If the story fits: a tangential tale of sleuthing ancestors
Two minutes into Who Do You Think You Are? (BBC One) and Richard Osman was already fighting back the tears. He was talking about his late grandfather, Fred, a much-loved presence in his life. Fred grew up in poverty but found a route out by joining the Army, before becoming a police officer and rising to the rank of inspector. He had yearned for an education, winning a place at grammar school but unable to take it up because his family needed him to earn a living instead. Decades later, he watched proudly as his grandson graduated from Cambridge. That’s where Osman’s tears came in. It was a lovely story, and the first part of the programme was devoted to Fred’s life and early career as a signaller in the Royal Artillery. “I would give anything, as would we all, to have one last drink with him,” Osman said. “But I carry him with me always, his wisdom and his strength and his kindness.”
But Who Do You Think You Are? has a weakness, which is that the programme-makers often try to be too cute. So you know that when a subject says something to the effect of “wouldn’t it be extraordinary if we discovered X and Y”, it will come to pass 45 minutes later.
Thus, when Osman said that he’d “rather find a pirate than a duke” among his ancestors, the researchers turned up a relative who lived by the sea and was involved in smuggling. Osman is now a bestselling author of cosy crime novels. “Of course, I’m very interested in crime and the underbelly of the world. But I guess we’re not in charge of who our ancestors are,” he said. No, but the BBC is in charge of which ancestors get to be featured in the show.
Unable to find any actual murderers or sleuths in Osman’s distant past, the programme made do with a tangential tale: his great-great-greatgreat-grandfather, Gabriel − cue dramatic music − once discovered a dead body in 1830s Brighton. Much time was devoted to this segment of the show, with Osman the novel writer adding colourful fictional details. He went to the spot on Lover’s Walk where the body was found, in the company of a historical criminologist. A news report from the time mentioned that Gabriel, his wife and mother had gone out to look at the scene. This was all too much for Osman. “To think they were the detectives of their day!” he said. “I write about a gang who investigate things! It’s making every hair on my head stand up!” It is unlikely that viewers at home felt quite the same sense of excitement.
Bradford is having a moment. Not just the UK City of Culture for 2025, but now the subject of a new documentary, Bradford on Duty (BBC Two). The former is a source of celebration − as a Bradfordian, I declare an interest here − and the chance to showcase the best that the city has to offer. The latter… well.
It’s grim viewing. The series focuses on the poverty of inner-city Bradford. There is a 10-year gap in life expectancy between the most deprived and most affluent areas. Community nurses went to a house where a mother in her sixties sat helplessly in a chair, dying from lung disease. Her 38-year-old daughter had also been hospitalised with breathlessness, unable to climb the stairs. Later, one of the nurses cried tears of frustration: “They’re just accepting of what their lot is. It’s nobody’s fault what they’re born into, and unfortunately some people have just had such rubbish lives. That’s all they’ve ever known and it’s all they expect. Poor health is an expectation.”
Bradford’s Victorian heritage is evident in its magnificent buildings, many of which now stand derelict or have been converted into bedsits. A policeman trotted out the line (whether fact or not, I’m not sure) that Bradford once had more millionaires than anywhere in the country. That heritage is part of the reason why Bradfordians retain a pride in their city, and also a key reason for its deprivation. The cramped terraces that once housed Pakistani millworkers are now home to the unemployed, left with no source of income once the mills closed. In those circumstances, said one senior police officer, people “are likely to find something else to do, which is not always good”. Drug dealing, in other words.
These are problems particular to Bradford, but the gulf between rich and poor, or middle and underclass, is playing out across the UK. So is the chief inspector’s admission that police are so over-stretched that they can no longer attend every call. There is no quick fix. But at least there are people in Bradford, as seen here, who love their city regardless.
Who Do You Think You Are? ★★★ Bradford on Duty ★★★★