Who Do You Think You Are?

I used to enjoy this, but I'm finding it increasingly irritating now we're on series 22.

The recent episode featuring Andrew Garfield is a good example of what's wrong with this programme. His great-grandparents were part of a large Jewish family living in Poland in the early 20th century. What could possibly have happened to them? Garfield has to pretend that he doesn't know. Fortunately he is an actor so he's able to play along with the programme-makers. WDYTYA has told this same story now at least a dozen times.

Standard well-known bits of history are presented as if they are news. Apparently Germany invaded Poland in 1939. Wow, who knew?

Any opportunity to criticise the UK via a biased view of history is eagerly grasped.

For example, the story of the Easter rising in Ireland is gone over again and again, always presenting Irish terrorists as valiant freedom fighters and the British as evil oppressors (most recently in the Aisling Bea episode).

Whenever there's a black individual doing the show (which of course is quite frequently - Layton Williams in the latest series) they go to Jamaica, and again, acting talent is required as they feign horror at the discovery that one of their ancestors was a slave.

Occasionally it's interesting, for example when some ancestor did something significant. But more often it isn't. It's just an excuse for emotional misery-wallowing and political opinion-pushing.

I cannot praise this show enough. It is a rare treat to see a celebrity do a piece without ego, but this show is heartfelt, funny, and moving in equal measures.

Some of the celebrity's are shocked by the revelations in their past. Stephen Fry finds himself in Aushwitz, Natasha Kaplinsky finds a Jewish massacre in Belarus, and Barbara Windsors family went through debtor jail.

Alistair Mcgowan finds himself in India, and John Hurt doesn't find himself in Ireland. And Nigella Lawson, Jeremy Clarkson, and Jane Horrocks find themselves related to Industrialists.

Fantastic and throughly engrossing series. 10/10.

Respect the privacy of the dead

This show talks about the private lives of generations of relatives. The show I watched yesterday in Australia about a woman who dug up the 3 marriage contracts of her great great grandfather just to be able to say and chuckle that "he was married 3 times" raises the issue about the privacy of the dead.

At present time, NSW laws do not allow people who are not party to the marriage to get copies of marriage certificates. But if they are 30 years old, anyone, not even those related to them can. There is here a certain irony.

Likewise from a certain ethical point of view, just because they are dead doesn't mean you can do whatever you like just because you can. If they were living, do you think those people would have allowed very distant relatives to pry into their lives, let alone dig up and get copies of their marriage contracts? Put yourself in the place of the dead. See how it goes.

Furthermore, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights provides "Article 17 1. No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks on his honor and reputation."

2. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks. "

Likewise, the OECD Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data provides that "although national laws and policies may differ, Member countries have a common interest in protecting privacy and individual liberties, and in reconciling fundamental but competing values such as privacy and the free flow of information; ".

Sometimes its not what we want to do with other people's lives but its what they would have wanted had they been alive

Who Do you Think You Are? is one of the better documentary series's that the BBC have made recently. I watched most episodes.

It is about ten celebrities who trace their ancestors from many years ago. This takes them around the UK and around the world too. We learn quite a lot through watching this and we also get to see different places.

Some of the celebrities taking us on this journey include newsreader Moira Stuart, comedian and ornithologist Bill Oddie, Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson, singer Lesley Garrett and actress Sue Johnston.

This was screened on BBC2 between 9 and 10pm on Tuesdays. I think it would have attracted more viewers if it had been on BBC1.

Very enjoyable.

This is a fascinating series on the genealogy of famous people. I love the way these stories unfold layer by layer to reveal the drama that is humanity from the great wars, massive migrations, and religious persecution to stories of everyday life. Birth, census, marriage, property, court and death records provide factual information of those that came before us and are woven with general historical information that is known about the time period to bring to life ancestors who were not previously known. These stories are often poignant and emotional as we come to know personal struggles. They educate us today of the way life used to be; where young children often died from diseases that today are easily prevented, where prejudice was accepted as the norm and a lack of social safety nets led to destitution. It reminds us how far we have come. How medical advances such as vaccinations and contraception have improved lives by saving children from horrible diseases and helping families plan the size of families in order to better support them. For all that is wrong with media today, it can put a spotlight on abuses and human suffering which lead to social change today. It brings to mind that great quotation attributed to George Santayana and repeated by Winston Churchill "Those that fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it."

The BBC series is much better than the American version and it is telling that in the States it is referred to as a "reality show" where in the UK it is documentary. I rated the US version an 8 out of 10 for it's scripted feel and it's blatant commercial for Ancestry.com. I rate the UK version a 10 out of 10 for its more in depth analysis.