TELEVISION, RADIO AND THE PRESS

		Genealogy is one of Britain’s fastest-growing pastimes and the subject of family history is consequently becoming increasingly popular in the media. The requirements for a TV genealogist are complex- ability to research stories, honing in on the most interesting ancestors and bringing both them and the subject alive, usually in very
Filming the Bristol roadshow section of Extraordinary Ancestors with Shilpa Mehta, October 2000		short time scales. These are some of the

Having researched their family trees over an intensive two-month period, Anthony and presenter Melanie Sykes took four members of the public to learn more about the lives of their most extraordinary ancestors- a coal miner who suffered an horrific death, an 18th century sea captain, a drunken soldier and William Power Trench, a bigoted slave-owner whose descendants are now happily mixed-race, which they filmed on location in a Yorkshire coal mine, a replica 18th century sailing ship, Chester Castle and locations in Jamaica, including Trenchtown and the Island Record Office, Spanish Town.

Channel 4 commissioned a three part series of Extraordinary Ancestors, broadcast in October 2000, in which Anthony worked with presenter Shilpa Mehta. Based around three roadshows, held in Bristol, Edinburgh and Cardiff, Anthony revealed a series of amazing stories, ranging from royal ancestry to an Italian valet who knew Greta Garbo, and involving props as diverse as a picture of a real-life giant baby to a live and very disgruntled Gloucester Old Spot piglet. The show was supported by a series of promotional radio interviews, including Anthony’s first Radio 4 appearance as a guest on Libby Purves’ Midweek.

Amongst Anthony’s other TV appearances have been interviews on heraldry for C4’s Revealing Secrets; the contorted Albert Square family tree for EastEnders Revealed (BBC Choice), in which he and presenter Jayne Middlemiss hosted a mock gameshow; on the complexities of modern family history for the Magazine Channel (with Simon Biagi) and BBC2’s Working Lunch. Most notable of all, however, was his appearance on BBC1’s Ruby (2002), in which he revealed the family tree of actress Michelle Collins, experiencing and coming out smiling from a grilling by la Wax herself.

2002 also included an interview on professional genealogy on Radio 4’s Shop Talk and researching and filming the story of John Ystymllyn,, an 18th century black migrant to North Wales, for C4, and was rounded off just before Christmas with the pilot of Antiques Ghostshow for Living TV.

		The series of Antiques Ghostshow was filmed at Gilston Park, Essex and on location around the country in the spring of 2003 and began its eight week run on Tuesday 8 July (with repeats on Sundays) at 9 pm on Living TV and in Canada on the Bravo! channel from 7 September. Accompanied by TV antiques expert Chris
The Antiques Ghostshow team: Anthony with Chris Gower, Derek Acorah and presenter Nina Sebastiene		Gower (as seen on Tall Tales and Antique Sales, To the Manor Born etc)

and psychic medium Derek Acorah (star of Psychic Lifetime and Most Haunted), Anthony investigated the family histories of people from all over Britain, delving into their past and filming the stories of their ancestors, from the regimental museum of the South Wales Borderers, where he found out about one of the heroic survivors of Rourke’s Drift (and held his Victoria Cross, worth almost £250,000!) and the Titanic exhibition in London, to lovely Chatsworth House and the tomb of Lord Byron at Hucknall.

2003 also saw the launch of Radio 4’s Meet the Descendants, a series investigating the extraordinary multiracial ancestry of modern Britain. With presenter Professor Jim Walvin, Anthony investigated four white British families, each with some true surprises in their ancestral past. Caesar Fitzgerald was a black sailor from Sierra Leone, who came to Kent in the mid-19th century, married a local girl and had a family who still carry his genes. At the National Archives, Anthony investigated Caesar’s origins and uncovered his links with Edward Fitzgerald, the white judge sent to Sierra Leone to enforce the end of the slave trade. In the early 19th century, Sake Dean Mohamed, opened the first Indian restaurant in Britain, and went on to open a Turkish bath in Brighton. Through Mohamed’s own words, Anthony uncovered his origins in India and investigated how the British reacted to this ground-breaking Indian entrepreneur. A section of Anthony's contribution to this show was featured on Pick of the Week. Half a century before Mohamed, a former black slave called Frank Barber took up the position of servant to one of Britain’s great eccentrics, Samuel Johnson. This episode investigated the curious dynamic which existed between the two men and also explored the substantial black community in London to which Frank belonged. Back in the Middle Ages, a crusading knight is said to have brought a handful of Muslim stonemasons to lonely Biddulph Moor in Staffordshire. The modern inhabitants retain their dark skin colour, and have lively traditions concerning their origins- the programme looked at the various theories as to where their distinctive genes really came from.

