Of course after a thousand years have passed, there are going to be thousands, if not millions, of descendents. But, it is still something that you would be proud to find out.
Anyway, because of the license fee, the BBC are very protective of their programming. So, I don't think you'll find copies of WDYTYA on YouTube. But, you might (*cough*) find some on another well-known video sharing site that some skating competitions get streamed on.
I can't risk saying any more. You'll just have to get your (Doctor Martin) boots on, and start moving around l'internet every day trying to find them.
We are now 4 episodes into the current series (the 5[SUP]th[/SUP] episode is on tonight, but I don't think I'll get a chance to see it before going on holidays in a couple of days), and every episode so far has been very interesting.
- Daniel Radcliffe: After finding out in the previews that his Dad is from Northern Ireland, I was excited about what was going to be found on his Dad's side. But, as it turned out, it was his Mum's side that I found more interesting. Her family are Jewish (and one of them was the absolute image of Daniel!), but her ancestors came to England long before everything kicked off in Europe. So, it was something new finding out about what life was life for the Jewish communities that were established before the persecutions of the early 20[SUP]th[/SUP] century. And the specific story they found about his great-granda was very interesting. For his Dad's side, they focussed in on the experiences of his ancestors in the First World War. But, it is normal for people looking to research their family in Ireland to not be able to go back to far. There was a big fire in the records office which means that the only census records that survive are the 20[SUP]th[/SUP] century ones. The only other way to find out things is to go to parish records, and for that you need to know where exactly to look! So, I suspect that once the producers found a good story on his Mum's side, they decided to give more weight to it.
- Naomie Harris: I have to be honest, going into the episode, I knew she was an actress, but I wasn't too familiar with her. But, she had the same effect as Olivia Coleman did when she was on last year - you just took an instant liking to her! The thing that was frustrating, though, is that her own story was only mentioned in passing at the start, and wasn't properly explained. She mentioned that she had only met her Dad about 5 times in her whole life, yet when she was talking to him about his family, they seemed to get on well. And it got even more intriguing, because she was shocked to find out that he had lots of family that literally lived round the corner from the street where she grew up, but she never knew about them. Anyway, her explorations into her heritage on both sides took her to various Caribbean islands, and inevitably into the story of slavery. And, like when Liz Bonnin was on a few years ago, it was both sides of the slave trade. There was one moment that particularly stood out for me. It was when Naomie visited an old woman who last saw her when she was a baby, and who knew her great-granny well. It was so beautiful seeing them catching up. When Naomie asked her about a particular issue that had come up, this woman said she didn't know anything about it. But it was obvious from her body language that she knew everything about it. And after keeping the secret for all these decades, she wasn't going to betray a confidence now just for a TV show. I just hope that she told Naomie something in private, away from the cameras. Because this issue was so big that it actually had Naomie questioning who she was.
- Michael and Jack Whitehall: What can I say about the first duo to be on the show (father and son)? The exact opposite of Naomi Harris - you couldn't like them if you reared them! I know there are different sorts of comedy, but I cannot imagine them being the least bit funny at all! They were so dour! But, thankfully, the stories about their ancestors were more interesting than they were. And I learnt a lot about significant events in British history that I had never heard tell of before, but which people in England and Wales are probably taught about at school (we were taught about what was happening in Ireland at the same time, which is kinda understandable as it was pretty big). The best bit was that if something came up that he didn't like the sound of, Michael would just zone out and totally ignore it. He wasn't going to sit there and listen to anything bad being said about his ancestors!
- Kate Winslet: Another actress whose show reminded me a lot of Olivia Colman's, and Kim Cattrell's for that matter. The thing that really made the programmes that Olivia and Kim were on so enjoyable is that they really got into the stories. And so did Kate. This episode actually ties in with some of the things we have been discussing. There were rumours in the family that there was Swedish ancestry on her Mum's side. And when Kate was growing up, there were actually comments about how much they looked like a little Scandinavian family. And Kate was absolutely delighted when the programme proved this to be correct. And she got really emotionally connected with the people she was finding out about when she went to Sweden. And the same happened when she was exploring her Dad's side. She was really getting into the story of one particular ancestor on this side. But, then something was revealed about him which brought her back down to Earth with a bump. And she ended up really torn about how to feel about him. Best programme of the series so far.
- Katherine Ryan: On tonight. Don't know her, but I hope she is more likable than the last people representing comedy that were on.
- Paul Merton: On next Monday. Another comedian, so same hope goes as for Katherine Ryan.
The TV guides don't go any further, so I don't know what order the remaining 2 episodes will be aired in. But, to be honest, I think Sharon Osbourne is the only one of them that international readers will be familiar with. Because, frankly, I haven't even heard tell of the other person featured, a Mark Wright!
I hope you have enjoyed this wee summary.
CaroLiza_fan
so much! I enjoyed your summary thoroughly! I must explore and see if I can by hook or by crook find a couple of the episodes, esp Kate Winslet's. Sorry it took me so long to respond. I hadn't read it till this morning; I sometimes forget to check all the threads I've been posting in. Also, I didn't even go online for almost all of last week.
Whenever I hear someone currently from the British Isles (or someone who grew up there) use a phrase that I recognize from my childhood, it thrills me. Such as your writing, above, "I haven't even heard tell of ...." I grew up in Oklahoma. Southernisms often are taken verbatim from Irish, Scots, Welsh or English ancestors, especially if a few generations back they were somewhere in Appalachia. So thank you for using some of your actual speech patterns. It's fun. I've been listening to The Beatles Channel, and it's fun to hear their (to me) Southernisms. For just one example, I recently noticed how they sang "Anything a-tall" .... which I used to hear from relatives and other people. I miss my childhood culture and speech patterns ... especially miss my grandparents' voices ... so this is fun for me.
Thanks again for taking the time to recap the stories.