"Who Do You Think You Are", Series 14: #7 Fearne Cotton

[fallingonabruise]

it annoyed me how at the end, just before the Doctor died, she was saying ''how would he be able to feed the kids'' but surely by that time they would have been pretty much grown up ?

[KGarrad]

Maybe they could show people looking up censuses in other episodes?

Hang on a minute! Don't they do that almost every week?

[sallyyorks]

it annoyed me how at the end, just before the Doctor died, she was saying ''how would he be able to feed the kids'' but surely by that time they would have been pretty much grown up ?

And the idea that they became poverty stricken and destitute. They certainly wouldn't have been as badly off as the actual workhouse inmates or the many agricultural labourers there would have been in the area.

Again with WDYTYA. I would like to see them follow up more about English working class ancestors. We don't seem to get many of their ag lab or industrial labourer stories represented in the programme. That is what most people watching the programme ancestors would have been

[aghadowey]

And the idea that they became poverty stricken and destitute. They certainly wouldn't have been as badly off as the actual workhouse inmates or the many agricultural labourers there would have been in the area.

Since the programme wasn't able to go into details on William Gilmour's family after his death you have no idea what became of them   

[Mowsehowse]

it annoyed me how at the end, just before the Doctor died, she was saying ''how would he be able to feed the kids'' but surely by that time they would have been pretty much grown up ?

And the idea that they became poverty stricken and destitute. They certainly wouldn't have been as badly off as the actual workhouse inmates or the many agricultural labourers there would have been in the area.

Again with WDYTYA. I would like to see them follow up more about English working class ancestors. We don't seem to get many of their ag lab or industrial labourer stories represented in the programme. That is what most people watching the programme ancestors would have been

All  true, but I suppose we are back to the question of the audience for the programme. Is it supposed to be light entertainment or more instructive? 

They did mention how difficult life was for the miners.

Perhaps we could have something about the mariners/sea fishing fraternity too?

[sallyyorks]

And the idea that they became poverty stricken and destitute. They certainly wouldn't have been as badly off as the actual workhouse inmates or the many agricultural labourers there would have been in the area.

Since the programme wasn't able to go into details on William Gilmour's family after his death you have no idea what became of them   

I was referring to what was shown in the programme 

[Barnes612]

My thoughts exactly. Far too much wandering through fields and posing on fallen tree stumps, for me. Could have done without the kids and cakes bit at the start as well. She's always struck me as a very 'appearances' kind of girl.

I'm glad I'm not the only person who thought this!  I haven't watched it all yet, but the part with her parents has left me feeling a bit ho hum about it.

[sallyyorks]

it annoyed me how at the end, just before the Doctor died, she was saying ''how would he be able to feed the kids'' but surely by that time they would have been pretty much grown up ?

And the idea that they became poverty stricken and destitute. They certainly wouldn't have been as badly off as the actual workhouse inmates or the many agricultural labourers there would have been in the area.

Again with WDYTYA. I would like to see them follow up more about English working class ancestors. We don't seem to get many of their ag lab or industrial labourer stories represented in the programme. That is what most people watching the programme ancestors would have been

All  true, but I suppose we are back to the question of the audience for the programme. Is it supposed to be light entertainment or more instructive? 

They did mention how difficult life was for the miners.

Perhaps we could have something about the mariners/sea fishing fraternity too?

Yes. A swing rioter from Kent or Surrey. A plug rioter or chartist from Bradford. A striking coal miner from Staffordshire or Durham or an overworked mill labourer from Leeds or Manchester are all interesting, but maybe just not 'exotic' enough for the BBC. Perhaps the researchers and crew like their jolly's on boats and planes a bit too much?

It isn't that difficult to find an English ancestor connected to one of the above in my list. But it's as if the BBC don't even bother trying to find the interesting political or 'peoples history' stories in England. They will touch on it for a short while, Jerry Halls episode did five minutes on the mills, but then it's off on some boat or plane to find an ancestor whose origins are further away

[coombs]

Nice to get an insight into how the show is made and how much of it ends up on the cutting room floor. You can tell that when they look on Anc and type their ancestor's name in and lo and behold there he/she is within a few seconds, even with a common name. Welcome to the real world where we spend hours trying to hunt down the correct ancestor on Anc.