The second series of Meet the Descendants was broadcast in summer 2004. For the first episode, Anthony tracked down Christopher Kempton, a white, English descendant of Munoo, an Indian boy-servant brought to England in the early 19th century and baptized as William Munnew . The second focused on the Grüber family, Huguenot refugees to England who became leading gunpowder manufacturers in Faversham, Kent. Next, he explored the true paternity of Christina Douglas. Born in 1803 in Cape Colony to a black woman, Christina was brought to England by the famous diarist Lady Anne Barnard and later married into a family of Wiltshire squires. Stories abounded concerning her true paternity, with candidates including Baron Glenbervie and George Rex, the man who claimed to be a legitimate son of George III. But ultimately Anthony revealed that it was Lady Anne’s own husband Andrew Barnard, son of the Bishop of Limerick, who fathered Christina, ‘the accident’, as lady Anne herself wrote in her memoirs, ‘of an unguarded moment’. Finally, the series looked at Elizabeth Innes, a professor at Kent University, and her great grandfather the Nawab Nazim of Bengal, Bihar and Orissa, who came to England in a doomed attempt to seek redress against injustice from the British Government, and married a chambermaid.

2004 also saw the commissioning of the pilot of Discovery Channel's Ancestor Hunters, in which Anthony, together with historian Maria Misra and archaeologist Tony Pollard, tracked down the truth behind the Silvester family's mysteries, including a possible link to highwayman Dick Turpin - the program was broadcast in September.

In 2005, while Antiques Ghostshow continued to be repeated seemingly endlessly - but with continued new interest - around the world, Anthony appeared four times on I.T,.V.'s This Morning presenting films on the family trees - that he had traced - of presenters Phillip Schofield and Fern Britton and discussing the Old Laws of England and the family curses of Ozzy Osbourne, the Kennedys, the royal family of Monacco and Tutankhamen. 2006 opened with an appearance on Radio 4's Shop Talk to discuss GenesReunited's leading position in the Web 2.0 revolution, and an appearance on I.T.V.'s 5 0'Clock Show, hosted by Richard Hammond, with Sir Benjamin Slade, 7th baronet. This amiable if somewhat eccentric aristocrat (he once endowed one of his labradors with a trust fund of £50,000. Due to judicious investments, the fund's value rose to £130,000. When I mentioned this to him he commented 'yes, that dog did rather well'), lacking male heirs, launched a nationw0de appeal for male-line relatives to whom he could leave his ancestral Somerset estate. Besides legitimate Slade cousins, he also threw the field open to anyone who might be descended in the male line from any one of the many liaisons his ancestors are known to have had with village girls and serving maids - proof of the connection here would come through DNA. In a follow-up the following week, Anthony returned having sifted through hundreds of responses from Slades the world over. Four Slades who he had selected as being particularly likely to have DNA matches with Sir Benjamin were invited into the studio to have live DNA tests. One participant, Derek Slade, called it ‘a fantastic experience. I enjoyed it immensely’.

Notable amongst occasional radio interviews was one on BBC Radio Shropshire, Stoke and Hereford and Worcester on 15 January. Listeners were invited to call in with questions and comments about family history. What was remarkable was that calls and e-mails came not just from the Shropshire area, but from people listening via the Internet in the United States, Canada, Germany, South Africa and Australia. The show’s producer described the event as ‘the biggest response’ to a radio phone-in that she could remember.

The week of 27 February 2006 saw ITV's GMTV launch its own family history week, consisting of two interviews and a live webcast with Anthony, and a series of five short films about the family trees of five of their presenters - John Stapleton; Andrew Castle; Andrea McLean; Dr Hilary Jones and Penny Smith, that Anthony had traced over the preceeding two months. The undoubted highlight was the discovery that presenter and ex-Wimbledon tennis star Andrew Castle was a direct descendant of Annie Besant, the great 19th century social reformer, theosophist and friend of Mahatma Gandhi. Besides being mother of Andrew's great grandfather Arthur Digby Besant, Annie adopted Jiddu Krishnamurti, who was widely hailed by believers as the 'Messianic Buddha'. Anthony was thus able to add this extraordinary character to Andrew's already fascinating family tree. The films coincided with the unexpected fame to which presenter Penny Smith shot through her humorous caterwauling with jazz singer Curtis Stigers on the BBC's singing contest Just The Two Of Us in the same week. The series was so successful that a second one was commissioned, which ran from 4 to 8 September 2006, and featured five more GMTV presenters - Ben Shephard, Clair Nasir, Jenni Falconer, Fiona Phillips and the inimitable Lorraine Kelly.

May 2006 saw the launch of a new genealogy series, My Famous Family. Presented by Bill Oddie, the series looked at five ordinary people and revealed how they are related to five extremely well-known ones - Queen Victoria, the Duke of Wellington, George Stephenson, Florence Nightingale and Lawrence of Arabia. Anthony researched the five stories over a period of three months and found it quite a task. Many people are related to famous people and know it (he found 1,400 people, for example who were related to Mahatma Gandhi - but they all knew it!). Finding five people with amazing family connections but who suspected absolutely nothing was a tall order, but eventually he achieved his aim. Perhaps the most extraordinary connection was that of Rachel Corfield who shares Anthony’s Havers ancestry, thus (and previously unbeknown to her) linking her back to the Blessed Margaret Pole, Warwick the Kingmaker and Edward III. This made Rachel a cousin of Queen Victoria and a splendid participant in the show. For the Lawrence of Arabia story, Anthony was able to utilise recent research that showed that the hero's natural grandmother was a member of the Lawrence family of Sunderland, with many relatives there who knew nothing of their surprising family link. The series was commissioned (from Fulcrum TV) by UKTV History, to accompany BBC2’s Who Do You Think You Are?, which the channel were re-running. Much to the channel’s surprise and pleasure, My Famous Family got 30% more viewers than its bedfellow - the first time, apparently, a specially commissioned show has done much better than a comparable import from terrestrial TV. As Bill says, “genealogy is... a conduit to make history come alive. Although we don’t realize it, many of us have a distant connection to someone famous. It’s a very good premise for a TV programme, and it really makes people think”.The series includes Bill Oddie’s interviews with Anthony, filmed in the Society of Genealogists in London.

