He seems quite a nice guy. Married to Rochelle one of the Saturdays (a female singing group).
I know they don't do "ordinary" people, but have they ever had any one with English ag lab ancestors? Then they could show that it was not only Irish/Scottish/Russian/ you name it/ peasants who suffered back in the 1830s.
And also, a well-known and well-liked celebrity doesn't always make for an interesting programme!
Remember that Michael Parkinson's story was considered too mundane, and never aired. ;)
;D
Haha Xin, I don't care much for the term "celebs" either, and am generally not a fan of shortening words. I only used it because I always forget how to spellcelebreties, and need to google the correct spelling.
As I am on my ipad and find that slower going and more of a pain to look things up whilst writing up a post on rootschat, I decided to take the lazy option and shorten the word.
In addition, for some unknown reason, if I write part of a reply, open a new window to look something up, then return to finish what I was writing, often my whole message is gone .... I didn't want that to happen, hence using "celeb". ;D
Yes it may be a bit dated but I would still prefer to watch wdytya than the endless antique, cooking, reality tv or endless football which now seems to be every flipping night!Don't worry! The footy season is now ending, so there will be a break before it next takes over our schedules....
Kerryb
Were Michael Parkinson's ancestors coal miners? Hard to make an interesting story there I imagine.
WDYTYA are not interested in English working class history, so don't expect any middle class BBC tears and handwringing over the turnip pickers, the industrial spinners and weavers, the coal miners, or the hawkers and chimney sweeps. It will be off on the jollys again, to India, Ireland Jamaica, and so on. Rinse and repeat
I confess I haven't heard of many of the people, but that doesn't matter to me. I just enjoy the interesting stories the researchers dig up.The BBC's 'Murder, Mystery and My Family' was kind of like that, I think - I didn't see a full episode though, so I'm not exactly sure of the format but the glimpse I did see involved a relative looking through old newspapers or something of that ilk to find out information.
WDYTYA may have its weaknesses, but if it draws in people interested in "celebs" and sparks an interest in family history to a new audience that alone makes it useful.
What I would really like to see is a Time Team style programme with a bunch of experts and locals digging into archives - but I don't think I'll ever see one on national TV. Maybe local history groups could film their activities for local viewing?
"Judge Rinder"? - What is that?