Finding who’s to blame
WHEN we cross a bridge, we expect to get to the other side.Yet a year ago this week, 43 people died when the Morandi Bridge in Genoa, Italy, collapsed suddenly, sending 27 vehicles hurtling into the void. WHEN BRIDGES COLLAPSE: THE GENOA DISASTER (BBC2,
9pm) is a fascinating documentary exploring the aftermath of the tragedy. There’s powerful testimony from survivors – footage accompanies one man’s story of being rescued in a daring operation when his work van ended up dangling between two sections of
bridge, literally swaying in the wind (his colleague was killed).
After securing the van with cables to stop it plunging into the valley below, firemen lowered the survivor to safety in a harness.
State’s attorney Francesco Cozzi and his team are investigating 74 people in connection with the disaster. He’s expecting heads to
roll, as he says chillingly: “There’s no way this was an accident.” WHO DO YOU THINK YOU
ARE? (BBC1, 9pm) may be 15 years old, but shows no signs of losing our interest, not least because the show keeps attracting the odd A-lister to keep us hooked.
This year’s biggest coup is Oscar winner Kate Winslet, who’s decided to dig up her roots following the death two years ago of her mother, Sally. Understandably, Kate gets emotional when talking about her mum, whom she describes as very much the heart of the family.
Sally was rumoured to have Scandinavian roots, and Kate’s thrilled to find out that, just a few generations ago, Sally’s ancestors had indeed emigrated to London from Halland in southern Sweden. Kate travels there to find out what forced them out of Scandinavia and is saddened and angered to discover the hardships they faced, from famine to flogging.
On her father, Roger’s, side of the family, Kate says she thinks they were publicans, but discovers that one was a drummer boy in the Grenadier Guards. Overall, an enlightening trip down memory lane with Kate.
Long Lost Family has a way of emptying our tear ducts like no other show.The depths of emotion stirred when its subjects learn their
birth relatives have been found is so touching, you’d need a heart of granite not to be moved.
And it’s pretty much the same in this follow-up show, LONG LOST FAMILY: WHAT HAPPENED NEXT (ITV, 9pm),
which tonight reunites us with John Nicklin.
Last year he was introduced to four siblings on his birth mother’s side; now we discover he’s been reunited with family members on his father’s side.
And there’s a very happy ending for Pauline Wood, aged 81, who’s preparing to be walked up the aisle on her wedding day by her long-lost brother Colin.