Who do You Think You Are? new series

[RobinC]

Never getting this show over here, I don't know who the 'celeb's' are or where the info. is found.

BBC iplayer

[daleaway]

BBC radio is available worldwide on BBC I player, but its television programmes are only available for viewing in the UK.

I player puts a block on them for other countries.

This is so that the BBC can sell its TV programmes to other countries, or to Sky in different bits of the world.

(In the case of New Zealand and Australia, this means usually several years down the track when they get chucked in the bargain rack.)

Dale in New Zealand

[Lizzy9]

And I thought it was because we in the UK pay BBC TV licence fees, whereas the rest of the world do not. Seems I'm wrong!

[Jonesy]

I enjoyed it, even though Ms Womack, being an actress was a bit OTT with her reactions!

A particularly interesting one for me as I have someone in my tree that also deserted from the Royal Garrison Artillery...

[mikejee]

I did wonder why one of the team did not point out at one point, when she comment "what small writing", that you can quite easily increase the size of the text in Ancestry at the touch of a button

[stepives]

I did wonder why one of the team did not point out at one point, when she comment "what small writing", that you can quite easily increase the size of the text in Ancestry at the touch of a button

I guess, as she was a 'newbie' to FH and Ancestry, she wouldn't have known that.

We all know, that there are a team of researchers to help all of these people on WDYTHYA, and it is set up to make a the programs run smoothly. If it wasn't, each episode would run for months on each person, I would guess. After all, each episode is only an hour long.

I would like to see a program, that shows these 'invisible' researchers doing there job.


Steve.

[DorothySandra]

I've often wished I could have the BBC's resources for my family research: the researchers and the travel - I'd love to have someone delving into my Daltons and Purcells (or is it Lursell?) in Madras, and then fly out to see all the documents!

Of course in the fight for viewers, they think they have to tap into The Public's insatiable appetite for information about celebrities. I don't mind, as most of them are interesting and/or amusing (who will forget JK Rowling's gentle and kind rejection of the soldier they had found with the same name as her ancestor, or Alexander Armstrong's childlike glee at finding illustrious ancestors? ) and there are useful reminders that historical events were real and had real effects on families.

My only grumble is that they don't tell us how the researchers found the information - did they sit down for days looking at microfiches? did they track it through a commercial programme? did they google it? I suppose I want to know if I could do the same thing. If they show the Rupert Penry Jones episode again I'll watch more carefully!

[DorothySandra]

Colin: I live in England, and I don't know who half the celebrities are, either.

[Megan Roberts]

My only grumble is that they don't tell us how the researchers found the information -

I don't suppose that they ever will, because if they did these researchers, who make their livings from charging people, would be giving away "trade secrets".

But we don't really need paid researchers when we have knowledgable forums like this one do we?

[terrysfamily]

But we don't really need paid researchers when we have knowledgable forums like this one do we?