WDYTYA The Reality A Letter to BBC

[LizzieW]

At least it's better than the American version.  What a load of twaddle that is.  Back to 1700 at the click of the fingers - and always related to rich and famous or royalty.  When they find someone normal, they just abandon that part of the family

[Plummiegirl]

The US programmes do make it look easy,  but what we must remember is that if a celeb in the US is found to be a descendant of one of the early settlers, the records for this time are very comprehensive, so that can make their search look far easier.

I must say that I found Brooke Shields to be far more real in her reactions to what was found and less gushing like SJP.

[LizzieW]

I agree records of the settlers are easy to find, but Brooke Shields didn't appear to be a descendant of early settlers.  She wanted to know about her maternal grandmother, but all she found out was that her grandmother's parents were probably German (but that wasn't taken any further) and the reason she was unpleasant later on in life was because her parents had died and she must have had to look after a younger brother who then drowned. 

After that they switched rapidly to her Italian father's side of the family, where of course they found she was related to rich European bankers.  Having rushed through that and back to the 1700s or thereabouts, they then just as quickly switched to another side of the family and surprise, surprise, found she was related to English and European royalty.

[deeiluka]

I thought it might just be of interest to some of you to read the comments of one of the researchers involved with making the Australian series of WDYTYA. Some of us on the Australian board were commenting about the first series, when Stoodly found our comments and joined Rootschat so that she could contribute. Again, she joined in when the second series was broadcast.

Many of the comments you have been making on here were also made on those threads.

Anyway....just for interest....here's what Diana (Stoodly) had to say at one stage.......

http://www.rootschat.com/forum/index.php/topic,409372.225.html message #227


Dee   

[LizzieW]

I note that one comment Diana Stoodly made was:

After Series 1 of WDYTYA? in the UK the BBC did broadcast a programme which involved "ordinary" folk with extraordinary family mysteries to solve. I hasten to add that I haven't seen it but it bombed in the ratings and wasn't repeated. Like it or not television, even SBS, is all about ratings. If enough folk aren't tuning in, it just won't be broadcast again.

Perhaps the reason it "bombed" in the ratings was because it was put out on BBC4, rather than BBC1.

[jobarnesmum]

maybe it should be re- shown they repeat everything else !!!

[rnewfie]

Pardon me for stating the b******* obvious, but this is nothing to do with reality, this is a TV programme.
The only reason they are made is for entertainment value.
We all sit there and think, "If only it were that simple", but literally, every second counts on TV.
I personally, find that I always watch these programs. Susan Sarandon was on today and was quite interesting, despite the fact that the nearest she got to a king or queen in her past was that her grand-mother knew Frank Sinatra.
I wouldn't bother writing to the BBC, or whoever produces these programs, because they will continue to be made, because millions of people watch them and that is the b all and end all of it. If people complain about the fact that they are not very realistic, then they may not produce them in the future, which would be a shame.

WDYTYA --> WYSIWYG

[sue 1950]

Sorry for butting in, but the shows are only about one hour long, they have to get as much info down to make the show interesting, agree in real life it isn't so quick.

[millymcb]

I agree with that and I would probably get annoyed if they wasted time telling me all the details - but this week's one on Bruce Forsythe really made me laugh. 

SPOILER - DON'T READ ANY MORE IF YOU DON'T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS!




They found a passenger list for his grandfather accompanied by a woman, Fanny who was listed as his wife  (He was already married to Bruce's grandmother at the time and they found no divorce and remarriage so she wasn't really his wife).  But she was using his surname. 

So all they had to go on was that Joseph was saying he had married someone called Fanny ?  and the age she gave on the passenger list.

They probably did have the right couple (although they didn't show any cross-checking to prove it)... but then the voice over said something like... "and further research told us that her name was Fanny Something (can't remember the name).  She was born in X in X year in X place, and worked as a milliner in a shop which is where he probably met her."

Now that is some extrapolition from the name "Fanny"!!!!!

So from then on, he is looking for a marriage and children of Joseph to this Fanny X.  And when he finds the children he says - yes that is Fanny, with the right name. 

Now presumably they had already found the births of these children and therefor discovered her maiden name- but it is a bit back to front to give him that name first and then let him use it to track down the births.

Encourages very bad practice tut tut

Milly