Tuesday, 12 June 2018

WDYTYA? - Michelle Keegan

Michelle Keegan's episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was a tale of survivors.

One of her main family lines originated in Gibraltar - which, if you don't know, is a British dependency off the coast of Spain.





vintage style collage






Gibraltar was largely evacuated in WW2, due to both its strategic importance, and it's vulnerable position in the heart of Europe.

The civilian refugees - people who, though largely Spanish-speaking, considered themselves Brits - were sent to many locations, including the UK mainland.

These British citizens found themselves in the odd position of being treated as foreigners on the British mainland - strangers in their own country.




Another Gibraltarian ancestor had emigrated from Genoa in Italy, alone, at the age of just 13.

He worked his way to a moderately successful - if slightly on the edge of the law - business at the port.




A separate line of Michelle's family hail from her own native Manchester, where Michelle found that one of her ancestors was a suffragist.

I think that a little more could have been made of the differences between suffragists and suffragettes, since this seemed a bit rushed-in at the end, but I guess it can be hard to decide what to include sometimes!






The BBC are doing one of their patented random gaps between WDYTYA? episodes, so I have no idea when the next one's on!

Monday, 4 June 2018

New WDYTYA? Series (+ Info on My Privacy Policy)







The 15th series of Who Do You Think You Are? starts this week with Michelle Keegan, actress from BBC series Our Girl.



Other celebrities featured in series 15 are:

  • Olivia Colman, actress
  • Boy George, musician
  • Shirley Ballas, Strictly Come Dancing judge
  • Lee Mack, comedian
  • Marvin Humes, former JLS member and TV presenter
  • Robert Rinder, TV's Judge Rinder
  • Jonnie Peacock, Paralympian








Here in Wales, the series is premiering at 23.05 (11.05pm) on Wednesday (6th June,) on BBC1 Wales.

In Scotland, it premiers at 21.00 (9pm) on Thursday (7th June) on BBC1 Scotland.

And everywhere else, it premiers at 21.00 (9pm) on Wednesday (6th June,) on your local BBC1.

I'm hoping to write summaries for the episodes again - so look out for that!










Also worth a look for fans of history is Suffragettes with Lucy Worsley, on tonight on BBC1 at 20.30 (8.30pm)




On a business note, you may've heard about the new GDPR EU regulations.

I take your privacy and the collection of your data seriously, and you can see my privacy policy here.