Anthony's next major project was Gene Detectives. The series, presented by Melanie Sykes with Anthony co-presenting as the 'Gene Detective', runs from Monday 19 February 2007 on BBC1 each morning at 9.15 for two weeks. The show is about people seeking long-lost close relatives - brothers and sisters, parents and children and in one case a lady who has lost most of her family and who was seeking a first cousin who was the only survivor of her immediate family in the Blitz.

Melanie Sykes’s role was to accompany the seekers on their journey, visiting them at home before hand and sharing their emotional experiences on their day in the Gene Detectives studio. Anthony's role was to trace the long-lost relatives in the first place using conventional genealogical means - General Registration, electoral registers, telephone directories and so on. When he got down to the last three, however, the three possible relatives were invited to the studio for a series of tests, the results of which would be compared with those of tests conducted on the seekers themselves. These tests covered physical characteristics (height, cholesterol levels, eyesight, blood pressure and and lung capacity, all of which - or the propensities to them - are genetically inherited), facial mapping - to see how people's features did or did not match up - and a 'deep ancestry' DNA test. We also asked everyone if they had any particular physical quirks, such as being able to roll their tongues, wiggle their ears or place one arm over one shoulder and the other under the other shoulder and touch their hands behind their backs.

The aim here was not only to come closer to working out who the real relative really was, but also to see to what extent close relatives really do (or don't) match each other in terms of some of those elements of ourselves that we inherit from our parents. I found the results fascinating: in many cases, facial similarities, physical matches, DNA results and body quirks really did point towards who it was - but not always. Bizarrely (or not, as they are just as much indicators of genetic inheritance as anything else), the most consistent indicators of true family connections seemed to come through the body quirks! It also gave the seekers themselves the opportunity of seeing whether they could work out who their long-lost relative really was before they met them. Many people who have never met close relatives think, or hope, that they will be able to recognise them instinctively and that close family connections produce an immediate gut reaction. In some cases, this proved not to be the case, but in some instances the gut reaction was astonishingly strong.

At the end of each episode of Gene Detectives, after the tests have been completed and the necessary off-screen professional counselling has been undertaken, the long lost relatives are reunited with each other. It’s interesting in this context that just a few weeks before the show was laucnhed, the press reported that the novelist Ian McEwan discovered he had a long-lost half-brother, and met him. The Telegraph reported “They had been warned by the Salvation Army not to expect an emotional first meeting. ‘That only happens in films’, they were told. They exchanged an ‘awkward hug’ and sat down for a drink”. It’s true that many such meetings can be anti-climaxes: besides actually finding the long-lost relatives for the ten seekers featured in the programs, Gene Detectives gave them genuinely emotional reunions, with the support of a professional councillor, and in a very supportive environment.

GMTV commissioned a third series of family trees in spring 2007, focussing this time on soap stars. Fascinatingly, Coronation Street stars Helen Worth (Gail Platt) and Wendi Peters (Cilla Battersby-Brown) had authentic northern working class roots. Helen's father's roots lie in the Leeds area, none of them ever living far from Wigglesworth, from which Helen's family takes it's name - she told Anthony she had to shorten it to Worth when performing as a girl in the stage version of The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie, because the more senior actors didn't like her name being longer than theirs! Her mother's side, however, were the Cullodens, Irish Famine immigrants, and no doubt the side though which she inherited her cheerful eloquence. Wendi's were from Blackburn: her father's family were Dawsons, but not as far back as she thought, because Anthony discovered that her great grandfather, William Johnson Dawson, was illegitimate - his mother (the daughter of a Clarkson by an innkeeper called Pemberton) had married a Mr Dawson, but had her son long after they had split up - probably by a John Johnson, who lived around the corner. The family of the father of Emmerdale's Matthew Bose (Paul Lambert) was Indian, but Matthew's mother is descended from the Helps family of canal boatmen, whose lives and drunken deaths he and Anthony explored together on the Grand Trunk Canal in Staffordshire. Finally, Scott Maslen discovered that his mother's Suckling ancestors were blacksmiths from Hendon, and that the church where they married affords a good view of Hendon Police Academy - where his on-screen character Phil Hunter in The Bill trained for his (fictional) career in the Met!

Above: Anthony with Helen Worth and Mathew Bose.

