General Chat

His mother, or some other family member, might have lost a close friend or relative during the war which could explain her attitude to Germans. MB

I wonder how she coped with Juians sexuality,,,,if she didnt like germans , i bet his 'comming out' went down a storm,,,but then again,,he must earn quite a bit of money and she was obviously approved of wealth...what a snob, Julian is a lovely guy,,bless him

Your right Gwynne He seems a very kind and sensitive guy.

Well I didn't notice his nipples but did notice his voice was deepening and he looked almost straight on some occassions. He did look rather girlie in his pretty vest. I never knew of my german connections until recently. My great grandparents emigrated from Prussia Germany to New Zealand. GLoria

Apart from her desire not to find any foreigners in her tree, I thought that the weirdest thing about Mrs Clary was the way that she said 'Thank you for coming' to him each time she saw him. I can understand why one would say that to visitors - but to your own son? I was glad that Julian and his sister seemed quite close, and it was great to see him with Valerie.

Dont hink anybody has mentioned his great aunt aged 91. I thought she was a wonderful person. Felt sorry for her as she said that talking and thinking about the past is very upsetting. GLoria

Have to say I was disappointed with last night's episode but this was more because of the bar that had been raised by the quality of the first three episodes. Whilst I'm not doubting the poignancy and intrigue in the stories behind the ancestors but the way events were told didn't really capture my imagination like the other episodes did. Glad I wasn't the only one who didn't take kindly to Mrs Clary!

I put my initial thoughts on this programme on another thread, so I won't repeat them, but I'd just like to echo what Louise has said. My own mother (of English-Scottish descent and born in Wales) would have been horrified to learn of 'foreign' ancestry. Although I've not yet found anyone born outside the British Isles on her side, my father's side has a few names from other nationalities 'married in', and current generations on both sides contain my mother's dreaded 'foreigners'. I think it's great and look forward to exploring those family connections in due course. I didn't warm to Mrs Clary or agree with her distaste for Germans, but I could see the reasons behind her holding her views - as usual, it was down to conditioning and wartime propaganda. Re Julian himself, I don't care what he's talking about - I find his quips amusing and he's just beautiful to look at .- AND I loved the way he dresses, especially the 'special' shirt with the pink stripes. One for Paul to add to his collection, perhaps? ;>) I'd gladly have looked after Valerie when Julian went off to Germany. Seeing Trier, with it's typically picturesque architecture, brought back memories of a trip to Germany many years ago. I must go again. ... and what a stark contrast between the German records office and the dingy, utilitarian place we have in London! CB >|<

CB, I love quite a lot of the old German architecture and their 'Altstadts', brings back happy memories of my time sight-seeing places when I was living there. On first impressions, Trier reminded me quite a bit of Bonn.

I don't care what JC wears, he is still beautiful!!!!! I didn't think this was as interesting as I thought, but I did find it quite sweet how Julian felt he 'knew' his grandfather Jack better even though he died so young. I didn't like Mrs C from the start. I could understand her prejudice against 'foreigners' even if I think it is wrong, but she seemed like an awful snob. God forbid she find out her gt granny was a washer woman or even worse, a pauper!! She SOOOO wanted someone famous in her tree didn't she? I didn't realise how the British had segregated german men living here during the war. That was an education for me! Claire xx (looking forward to Jane Horrocks)!

Don't forget the BBC would have already known about the ''foreign'' ancestors when they filmed Mrs C making her unfortunate remarks......no doubt they spoke to her about possible ''foreigners'' in order to goad her into saying something she maybe otherwise wouldn't have thought to mention.......... I have spoken to many people over the years about doing their trees and I can't remember anyone ever saying ''I hope you don't find any foreign blood'' (or whatever she said) in their very first sentence!! She still shouldn't have said it, but I can see how this may have come about....... Same as Jeremy Paxman's slightly ''false'' whinging at the man behind the camera who asked if he was proud to be Scots/Yorkshire/Suffolk bred! Merry

I missed the first 5 minutes, so missed his mothers comments, however i did find the programme a bit repetative...as if they didn't have enough to fill the show! A real shame as i find Julian very entertaining, and was quite impressed at how he felt so connected to his ancestors....told hubby it proved i wasn't so strange after all ;-) Yvette

Didn't find the programme very interesting. Didn't think that Julian Clary was particularly interested. Loved Jeremy Paxman and Stephen Fry. I was born and bought up in Islington. 3 of my direct lines come from the 'black areas' on Booths map. They might have been extremely poor but with one exception I have found no dishonesty in the families. This is something I am very proud of. I love bringing my tree up to date and seeing how well parts of the family have done. btw my mother is 89 and does not, and never has, harboured any grudges against the Germans. As she will tell you the people to dislike are the 'men in charge' who decide our fate...... whatever their nationality. Jean x.

Did anybody else think it was funny when Julian Clary found out that his great-grandparents got married with a baby well on the way and came to the conclusion that the woman's parents thought it disgraceful and disowned her? If my family tree is typical, that was the norm in those days! They would have been more likely to disown her for not getting married when a baby was on the way! There was only one person (Ivy) who said that she thought the woman's family didn't want to have anything to do with her, and she didn't really know anything about it. Couldn't it have been that the family were all dead or just as poor as her and couldn't help even if they wanted to? Kate.

Haven't watched it yet, I taped it. Started it this morning, I'm just going back to it now. Goodness knows what they would have done if they had found a murderer in their tree!! NO, I haven't YET! LOL Deanna X

I thought that about the shotgun wedding too. I do think last nights programme allowed Julian to jump to a lot of conclusions about his family without a lot of fact. I'd liked to have heard a response to his romantic notions anout the Boxing Day marraige (along the lines of it was probably done for free so it was the only day they could afford to) And if the family of the artist were that well to do - why did she nee dto seek out a job suitable for a girl? Grrrrrrrrr

First one that I've watched so have nothng to compare it to. Thought it was a good show and just wish that I could have someone show me all the things that I'm struggling to find about my ancestors. I didn't notice his nipples, thought his clothes were great and that Julian even appeared quite masculine at times.

Andy, LOL That's another one for the list - North Yorkshire Co Durham London Somerset Wales Germany Where next? CB >|<

Julian's father seemed disappointed his father wasn't a pilot! Sounds more exciting I suppose, but in actual fact his father was very important ,in that he and his working crew were knowlegeable and responsible for safety of the pilots. They would have worked in hazardous conditions, bet he feels more proud of him now. Thought it was a lovely tender moment when Julian was touching the type of plane his grandfather would have known so well. Mau

We never really know, with these TV programmes, how much is 'manufactured' for the camera or whether anything is scripted. It's obvious that the celebrities involved are used to being filmed and in the public eye, but it must be very difficult for people such as Julian's parents to act naturally when suddenly they find themselves being filmed and recorded - especially if they're told what they can or can't say. I thought Mrs C seemed distinctly uncomfortable on camera, especially at the Bowling Green. One thing that did strike me was how well the family seemed to get on. There was an obvious bond. Shame about Valerie not being allowed to wear her glitzy collar, but ... takes all sorts! ;>))) CB >|<