Who Do You Think You Are? Season 20

Jellybaby_1

June 20th BBC1 - featuring Andrew Lloyd Webber, Claire Foy, Emily Atack, Bear Grylls, Chris Ramsey, Kevin Clifton, Dev Griffin, Chris & Xand van Tulleken and Lesley Manville.

Hope I don't forget!!

ath262

seems to be at least one with Irish connections - Clare Foy, links on her maternal side to Dublin and Kildare

Jellybaby_1

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/2058296257/who-do-you-think-you-are-season-20

Annnnnd I forgot it!! Darn it! Anyway it is repeated on Tuesday 11.55pm, Andrew Lloyd Webber. I've now set the series to record next Thursday as well.

pinkypinky

Nice synchronicity to find cello composers in the family history.

WHL

I thought that the Claire Foy link to the Manchester Martyrs was interesting last night

Hermy

I've not watched any of this series.

What's it been like so far?

Are they delving very far into guests pasts?

Mick Tator

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120695523#Comment_120695523

I saw the ALW programme and part of the Clair Foy one. My impression is the series has moved further away from the ‘nuts & bolts’ of genealogy, with documents being presented e.g. “She’s mentioned in the newspapers” or “Here’s a copy of the census” – gone are the days of typing in a name. It’s more about a search for and finding an ‘interesting’ ancestor at any cost than actual broad family history. While it was nice to see Webber discovering a c1700’s musician/composer in the family (one of his 64 or 128 ancestors of that era?) but his Webber line never went past his grandfather, a plumber. It would have been nice to see an admission that earlier info couldn’t be found, if only to comment / get DNA input on him - the name can be an Old English or Germanic surname (clothworker).

pinkypinky

I did wonder why they didn't include even a few sentences about whether the Manchester Martyrs might or might not have been guilty. I knew their names, so there was no suspense for me about Claire's ancestors. However, surely the missing teeth were down to police brutality?

The sequence with the court artist was nice but went on too long - a bit of filler.

Surprisingly, they didn't go to Ireland, given she already knew one set of grandparents were Irish but the inclusion of her elderly grandfather with the big Dublin accent on him was nice.

Unrelated to the story, but the fact that she had her hair cut half way through the episode bugged me from a continuity perspective. I know it's not all filmed at the same time, but it was weird.

Hermy

While there have been some very good episodes in the past I've rather given up on the show as any of the more recent series I watched seemed to be nothing more than another avenue for the British obsession with World War's One and Two.

A2LUE42

Watched the Dev Griffin one and there was quite a bit in Ireland. 1916 rising participation, the IRB and the setting up of Coláiste Uí Chomhraidhe.