The following is a complete list of Anthony’s TV and radio broadcasts to date:

BROADCASTS

Surname phone-in, The Denis and Muffin Show, South African Radio, January 1995.
The English Manorial System, Chinese State Television Network, October 1996.
Family History, B.B.C. Radio Kent, July 1997.
Guests at H.M. The Queen’s Golden Wedding celebrations, B.B.C. News 24 and B.B.C. Radio Kent, November 1997.
The thistle, the rose, the shamrock and the leek, B.B.C. World Service, Russian division, September 1998.
Surname phone-in, B.B.C., The Pat Marsh Show, Radio Kent, September 1998.
Family History, B.B.C. Radio Cleveland, January 1999.
Family History, C.T.F.M., (Canterbury local radio) March 1999.
Genealogy and the Internet, B.B.C. Radio Cleveland, 8 September 1999.
Family History, The Barbara Sturgeon Show, B.B.C. Radio Kent, 22 September 1999 (for The Search).
Extraordinary Ancestors (52 mins), pilot, co-presented with Melanie Sykes: Freeform Productions commissioned by Channel 4, made August-November 1999.
Extraordinary Ancestors, promotional interview with Evadney Campbell, Black Echo, B.B.C. Radio Gloucester, 2 April 2000.
Extraordinary Ancestors, promotional interview, B.B.C. Radio Forth (Edinburgh area), 5 April 2000.
Extraordinary Ancestors, promotional interview concerning Indian research, Maethry Nandakumar’s ‘Sangam’ show, B.B.C. Radio Bristol, 9 April 2000.
Extraordinary Ancestors, promotional interview concerning Indian research, Annand Jasani’s ‘A Voice For All’ show, B.B.C. Radio Wales, 9 April 2000.
EastEnders family tree quiz, with Jayne Middlemiss, EastEnders Revealed, BBC Choice, May 2000.
Finding relatives through family history- double-headed interview with Cecil Humphery-Smith, by James Stewart, broadcast in July 2000 on all BBC local radio stations as part of The Search.
Extraordinary Ancestors, promotional interview, Libby Purves' Midweek program, Radio 4, Wednesday 11 October 2000.
EXTRAORDINARY ANCESTORS, (3 x 52 mins) 8 pm, Channel 4, Thursday 12, 19 and 26 October 2000.
Interview on genealogy and family history with Simon Biagi for The Magazine Channel (Channel 208, Millennium 7 Television- Sky Television), recorded 29 March 2001.
Film on heraldry for Revealing Secrets, Channel 4, 3.30 pm, 27 June 2001. How to trace your family tree, The Nick Girdler Show, B.B.C. Radio Solent, 25 September 2001, 10.30 am.
The work of Achievements and the ancestry of Rob Pittam (presenter), Working Lunch, BBC2, 12.30pm 28 January 2002.
Guest appearance with Michelle Collins, Patsy Palmer and the bogus “Prince Michael Stewart, Count of Albany and heir to the Scottish throne” on Ruby- Ruby Wax’s morning show, 10am on Tuesday 28 May 2002, BBC1.
Guest on discussion “The genealogy business”, Shop Talk, hosted by Heather Payton-Jones, broadcast on Radio 4, 11 June 2002.
“The Search for John Ystymllyn”, filmed in Criccieth in May 2002 by Diverse TV for Channel 4’s Forbidden Fruit.
“George W. Bush is related to Winston Churchill”, The Late Show, BBC West Midlands, 18 September 2002.
Antiques Ghostshow (52 mins), Living TV, 17 December 2002, 9 pm: co-presenter with Derek Acorah, spirit medium; Chris Gower, antiques expert and Heather McMillan, project co-ordinator.
Meet the Descendants: looking for Caesar, Radio 4, 21 March 2003 (11 am: presenter James Walvin, producers Colin Davies and Martin Kurzic).
ANTIQUES GHOSTSHOW, Living TV, with Derek Acorah, Chris Gower and Nina Sebastiene, eight-part series starting 8 July 2003, 9 pm. Broadcast in Canada on Bravo! from 7 September and re-run on Living TV daily on weekdays from 29 December 2003 to 16 January 2004. Broadcast in Australia, summer 2004. Also featured in Turn on Terry and Psychics Night: Living with the Dead, Channel 4, 23 August 2003, 8 pm. The show was subsequently re-run over the next few years on many times on Living and other satelite channels around the world.
Meet the Descendants: The Story of Dean Mohamed, Radio 4, 23 July 2003 (11 am: presenter James Walvin, producers Colin Davies and Martin Kurzic) and featured on Pick of the Week on Sunday 27 July 2003.
