[pinkypinky]

I've been away so just watching Daniel Radcliffe..

Surprised he didn't know more about the robbery already.

And given the early mention of the gg uncle Ernie, he must have known already that he died.

Maybe I'm too cynical now!

[Jellybaby1]

I'd agree with you. They must know more than they're letting on. The word 'diamonds' alone in your family would make you want to know more surely. However it was an interesting story in the end.

[pedroeibar1]

The Lulu programme was worse. Cynical? You? Me? I wrote THIS 7 (yes, seven) years ago. Pleasantly, research (e.g. GRO) has become considerably easier/cheaper since then!

[Hermy]

It's becoming another vehicle for their obsession with the war.

[Earnest]

But at the end of the day, people are learning that their ancestors might be interesting. And any intelligent person can see that you don't have to travel to X to use your computer.

[Jellybaby1]

Originally Posted by pedroeibar1

The Lulu programme was worse. Cynical? You? Me? I wrote THIS 7 (yes, seven) years ago. Pleasantly, research (e.g. GRO) has become considerably easier/cheaper since then!

"very few are willing to spend hours squinting at the dodgy microfilm of a tattered 1800 register." Aaah those were the days!

[Waitsian]

I enjoyed tonight's episode. They made use of state certs, censuses, newspaper reports, and court records. The first part was quite sad, and the second highly educational. I knew about the Chartist Movement but was unaware of the Newport Rising.

[jos28]

I thought it was a great episode too. Learned lots about the Welsh Chartists. I liked the use of Jack and his Dad. It made a change from the usual format and the banter between the pair of them was very entertaining. Best episode of the new season so far. I am looking forward to Katherine Ryan.

[Jellybaby1]

Katherine Ryan was blessed to be able to get back so far, however she never stopped being the performer which almost made me turn it off but I persisted till the end.

[Hermy]

Usually the telly goes off when Katherine Ryan comes on - I'm just not a fan - but I thought she was very funny, particularly when dealing with the historians.

Kate Winslet on the other hand - now that was a performance I could have done without!

[pinkypinky]

I didn't find her episode very engaging, but I did laugh at the "Ryans from Tipperary" comment.

[pedroeibar1]

The programme has grown to be less about genealogy and more about couch potato entertainment spiced up with a few ooh-aah soundbites of history. I knew nothing about Ms Ryan and watched it out of curiosity as one of my brickwalls is a Tipperary Ryan. It's a pity any Irish connection was deliberately closed off by her just because her daughter wanted to find ‘English’ roots. As ancestry is inherited from both parents, why totally ignore the girl’s father? Instead, they had to hop from male to female on the maternal line- back to Ryan’s sixth great grandfather (i.e. just one of the daughters 512 of that generation) to find England. Makes the kid less than half a percent English from that individual. Big deal – no wonder I dozed off for a while.

[Hermy]

Originally Posted by pedroeibar1

...(i.e. just one of the daughters 512 of that generation)...

I'm always bemused when they talk of their 4x great grandmother this (singular) or 5x great grandfather that (singular) as though theirs only one of each.

The programme really does a very bad job of conveying the full scope of a family tree.

[pinkypinky]

I have heard her talk about her Irish connection before. Her father is from Tipperary so she's probably very familiar with at least the recent history.

They pick what's the most interesting story.

[jos28]

This series has glossed over Irish connections so I was delighted to see Paul Merton actually in Ireland last night. Found some of it confusing, especially the visit to Richmond Barracks. They gave the impression that WWl records were available there