I sat down last night to watch some telly, and I said to the wife "Remind me to watch "Who Do You Think You Are?" tomorrow night, because I missed it last week". Just as I said this I turned over the channel and started reading a book, when I heard the unmistakable voice of Griff Rhys Jones coming for the box in the corner. I realised straight away that "Who Do You Think You Are?" was already on and a day earlier than expected.
Even though I'd missed the first 20 minutes it made riveting viewing. Griff had been brought up to believe that his Gt Grandfather had been a engine driver killed in a rail crash. The reality was very different. He had been killed in a drunken punch-up outside a pub, which he may well have been the instigator of. I think it's really important that people have a sense of where they've come from and what's gone into making them who they are today. Every family has secrets and it's so much better to have them out in the open.
Of course, my peers will recall Griff from "The Not the Nine o'clock News" and "Smith and Jones" shows, which to my mind were incomparable in their day, apart from Monty Python perhaps. Griff and Mel had and still have I believe a great friendship, which made their act work all the better. I've had some of their stuff on this blog before, check this video for instance. That's just a small glimpse of their material.
