Abstract
The popularity of family history research as a national pastime has been successfully adopted by British television over the last five years, with Who Do You Think You Are? (WDYTYA), produced by Wall to Wall Media Ltd, pioneering the employment of family history and memory as a televisual narrative strategy. The first series aired in Autumn 2004 to popular and critical acclaim, becoming one of the highest rated shows on BBC2. It was promoted to BBC1 in 2006 and is currently in its seventh series. The success of the format, which follows the genealogical investigations of various television personalities as they track down the stories behind their family trees, may indeed have convinced commissioners that, according to WDYTYA alumni Ian Hislop, ‘family history is not dull, but a surprisingly watchable commodity’ (in Rowan, 2005, p. 12). Indeed, the format has found international success, selling to broadcasters across Western Europe and beyond, and has been followed by a glut of programming that uses family history research as an investigative narrative structure, including other Wall to Wall productions including Not Forgotten (Channel 4, 2005), Empire’s Children (Channel 4, 2007) and You Don’t Know You’re Born (ITV1, 2007).
The British now love family history research as much as they love gardening or DIY.
(Vanessa Thorpe, The Observer, 10 October 2004)
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© 2010 Amy Holdsworth
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Holdsworth, A. (2010). Who Do You Think You Are?. In: Bell, E., Gray, A. (eds) Televising History. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230277205_17
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230277205_17
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