Meet the Descendants: The Secrets of Biddulph Moor,Radio 4, 30 July 2003, (11 am).
Meet the Descendants: The Story of Francis Barber, Radio 4, 6 August 2003 (11 am)
Interview and ’phone-in on genealogy, the Neil Pringle Show, BBC Southern Counties Radio, 11.30-12 am, 13 October 2003.
Sixth Sense with Colin Fry guest appearance, Living TV, 15 October 2004.
Meet the Descendants: The Story of William Munnew, Radio 4, 30 June 2004 (11 am)
Meet the Descendants: The Gruber gunpowder manufacturers of Faversham, Radio 4, 7 July 2004 (11 am)
Meet the Descendants: The Story of Christina Douglas, Radio 4, 15 July 2004 (11 am)
Meet the Descendants: The Story of Nawab Nazim, Radio 4, 21 July 2004 (11 am). Meet the Descendants can also be heard at the 'Listen again' section of the BBC's website, click here
Ancestor Hunters, The Silvester Family (pilot), Discovery Channel, 18 September (4 pm). Co-presenters with Tony Pollard and Maria Misra.
Interview about my book, Tracing your Family History, on This Morning with Philip Schofield and Fern Britton, ITV, 1.30am, Thursday 30 September 2004.
Interview on tracing family history and Nicky Campbell’s adoption book Blue Eyed Boy, Tony Fisher Show, BBC Southern Counties Radio, 3 December 2004.
Interview on Tracing your Family History prior to Cheltenham book signing, Trish Campbell, BBC Radio Gloucester, 5 December 2004.
Interview about GenesRenuited with Jaslyn Hall on ABC Radio, Australia, 7 December 2004.
Family history, GenesReunited and the Brittons of Birmingham, Interview with Keith Middleton, The Late Show, BBC Radio West Midlands, 5 April 2005, 10.20 pm.
“Philip Schofield’s Family Tree”, film shown with accompanying interview with Philip Schofield and Fern Britton, This Morning, ITV, 12 April 2005, 12.10-12.30 pm.
“Fern Britton’s Family Tree”, film shown with accompanying interview with Fern Britton and Philip Schofield, This Morning, ITV, 13 April 2005, 12.10-12.30 pm.
“Family Curses”, interview with Philip Schofield, Loraine Kelly and Anjula Mutanda, This Morning, ITV, 15 April 2005, 10.30-10.50.
“Ancient Laws” interview with interview with Philip Schofield, Loraine Kelly and Mark Stephenson (TV lawyer), This Morning, I.T.V., 7 June 2005, 10.40 am.
Inherited Wealth (with Martine Parnell), with Ian Robinson, BBC Radio Newcastle, 22 August 2005.
The new edition of Tracing Your Family History, interview with John Foster, BBC Radio Cleveland, Friday 30 September 2005
Look Up Your Genes, interview with Charlotte Evans and Cat Whiteaway, BBC Radio Wales, Sunday 2 October 2005.
“Web 2.0” (discussing new developments in the Internet including the success of GenesReunited), Shop Talk with Heather Peyton, Radio 4, Tuesday 10 January 2006 4-4.30 pm.. See picture
“Sir Benjamin Slade, baronet”, Richard Hammond’s 5 0’clock Show, ITV1, Thursday 12 January 2006, 5-6 pm, interviewed with Sir Benjamin by Richard Hammond.
Interview and phone-in on family history on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, Sunday 15 January 2006, 10.20-11.20 pm,
"Sir Benjamin part two: the DNA tests", Richard Hammond’s 5 0’clock Show, ITV1, Wednesday, 18 January 2006, 5-6 pm.interviewed by Richard Hammond.
“If surnames were still coming into existence”, interview by Phil Wood, Greater Manchester Radio (BBC), 24 January 2006, 3 – 3.15 pm.
“Unusual surnames, genealogy and the work of Genes Reunited”, interview by Tony Snell, BBC Radio Merseyside, 1 February 2006.
"The family trees of the GMTV presenters", interviewed with Andrew Castle by John Stapleton and Penny Smith, GMTV (ITV), 6.15am, Monday 27 February 2006.
"Tracing your family history", interviewed by Fiona Phillips and Andrew Castle, GMTV, 7.45 am, Monday 27 February 2006.
"The GMTV Family Tree: Andrew Castle", 27 February 2006 (research only)
"The GMTV Family Tree: Dr Hilary Jones", 28 February 2006 (research only)
"The GMTV Family Tree: Penny Smith", 1 March 2006 (research only)
"The GMTV Family Tree: John Stapleton", 2 March 2006 (research only)
