productions:

www.walltowall.co.uk

Anne

[angelan]

I have just watched a recording of  last night's episode of 'So You Think You're Royal' and it was FANTASTIC!! just like WDYTYA was in the first series. If you guys did not watch it, watch the repeat on Sunday night (Sky 3, I think)

Sorry but I am jumping ship !  I don't know if there are any more episodes to watch but I would rather watch a re-run of this series than  this present series of WDYTYA!

Have never heard of 'So You Think You're Royal' Is it only available on Sky? We can get digital channels, but don't pay for Sky. Sounds like we're missing a great programme.

I agree that this week was the best of the series so far. I assume Zoe's mother's family weren't interesting enough to follow up. I'm sure they do lots of research and concentrate on the most interesting stories.

Angela

[lesleyhannah]

Angela, we've got Virgin cable, and they've recently been including Sky 3 in the package. I've only seen a couple of the 'Royal' programmes, but they really are good. They treat the research seriously, but appeal to a wider audience by giving some suspense as to whether the family do have royal connections or not.

My cable channel also showed an old WDYTYA tonight - the Alastair McGowan one - from a couple of series ago. It was by no means the best programme but it brought home what everyone has been saying about this series. Alistair McGowan was genuinely surprised at each generation they uncovered in India, and the researchers followed his family back until they found the original British (or actually Irish) ancestor that first went to India. That was real research - which we haven't seen much of at all in this series.

Mind you, I did enjoy Zoe Wanamaker - so I'm hoping the next programme is back to the old format.

[KateW]

'So you think you're Royal' is on a digital channel.  I'm sorry I can't remember which one but I watch it & I haven't got Sky!      I agree it is a very interesting programme with detailed information. 

[Benn2509]

So you think you're royal is on sky 3, a freeview channel, on monday nights at 8pm. As far as I know they are repeats, but well worth watching, you get to see 'real' research as well as a history lesson. It can be a little cheesy at times though!!
Apparently 1 in 4 people have a royal connection in their tree - I think I must be one of the other 3!!!

[Stone931]

we watched an old episode on I believe the Blighty channel last night.

Alistair McGowan.

The programme got stuck in straight away, was chock full of research and interesting asides about the British in India, and went all the way back to Ireland (not Scotland as our hero had believed / hoped! ) in the 18th Century.

A very different format and in-depth content compared to the current series.