I struggled to stay awake, I found it really boring.

Likewise!

They didn't even mention that Geoffrey's birth was re-registered after his parents' marriage, which might have been of interest to family historians.

Isn't history what family history is all about? If you don't understand the events surrounding the decisions our dead ancestors made, even ones as closely connected as one's father, by knowing some of the social history also of the time, then personally I don't see the point in doing any family research at all. Its not just about collecting names, places, and dates.

I enjoyed it. Just because it focused on his father didn't make it boring at all. He had a violent father he didn't even see up to 5-years-old... and by looking at archives and the history of the time helped him to understand and accept him as a fellow human being.

Yes but..... it got , shall we say, a little tedious?
As it was all it covered, just the generation pre Patrick.

I think they could have covered it as well, in less time though.
I'd like to have known where his mother came from too , and about his grandparents.

It DID help Patrick understand what made his father tick, but it didn't add a lot to what makes him who he is.

I wandered off long before the end, popped back once or twice to see if it had improved...not impressed.

Yes, history is important but this was a history lesson about the war. We could, as serious researchers, have found out all that background anyway, common to many other men, not just his father.

I felt this programme was more about Patrick coming to terms with his father. Interesting and compelling for HIM - but of little interest to anyone else - a bit like looking at someone else's holiday snaps! I really did not feel this was family history.

OC

I didn't feel very enthusiastic about this programme when I read the review in the Radio Times and didn't watch as my Mum is staying with me and we saw a dvd of "The King's Speech" instead.

After reading your reports I don't think I'll bother with seeing it on catch-up.

The husband felt he was watching a WW2 documentary on Military History, not WDYTYA - tend to agree.

Alfred was clearly a troubled man guilty of domestic violence. By concentrating purely on his military service, we learnt nothing about Alfred's earlier life and whether that, too, affected him. Where was he born? Who were his parents? Did Alfred's father serve in WW1? If the family were not from Mirfield, what brought them there? Was it mining? Gladys's father, Freedom Barrowclough, worked in the coal industry.