Hi Listers I found the Bill Oddie program mildly interesting, obviously not expecting to learn anything new regarding the pursuit of Family History, but prepared to be interested in what Bill found out. After all, I expect people to be interested while boring them with my fascinating finds! A couple of items annoyed me though; one was Bill finding his hitherto unknown third cousin who had 'done' the Oddie family, and Bill not thinking of doing any checking of those findings himself. Surely we have all learnt never to take other peoples work for granted? But the other thing really incensed me, and that was when Bill Oddie collected the Death Certificate for his ill-fated sister, and was scathing about the fact that she was only named as the daughter of Bill's father. He went on to criticise the times for ignoring mothers and treating them as baby making machines, etc. I was shouting at him to get the birth certificate before making such remarks, and also for goodness sake learn what the contents of a death certificate are supposed to be. Obviously the informant was the father, and the only family history information asked for on the certificate was the relationship of the deceased to the informant, which was stated clearly and accurately. Why somebody didn't put Bill Oddie right on this I can't imagine, unless it was deliberate to stir women's-lib type emotions. Dave Jacobs

Yes, Dave, I was also shouting at the TV about having to get the birth certificate for the name of the mother! I was also concerned that the impression was given at one point that actual certificates are available to view online - if only (sigh). However, overall, I did find the programme interesting, at times moving, and also unnerving - a close relative underwent ECT treatment years ago, and the depiction of that in the film, in respect of Bill's mother, was quite upsetting as I realised what my relative had undergone - horrible. I think the BBC2 show was designed for entertainment, and the BBC3 (or was it 4?) one for instruction - which of course, won't have been accessible to those without digital TV! I was very pleased to see that the programme earned BBC2 twice the usual numbers of viewers than usual for that time-slot, and only 700,000 fewer viewers than the programme on ITV1 at the same time, not bad for a minority channel. And if people think the BBC is in trouble, what does that statisitic say about ITV?! Best wishes, Sara ----- Original Message ----- From: "Dave Jacobs" <Dave@Jacobs.net> To: <ENG-SOUTHAMPTON-L@rootsweb.com> Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 1:48 PM Subject: BBC 2's "Who do you think you are" series, No 1 > Hi Listers > I found the Bill Oddie program mildly interesting, obviously not expecting > to learn anything new regarding the pursuit of Family History, but prepared > to be interested in what Bill found out. After all, I expect people to be > interested while boring them with my fascinating finds! > A couple of items annoyed me though; one was Bill finding his hitherto > unknown third cousin who had 'done' the Oddie family, and Bill not thinking > of doing any checking of those findings himself. Surely we have all learnt > never to take other peoples work for granted? > But the other thing really incensed me, and that was when Bill Oddie > collected the Death Certificate for his ill-fated sister, and was scathing > about the fact that she was only named as the daughter of Bill's > father. He went on to criticise the times for ignoring mothers and > treating them as baby making machines, etc. I was shouting at him to get > the birth certificate before making such remarks, and also for goodness > sake learn what the contents of a death certificate are supposed to be. > Obviously the informant was the father, and the only family history > information asked for on the certificate was the relationship of the > deceased to the informant, which was stated clearly and accurately. Why > somebody didn't put Bill Oddie right on this I can't imagine, unless it was > deliberate to stir women's-lib type emotions. > > Dave Jacobs > > ______________________________