"The GMTV Family Tree: Andrea McLean", 3 March 2006 (research only)
“DNA and one-name studies for family history”, interview by Keith Middleton on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, Sunday 12 March 2006, 10.30 pm.
“Finding royal blood in your family”, interview by Fern Britton and Phillip Schofield on This Morning, ITV, Thursday 16 March 2006, 11.20 am.
My Famous Family: Queen Victoria (and the Havers family). UKTV History, 15 May 2006, 9pm.
My Famous Family: Duke of Wellington. UKTV History, 16 May 2006, 9pm.
My Famous Family: George Stephenson. UKTV History, 17 May 2006, 9pm.
My Famous Family: Lawrence of Arabia. UKTV History, 18 May 2006, 9pm.
My Famous Family: Florence Nightingale. UKTV History, 19 May 2006, 9pm.
Interview and phone-in on family history on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, Sunday, 4 June 2006, 10.20-11.20 pm.
Interview on Home History on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, 3 September 2006,
"The GMTV Family Tree: Ben Shephard", GMTV, Monday 4 September (and repeated on Friday 8 September) 2006, 7.40 am (research and interview, with Ben).
"The GMTV Family Tree: Lorraine Kelly", 5 September 2006 (research only).
"The GMTV Family Tree: Jenni Falconer", 6 September 2006 (research only).
"Starting family history", interview with Lorraine Kelly, LK Today, 7 September 2006.
"The GMTV Family Tree: Clair Nasir", 7 September 2006 (research only)
"The GMTV Family Tree: Fiona Phillips", 8 September 2006 (research only)
For the foregoing see http://www.gm.tv/index.cfm?articleid=19307.
. Interview and phone-in on family history on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, 3 December 2006
Interviews with Melanie Sykes by various interviewers on BBC local radio stations about Gene Detectives: Three Counties Radio; Essex; Oxford; Devon; Swindon; Jersey; Gloucester; Somerset; Northampton; Manchester; British Forces Broadcasting; Solent; Bristol and Shropshire, 8 December 2006.
Interview on Gene Detectives, BBC Breakfast News, 13 December 2006, 8.45 am. Interview (with Jane and Albert Wright) on Gene Detectives, BBC Breakfast News, BBC1, 19 February 2007, 8.50-9 am.
GENE DETECTIVES, Ten part series, co-presented with Melanie Sykes, BBC 1, 9.15-10am daily on weekdays 19 February-2 March 2007. The shows were as follows: Jayne Hill (Monday 19th); Marie Parsisson (Tuesday 20th); Michele Kempson (Wednesday 21st); Valerie Purton (Thursday 22nd); Carol Hutchinson (Friday 23rd); Jane Wright (Monday 26th); Dennis Buckley (Tuesday 27th); Mark Jones (Wednesday 28th); Colin Wythe (Thursday 1 March) and Wendy Beckwith (Friday 2nd).
Interview and phone-in on family history on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, 4 March 2007 10.20-11.10 pm.
The Sue Dougan Show, BBC Radio Cambridge, 2-3 pm 7 March 2007.
"The GMTV Family Tree: Wendi Peters” (Cilla Battersby-Brown inThe Bil, (researched and interviewed), Monday 14 May 2007.
"The GMTV Family Tree: Scott Maslen” (Phil Hunter in The Bill), (researched and interviewed), Tuesday 15 May 2007.
"The GMTV Family Tree: Matthew Bose” Bose (Paul Lambert in Emmerdale), (researched and interviewed), Wednesday 16 May 2007.
"The GMTV Family Tree: Helen Worth” (Gail Platt in Coronation Street), (researched and interviewed), Thursday 17 May 2007.
Interview and phone-in on family history on the Keith Middleton Show, BBC Radio Shropshire; Hereford and Worcester and Stoke, 10 June 2007, 10.30-11.15.
Interview by Sarah Palmer about “Full of Soup and Gold”, the life of Henry Jermyn and his connection to the world's oldest datable wine bottle on BBC Radio Jersey, 25 July 2007, 11.15-11.40 am.
Interview on Tracing Your Irish Family History with Shuan Docherty, Highland Radio (the local radio station for Co. Donegal), 17 October 2007.
Interview on Tracing Your Irish Family History on Paul Blezard’s Between the Lines, Oneword Digital Radio, 25 October 2007, 12.30 pm and 8 pm.
Interview on Tracing Your Irish Family History The Daire Nelson Show, LM-FM (Louth and Meath local radio), 8 November 2007, 12.15 pm.

