Who do You think You are?

Martin Freeman was the one I liked best of all. It was a couple of years back but his manners and the way he presented himself to those who were doing the researching, were impeccable and it was a joy to watch. I've never forgotten it.

The ones I liked were Barbara Windsor, Lulu (as she has something in her family background, that was the same as mine) and she is a really good entertainer. Very good live performer. I also really liked Sharon Osborne, her whole background is interesting but on watching her episode discovered she had rather a sad family history too. Only tend to watch the programme for people I am interested in. Another one worth a watch is Jerry Hall, hers was fascinating and she seems a really nice person.

Having never watched whatever he's in, I hadn't a clue who last night's chap was. But the prog. was fascinating.

It made me remember a previous one, Dot from EastEnders, who numbered a well known 18th.C prizefighter among her ancestors, but also, way back, Spanish Jews who had likewise fled persecution in Spain and ended up via France (IIRC) in London's East End.
IIRC records of her ancestors going back as far as the 1500s were found in a synagogue in Spain.
Utterly fascinating programme.

After last night prog., with so much about the Inquisition, I found myself thanking God the Armada was defeated! Or perhaps, lost because of a combination of incompetent leadership and bad weather, according to a fairly recent documentary on the subject.

Thanks for the recommendation, TerriBull. Like you, I wasn't drawn to this one when I saw it was someone I'd never heard of from something I'd never watched. We weren't going to bother watching it, but will now, it sounds fascinating.

We watched last nights episode with Mark Wright, it was definitely one of the better ones.

(Mark was an original cast member of The Only Way is Essex, but left after a couple of seasons, he has just returned from USA where he was a presenter on one of their "showbiz" programmes. He is married to Michelle Keegan who is the "star" of Our Girl)

I must get this one on catch-up - sounds as though it might be interesting, even though I have never heard of this guy!

I loathe Mark Wright, he represents everything that I hate on TV nowadays so I gave this one a miss. I wish I could bring myself to watch it as it covers a fascinating period in history.

I dont "loathe" him but he irritates me, that "essex boy" persona is so false , so I gave it a miss.My daughter phoned to say I would have liked it so I'll maybe see it later after my visitors have gone .I can skim through it if he's really thick and overacts .

Will you watch it and report back please paddy - if he's not too awful I might give it a go

I suppose it's not so much a question of whether you like or have heard of the personality under the spotlight, but more what their personal family history reveals. Some of those featured have very run of the mill revelations and whilst, obviously interesting to them, nevertheless can be quite dull. Yesterday's episode was one of the occasional exceptional ones. It's extraordinary how genealogists are able to get that far back and produce the documentary evidence they do, Spanish in this case, and very harrowing it was.

I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the Mark Wright episode as I don't like the 'Essex boy' thing.

But I found him to be interested and sensible, so he was only occasionally a bit irritating. Certainly much better than those who have overacted their responses and shown themselves to be very ignorant.

The research brought some really interesting information to light and I thought it was one of the better episodes - one of only 2 or 3 such in the series.

I thought Mark Wright came across as likeable and sensitive. I enjoyed it.

Sometimes its a blessing to not know who these so called Celebs are as I watched last night's one in ignorance as to how this young man makes a living (hardly illegal - but just a bit shallow)….turned out to be a good one and the young man in question presented himself well and once again illustrate that us Brits are a wonderful cocktail of so many races and creeds.....am just wondering who Boris 'Oliver Cromwell' Johnson will invite into the country to rebuild it!

Sounds like he wasn't behving as he normally does on TV and definitely worth watching

sirchenjin do as I did, and ignore your dislike of trashy tv, he came across as personable and very polite and interested in what he was shown, worth a watch.

Thanks Gill - it's on my 'to watch' list now

I also thought Mark came across well, certainly not as over the top as already mentioned up thread, Ian McKellen, who kept his professional thespian hat on throughout, repeating "oh stop it" whenever a new piece of information was imparted. Nauseating after a while

I've never watched TOWIE or similar and don't intend to. It's hard to understand how the appalling Gemma Collins, popping up everywhere it seems, completely lacking in any discernible talent is carving out a very lucrative career on the back of that.

I don’t watch those reality programmes so know nothing of the man. He was polite and showed interest in his ancestors.

I too thought it was an interesting programme, but had no idea who he was.

The whole history of the Spanish inquisition was of course horrifying.

I hadn't a clue who Mark Wright was, but I actually believed his interest was genuine and reflected a real desire to understand more about his family history. He obviously feels a strong bond to his grandad and I'll bet he just loved telling him all the interesting things that were discovered.

I thought it was one of the better ones. Mark seemes a real 'family' man and it was obvious he loves and respects his grand dad. So glad for him that he found out so much interesting information about his family's past.

I always enjoy WDYTYA regardless of who the 'celebrity' is. (Never heard of Mark Wright). The way the research is done is the fascination for me and where the journey takes them. Yesterday I visited the synagogue in Plymouth (with a brilliant guide, go if you get chance) and lots of the information in the programme about Jews coming to this country via Holland made lots of sense.

I used to love this programme and so look forward to it but like so many now it has lost its sparkle as although the stories are different the format is so stale and so contrived
So although I sometimes watch I don’t look for it in the way I did
Some things just need a change round couldn’t they do it about ordinary Joe Soaps not celebrities who probably have enough money to travel and pay for all the certificates etc themselves

I did watch it ,it was an interesting story but I couldn't "connect" with Mark Wright at all .He just comes across as very superficial.Sorry .

I had not heard of him either, just watched in case it was interesting. It certainly was.
The Spanish Inquisition clearly had not featured in my education and I was astonished and appalled at the brutal reality. A real eye-opener.