BBC TV "WDYTYA?" Series 10 Episode #1: Una Stubbs

[california dreamin]

Well I've just watched it - was really looking forward to it.  Is it me?  Have they dumbed it down? Although charming in parts I really was disappointed.  I especially missed the lovely voice overs of Mark Strong.  Seems he's been replaced by Sheri Lunghi.  Oh dear.

Perhaps better next week?  Let's hope so.

[Davsuro]

I wonder how Una's parents met? 

[Suffolk Mawther]

Although we did not go back too far in terms of years, I really enjoyed this one as a warm up to the series.  So many co-incidences in her maternal and paternal lines.  Nice that for a show business person she was not 'acting' as so many of the subjects have in the past.

Perhaps Mark Strong felt it was time to move on (although he was also the narrator for the USA series). I thought Cherie Lunghi was calm and clear and easy to understand, just as Mark had been.

Great to see Peter Higginbottom of the Workhouses website 

SM

[halhawk]

I also enjoyed it, though I had to stop myself yelling 'because she's illegitimate' when Una was looking at Annie's birth certificate.  It's hard to remember that things like that are totally new to the subjects 

I wonder if Una followed up on the reference to Annie's dancing with her cousins - presumably this was just personal rather than professional.

[stonechat]

Ir was generally OK, though they did not go back far, and too much time was shown of Una's emotions

[KGarrad]

I thought it was a good start to the series.
They managed to introduce a number of concepts that Joe Public probably wasn't too aware of?

Workhouses.
Illegitimate births.
Factory workers, and typical housing.
Basic steps in FH - marriage & birth certificates, use of Ancestry (even if it wasn't named!).
A "dysfunctional" family - Una not having contact with her father's family.

Yes, I too thought Una was a bit over-emotional!

All-in-all a good start!

[Petros]

An improvement on many of the last series. And having grown up in Letchworth GC, and educated in the school in its central hub, it was interesting to learn of Ebenezer Howard's background

[Greensleeves]

I found it fascinating even though it didn't go back very far.  I must admit I knew nothing of Ebenezer Howard's background; looking him up on Wiki after the programme I was interested to read of his time in America which went a long way to shaping his views.  I think during that time he also seems to have made some influential friends which probably helped him in later years to achieve his dream.  I had puzzled during the programme how a man from an 'ordinary' background could have achieved so much, whilst still working as a short-hand writer.  But it seems there was a lot more to him than than.  I too would have been interested to know how Una's parents met; but the chances are that nobody knows that.  I know she was emotional, but I would have been emotional/angry/upset if I had discovered a side of my family which had been deliberately kept hidden from me.  Particularly the dancing link.  Una must have felt a keen sense of loss at never having had contact with her paternal grandmother.

[Lydart]

I thought this programme was delightful .... Una came across as an innocent, charming, simple person .... what you saw was what you got.   No drama or false emotions, very refreshing.  I thought she was lovely and so moved by what she found out, or what was found for her.

I too have wanted to know a bit more about Ebenezer .... must look him up.   

Good start to the series.