Wednesday 25 September 2024

Who Do You Think You Are? - Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill and Olly Murs

 

big tree in a park


Legendary Olympian Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill came to the Who Do You Think You Are? treatment eagerly, and that energy really infused itself in her episode.

First up we looked at the English side of her family, and the mystery of a mother (Jessica's great-great-grandmother) who left one day with a suitcase, and never came home.


Things in this story were complex - every time Jessica discovered an element of the story, it turned everything she had learned up to that point on its head.

(I love stories like this - it shows that there's always more going on than meets the eye!)

So, I won't go into too much detail because this really is one that needs to be seen as it unfolds to be truly appreciated, but it covers several difficult topics in a frank and non-judgemental way, and made the episode well worth the watch for this section alone.


The other half of Jessica's episode also dealt with some difficult topics, as she made her way to Jamaica with her father to investigate her side of the family.

The sad inevitably of finding enslaved people in her family tree didn't take the sting away for Jessica, but this story was, ultimately, one of hope and survival. It finished the episode well.


Singer Olly Murs' episode of Who Do You Think You Are? was truly fascinating.

Olly's grandfather originally came from Latvia, a country which I admit I know extremely little about - but more than I did, thanks to this episode!

What followed was a couldn't-make-it-up story that encompassed the circus, extra-marital affairs, war, and the horrors of the USSR.


At the moment, this is the stand-out episode of the series to me.

It's a story that's full of colourful and vivid details, as well as the tragedies of 20th Century history and the lives that got caught up in its wake.

..And that's before you even consider the circus stuff!



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