"Who Do You Think You Are" Series 13, Episode #1: Danny Dyer

[Geoff-E]

When I was at school (village school) I was the only one in the class who wasn't related to at least one other classmate.

Does this mean you were top of the phorm?

[pharmaT]

When I was at school (village school) I was the only one in the class who wasn't related to at least one other classmate.

Does this mean you were top of the phorm?

No it meant that I was the class weirdo who was regularly told she wasn't wanted. Told to go back where I came from, called interloper etc. On a plus side it sowed the seeds of wanting to know where I did come from.

[peggysmum]

I enjoyed the episode, i wander how many did what i do a lot during these and whip over to ancestry or wherever and have a search for the ancestor. I ended up on some Buttivant trees and then Gosnard? ones most had not got back far, i thought to myself how many of these tree owners are watching this and having a blue fit right now. I will go back on at somepoint and see if any have been updated. what very lucky people, can't imagine how excited i would be if i was watching a wdytya one day and it was one of my lines featured.

[lesleyhannah]

I always enjoy the episodes where the celebrities show real excitement or emotion at the discoveries. I'd never heard of Danny Dyer, but lived each stage of his journey with him. Hope the rest of the series lives up to this strong opener.

[bibliotaphist]

Forgive my ignorance but does this mean that we are all related to one another here in England. Am I related to my husband other than through our marriage?

Every single one of us shares at least one common ancestor who lived between est. 200,000 and 3,000 years ago and who was genetically similar to us. If that wasn't the case, we wouldn't be a species...

And the Most Recent Common Ancestor of all native European populations probably lived in mediaeval times... so yes, you and your husband and I are all related within recorded history.

Whether we can document it is another matter 

I was out on Thurs and missed WDYTYA but going to give it a go on iPlayer the night.

[Clarkey500]

I really enjoyed this episode. He was interested in all of his ancestors and his show had a bit of everything. It also showed Danny doing some actual research which, recently, is not shown on the show. A great start to the series - looking forward to the next episode.

[JONSUE]

Something that no-one seems to have commented on when discussing the likelihood of descent from royalty is that many of the children recorded as the child of a King were in fact borne by his mistress(es). So shifting to the female line (the King's wife and HER ancestors) may not be correct. And is not a feature of ROYAL families only.  I know we like to trust hdytya to take such things into account but it is food for thought.

[coombs]

Danny Dyer has Royal blood. So does most of the British population if you go back far enough. Dyer is still a working class East Londoner.

As others say, we must all be distantly related. I think British people and Asian people have a common ancestor if we go back far enough. We all reportedly descend from African tribes.

[clairec666]

We're all related to each other, we're all inbred, and we've all got royal blood. Probably. But unlike Lord Danny of Dyer, most of us can't prove it.

My ancestors are English all the way, but somewhat stubbornly won't let me get back before the mid 1700s. All of them. All it takes though is a link to a family like the Tollemaches and suddenly your family is all there, well-documented back to 1066 and beyond.