BBC "Who Do You Think You Are?" Gareth Malone (WDYTYA Series 12 Episode 5)

[Vengeur]

Yes!! Was just signing on to say the same thing!     Did I miss something.... 

Glad to say then I'm not going mad! It wasn't mentioned at all in the programme but it surely deserved some comment! 

Not necessarily perhaps...... after all Gareth was wanting to find out about further back and that is what he did.

Fair enough, but surely the whole point regarding his claimed ancestors depends on his WHITE grandfather actually being the son of a male PAYNE and a mother with a different surname (can't remember what it was now). So for that reason alone I think we needed an explanation

[KGarrad]

Maybe Gareth Malone didn't want to wash his dirty linen in public?

Particularly as family members are still living?

[california dreamin]

I don't think so - the family seemed pretty proud of Edmund and had photos of him all over the house.  So he wasn't hidden away.  Also, Gareth made the point that his middle name was Edmund  and his Grandfather and various other family members   

I also meant to add I really liked this episode.  It was joyful. I loved the song that was found about the whistling gate.  Agreed - a bit too much filler when a bit more genealogical info could have been produced. I also really enjoyed Gareth sharing his information with his family.  This used to be done with some of the earlier programmes.  Let's be fair we all love to share our discoveries with our own family.  And finally I too smiled ear to ear during this programme .  We should all have a Pappa.   

[sallyyorks]

It was full of singing!

The actual informative parts about the two men were interesting but again there was so much filler, not of Gareth driving down long highways a la Jerry Hall, but of numerous singsongs - with his grandfather, down the pub with a researcher, then that last bit at the end.

I've got theatre folk in my paternal side of the family, so it was interesting from that aspect. At some point I want to look further into that side of my family and hopefully find some old programmes with my ancestors names on them. Apparently one of my gt gt grandmother's was taken on stage as a baby during a production of East Lynn. It's whetted my appetite. It was wonderful hearing Edmund Payne singing, I'd be so thrilled to find out there was a recording of an ancestor somewhere.

One thing I didn't like was when he saw Dan on the census and found out he was a dyer from Leeds. He seemed far too disappointed that he might have working class antecedents.....To much left out of the bigger picture that could have been included if they chopped some of the singsongs!

I agree.
I found the sing song in the pub a bit cheesy and contrived and the programme , yet again , missed an oppurtunity to explore England's industrial heritage , via the mills (and mines) .
Richard Oastler the campaigner against child labour was from Leeds and the city also played an active role in the 1842 general strike.  Another missed chance was that they failed to explain English catholism and  just how many people in England were still catholic , especially in the north.

I did like the part where he played the old film footage to his grandad though, I thought that was sweet and touching. He did seem very enthusiastic about the  research side too and trying to decipher the occupation showed how difficult that can be at times

[jaywit]

Mmmm

From the Edmund Payne memorial website.

http://www.edmundpayne.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=367748

[Mowsehowse]

[quote from Barnes 612]
One thing I didn't like was when he saw Dan on the census and found out he was a dyer from Leeds. He seemed far too disappointed that he might have working class antecedents.....

I did not get that impression at all. 

What I felt was Gareth wanted everyone to have been involved in his "singing gene", rather than doing jobs where there was no element of the entertaintment business. 

[Mowsehowse]

Mmmm .................. From the Edmund Payne memorial website.

http://www.edmundpayne.co.uk/index.asp?pageid=367748 

It seems this site has been up and running since January 2012.   

[sarahsean]

I personally did not enjoy this episode. Too much singing for me! I disliked the way he was disappointed when ancestors were not all singing and dancing. I know that most people want their ancestors to be like them however i disliked the way he looked down on the ordinary working family members.

I have found the series to be a little hit and miss for me this time. I enjoyed the Jane Seymour episode where she tracked her Polish ancestors although it was desperately sad. I enjoyed Derrick Jacobi also.

All in all it is an entertaining show firstly rather than a family history show and that has to be taken into consideration.

I got to do a little family history research myself this week in a way as my son had history homework and had to look up the 1911 Irish census. I don`t think he was that interested  and I already had the information but it is nice to see the resources being used and you never know!

Sarah

[Rena]

I'm not too critical of any of these programmes.  Newbies can't be expected to be skilled at researching their family history and there's umpteen illustrations on rootschat of beginners fumbling about not knowing what steps to take until they're pointed in the right direction. 

This specific programme concentrated on where to look if one has an entertainer in the family and what you can expect to find IF LUCKY.   I eventually discovered my "musician" was a busker thus I wasn't lucky 

I think I probably enjoyed the sing song in the Pub because it brought back memories of when practically every pub in England had a piano where the landlord either paid a pianist or a local would rattle out a few songs and the rest of us would sing our hearts out.