PRESS INTERVIEWS

“Branch Lines”, Raport- the magazine for Peugeot Owners, Spring 1996, pp. 50-1.
“It’s all in the past”, Canterbury Times, 4 December 1997 pp. 18-9.
“Look back in wonder”, Cosmopolitan, August 1997, p. 231.
“Rare artefacts on show”, Kentish Gazette, July 24, 1997.
“Dr Johnson’s black servant ‘proved to be my ancestor’”, The Sunday Telegraph, April 18, 1999, p. 21.
“Ancestor hunters jam Mormon website”, The Guardian, May 29, 1999, p. 10.
“Partners getting a line on the next big craze for TV”, Canterbury Times, 30 March 2000.
“Getting Back To Your Roots”, Ikea Room, issue 12 (June 2000), pp. 46-51.
“Generation Gap”, The Times Style Magazine, 8 July 2000, p. 83.
“Following the genetic trail to my African roots”, The Sunday Times News Review, 8 October 2000.
“The routes to our ancestors”, Daily Mail, Weekend, 7 October 2000, pp. 10-13. “Documentary Series: Untold”: The List, 5-19 October 2000.
“Family tree man is branching out”, Canterbury Times, 26 October 2000, p. 7.
“Kindred Spirits”, Sheila Purcell, Home & Country (The Women's Institute magazine), October 2000, pp. 44-5.
“Help solve a mystery”, Adscene (Canterbury), 3 November 2000, p. 19.
“Family Tree Fans Clog Site”, Adscene (Canterbury), Friday 11 January 2002.
“Meet the Family”, Rachel Carlyle, S (Sunday Express magazine), 17-23 February 2002 pp. 20-21 (I provided all the information).
“Past holds secrets of success”, Sarah Smith, District Life, issue 6, spring 2002, p. 24.
“The way we served”, Lucy Elkins, Daily Mail Weekend, Saturday 6 April 2002, pp. 19-20 (about Emily Lydia Adolph’s life as an Edwardian lady).
“Family Fortunes”, Kate Worsley, The Independent Magazine, 13 April 2002, pp. 12-13.
“Net archive will reveal Britons’ black roots”, Michelle Henery, The Times, 16 September 2002, p. 12.
"The antiques ghost show", Frances Hardy, Daily Mail Weekend, Saturday 31 May 2003, p. 22.
“Sign of the times”, Vogue, October 2003, pp 350-359 I was misquoted saying was 'dissipated' rather than 'dislocated'!
“Family tree expert praises details from medium”, Psychic News, Saturday October 18, 2003, issue number 3720, pp 1-2.
“Armed with the facts”, Guardian New Media, Monday 31 August 2004, page 1.
“International Relations”, The Guernsey Press, Saturday 9 October 2004, pp. 6-7.
“Through the past darkly”, Jonathan Freedland, The Guardian, 13 October 2004: see www.guardian.co.uk
News & Features: ‘Tracing your Family History’, ITV website (www.itv.com/page.asp?partid=1643).
“Tracing your Family History”, book review and ‘meet the author’, Your Family Tree, December 2004, issue 18, p. 84.
“Log-in up our roots”, Sunday Mirror, January 9 2005, pp 40-41.
“Tips from the Experts” in “A Day at the National Archives”, Family History Monthly, August 2005, no. 120, p. 24.
“Lost Fortunes in the Family Tree”, Lois Rogers, The Sunday Times, 14 August 2005, p. 4.
“JK’s Secret Scots Family”, Donna White, headline article in the Sunday Mail, 14 August 2005, pp. 1, 4-5.
“Scotland can claim JK as its own”, Fergus Sheppard, The Scotsman, 15 August 2005, see http://news.scotsman.com/scotland.cfm?id=1781732005
“Plot twist shows Rowling is true Scot”, Camillo Fracassini and Lois Rogers, The Sunday Times – Scotland, 14 August 14 2005. To view this click on: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1734889,00.html “From Riches to Rags: what happens when you find buried treasure under your family tree?”, Michelle Stanistreet, Sunday Express Review, 28 August 2005, front cover and pp. 50-51. Includes an interview with Princess Maria Sviatopolk-Mirski.
“Keep it in the family”, Gillian Tett, FT Magazine (Financial Times), October8/9 2005, issue no. 126, pp. 16-20.
“Going Down”, John-Paul Flintoff, Sunday Times news Review , December 4, 2005, cover feature and p. 2. See www.timesonline.co.uk
Interview and review of the new edition of Tracing Your Family History in Your Family Tree, issue 32, Christmas 2005, p. 82.
“Hugh’s Who”, Heather Greenaway, Sunday Mail, 18 December 2005, p. 11: see www.sundaymail.co.uk
“From Blusher with Love: Avon lady is Sean's secret Welsh cousin”, Heather Greenaway, The Sunday Mail, 15 January 2006: see:www.sundaymail.co.uk (reported in “The Family of Bond”, Family History Monthly, April 2006, n. 129).
“Between these Walls”, Simon Fowler, Ancestors, January 2007, p. 9.
"1911 Census service goes live", Your Family Tree, March 2007, issue 48, pp. 10-11.
“Sweet Genes”, Jill Parkin, Daily Mail Weekend, 17 February 2007, p. 26.
“The Inside Story” (about Gene Detectives, Radio Times, 17-23 February 2007, p. 94.
“Kate’s link to US jazz pioneer” (about my discovery of Kate Middleton’s connection to black jazz musician Frankie Fairfax, Guy Ritchie and myself), Ian Read, The Sunday Express, Sunday, 5 March 2007, p. 23.
(cited (somewhat incorrectly) at http://www.britishroyalwedding.com/2007/03/04/kate-middleton-and-prince-williams-shared-ancestry/).
“Families Reunited”, Ancestors April 2007 p. 9.
“PFH Expert on TV” Practical Family History April 2007, no. 112, p. 76.
“Trawling the past in search of family facts”, Ian Read, Kent Messenger (and subsidiary local newspapers), 5 April 2007, p. 47.
“Last will and testament”, Orla Thomas, The Guardian Guide To Family History (supplement) 14 April 2007, pp. 64-5.
“Spotlight on London”, Orla Thomas, Family History Monthly, July 2007, issue 53, no. 145, pp. 18-18-19, 20.
"1645… a governor who liked his wine", Jersey Evening Post, 18 July 2007 p. 23.

