This week's TV and radio: Lisa Kudrow, Heir Hunters and much more

Submitted by mattelton

Tue, 2011-04-12 09:29

This week's
TV & radio
3 – 9 August

Pick of the week

Who Do You Think You Are?

Saturday 6 August, 6pm, Watch

With just days to go until the start of the new series of Who Do You Think You Are?, it's well worth revisiting the journey of Lisa Kudrow – best known as Phoebe from Friends – in one of the finest instalments from the US series. The horror of the Nazis' treatment of the Jewish inhabitants of Poland is thrown into stark relief when she visits Belarus to discover the fate of her great grandmother. This classic episode makes worldwide history deeply, heart-rendingly, personal.

Also this week Heir Hunters

Wednesday 3 August, 9.15am, BBC One

One of the great strengths of Heir Hunters and its daytime slot is the understatedness of its stories, which allow the compelling lives of ordinary people to shine through. The pick of this week's episodes follow two extraordinary women - Elfie Lee, whose trail of relatives take the Heir Hunters as far as Africa, and Dorothea Allen, a society millionairess who owned everything money could buy - but also led a mysterious double life. Watch it on BBC iPlayer here.

Generations Apart

Monday 8 August, 9am, Radio 4

A landmark two-part series which follows the lives of two generations of Britons, looking at the similarities and differences between the two. This, the first episode, talks to the 'Baby Boomers', born in 1946, as they turn 65. We encounter a couple training for a triathlon, a woman making her way in the new job market, and a man reluctant to take retirement. Fascinating history in the making.

In Living Memory

Wednesday 3 August, 11am,

In 1961, disaster struck Tristan da Cunha, a small British territory in the South Atlantic Ocean, when a volcanic eruption forced the island's population to abandon their homes. The 290 islanders were eventually evacuated to Britain, and the bulk of the population didn't return home until 1963. As well as looking at this extraordinary event from half a century ago, the documentary also explores the founding of the island and its inhabitants' unique way of life. Listen on BBC iPlayer here.

Words | Holly Stevenson

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