Michael Parkingson & WDYTYA series

[Frosty]

Why can't Michael Parkingson be on WDYTYA?

Just because he has ordinary people in his tree, thats no reason not to put it on the TV. People like to see FAMOUS PEOPLE on WDYTYA and how they traced their tree.

I am fed up of seeing "so called Celebrities" and 1 or 2 of their family & no research.

[Miles]

I quite agree that he would make an interesting subject. The fact that his background turns out to be so ordinary would be very much in tune with what most of us find in our research. If the show used local and national history sources to show what life was like for the working class and considered the legal, social and economic changes they would have experienced, it would put their lives into context. After all being a miner in the early nineteenth century would have been a different experience from doing the same job fifty, a hundred and a hundred and fifty years later. The situation for agricultural workers similarly changed. The impact of such changes on the lives of the ancestors of, for example, David Tennant and Barbara Windsor showed the profound changes in Scottish and Irish contexts. It would be just as interesting to see how lesser changes impacted on Michael's ancestors' lives.

[lesley.mazey]

I totally agree. Most of my ancestors were "Ag Labs" but that doesnt make them any less important. After all, it was their hard work that eventually led to me so I have a lot to thank them for.

Don't forget the little people when faced with celebs linked back to God (Matthew Pinsent) and Royalty (Boris Johnson). The hard working commoners are also important.

[ksouthall]

I totally agree. Most of my ancestors were "Ag Labs" but that doesnt make them any less important. After all, it was their hard work that eventually led to me so I have a lot to thank them for.

Don't forget the little people when faced with celebs linked back to God (Matthew Pinsent) and Royalty (Boris Johnson). The hard working commoners are also important.

But it has to be an interesting programme, otherwise no one would watch it. If finding Ag Labs gets a good response from celebrities, I'm sure they'd show it. Barbara Windsor had fairly humble ancestors and they still showed her programme because they were able to make it interesting for the viewers. There also has to be some variety in the episodes to keep people watching.

I don't mind who the programme is about as long as it is interesting. I really enjoyed the Boris Johnson episode as I found it one of the most interesting, mainly because Boris is a larger than life character himself.