REFERENCES AND CONTRIBUTIONS

“The Merchant of Venice and a royal connection”, (unattributed) Daily Mail, September 12, 1992, p. 3.
Nellie Owings Chaney, “Of Sackcloth and Ashes- The Wells/White Marriage”, Maryland Genealogical Society Bulletin, Spring 1996, pp. 145-158.
“All in the Family!”, Classic Home, Spring 1997, p. 6.
David Munds, “Who Am I? Discovering your Family Tree”, The Paphos Press, issue 25, May 1999.
Jacqueline Burge, “Keep it in the Family”, Heritage, August/September 1999, no. 88, pp. 40-42.
“Should children take their mother’s or father’s surnames?”, Newsnight, 27 July 1999.
“Multi-talented production team dig into the past for Extraordinary Ancestors”, Broadcast, 7 July 2000, p. B+ four.
“It’s a great proposal, so let’s move on”, Canterbury Times, 24 August 2000 (pictured).
TV listings for Extraordinary Ancestors, especially review in Radio Times, 6-13 October 2000; most Sunday papers 8 October, and TV listings for transmission dates, 12, 19 and 26 October 2000, including pictures in Financial Times for Thursday 12 October and Kent Messenger w/o 12 October; Financial Times TV preview 19 October p. 25; BMH listings; The Pulse, 9 October; Voice, 2 October; Bristol Times, Evening Post 10 October pp. 2-3.
“History in the Making”, The Express 10 October, p 39 (about Shilpa Mehta’s ancestry and the program).
“Ancestral history- now that’s entertainment”, James Walton’s radio and television review, Daily Telegraph, 20 October 2000.
“On last night’s TV”, John Lyttle, Daily Express, 20 October 2000.
“Family Heirloom” (pictures and text on James Paterson), Family Tree Magazine, March 2002 vol. 18 no. 5 p. 25.
“City Life”, Kentish Gazette, February 28, 2002, p. 8.
“Unchaining the Afro-British mind’ in Black History Month’s The Chronicle, 2002, which can be viewed at click here
“And the winner is... the Biographer’s Club Award”, Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail, 1 November 2002, p. 56-7.
"Lost Sheep tax returns found", Ancestors, issue 26, October 2004, p. 7.
“Set the Video”, Ancestors, issue 26, October 2004, p. 9.
“Pick of the Day” [for Ancestor Hunters, including picture] The Daily Telegraph Television and Radio, 18-24 September 2004, p. 6.
Entry from The Times, 26 October 1839, regarding John Russell, a black man attacked in Stepney. Black and Asian Studies Association, Newsletter 40, September 2004, p. 14.
“Skeletons will tumble from the cupboard”, Writers’ Forum, November 2004, pp. 19-20.
The Psychic Adventures of Derek Acorah, Derek Acorah, Element, 2004, pp. 214-219.
“Death on the Rock” (in Q&A Feedback section), Family History Monthly, 109, October 2004, p. 58.
“Genealogy bug bites ‘This Morning’", Your Family Tree, January 2005, issue 20, pp. 12-13.
"Family Tree Newsletter" 12 January 2005, 'Family Values'http://www.genealogyforum.com/messages/genbbs.cgi/Events/71
“Genes Reunited gees up the public”, Family History Monthly, March 2005, no. 115, p. 7.
“Top Tips from the Experts”, Family History Monthly, June 2005, no. 118, p. p. 16.
“The latest in TV genealogy” (on the Britton and Schofield family trees), Family History Monthly, July 2005, np. 119, p. 16.
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,2090-1734889,00.html
“Lost Riches”, Family History Monthly, no.123, November 2005, p. 8
“JK makes front page”, Family History Monthly, no.123, November 2005, p. 6.
“Thrifty Family History” (‘Anthony’s Tips’), Sarah Warwick, Family History Monthly, December 2005, no. 124, p. 23.
“Keep Digging”, Practical Family History, January 2006, no. 97, p. 39.
Ghost Hunting with Derek Acorah, Derek Acorah, Harper Element, 2005, pp. 85-89.
N16 Magazine, News in Brief "N16 was a hub of literary activity", issue 28, Winter 2005, p. 6
“Cameron makes a name for himself”, Sunday Express, 15 January 2006, Crossbencher column, p. 27.
“Another thrifty tip” Family History Monthly, February 2006, no, 127, p. 18.
"Grant’s genealogy”, Family History Monthly, March 2006, no. 128, p. 11
Letter: “Butterfield Connections”, Practical Family History Monthly, May 2006, no. 101, p. 63.
“GMTV Family Trees”, Family History Monthly, May 2006, no. 130, p. 10.
“The paranormal is part of history”, Dan Longman, Your Family Tree, May 2006, issue 37.
Guy de la Bedoyere, “The making of My Famous Family”, Practical Family History, June 2006, no. 102, pp. 12-15.
"One woman’s very regal tree" (Aude Grasset and Madonna), Family History Monthly, July 2006, no. 132, p. 10,
"New Show for Family Historians" Norfolk Roots, May/June 2006, p. 5.
Editorial on My Famous Family, Norfolk Roots, issue 12, July/August 2006.
Review of Tracing your Family History published June 2006 Univadis
"Roots Mon!: Lorraine reveals sexy secret of auntie who lived for kicks", David Taylor, The Sunday Mail, Http://www.sundaymail.co.uk/news/feed/tm_objectid=17761920%26method=full%26siteid=64736-name_page.html
“Rise and Shine” (review of the new batch of GMTV family trees), Your Family Tree, October 2006, p. 8.
Acknowledgement in Mark Adolph, Growing up with Subbuteo, Sports Books, 2006.
“Magical history tour at civil hall exhibition”, Hoddesdon Mercury, 3 November 2006, p. 34.
Recommendation of Stella Colwell’s National Archives: a Practical Guide for Family Historians in ‘The Expert’s Choice’, Family History Monthly, Christmas 2006 no. 138 p. 21.
“Families Reunited” (interview with Melanie Sykes), Rebecca Fletcher, pp. 23-4. Daily Express Saturday magazine, 17 February 2007.
"Almost a Royal: are you related?" (about Kate Middleton), Norman Fairfax, The Journal of the Fairfax Society, April 2007, p. 11.
“Soap Stars’ Secrets”, Your Family Tree, Spring 2007, p.14.
"The Future of Genealogy?”, Craig Leyland on DNA, Family History Monthly, December 2007, no. 105, pp. 18-19.
“Royal Relationships” letter by William Buchanan concerning Princess Diana’s descent from Lord Carey, Family History Monthly, December 2007, no. 105, p. 23.