I notice that ITV has commissioned it’s own version of the BBC2 (and now BBC1) hit genealogy programme, Who Do You Think You Are? The BBC version is produced by Wall to Wall Television.
So who has ITV got to put together it’s show, provisionally titled Get A Proper Job? Wall to Wall Television is who.
In the original presenterless series, celebrities trace their family trees to see how their ancestors lived their lives and earned their livings. In the presenterless Get A Proper Job, a series of celebrities will trace their family trees and find out what their ancestors did for a living. The clever “twist” is that the celebrities try to perform the job for themselves.
Someone has basically watched Who Do You Think You Are and Tony Robinson’s Worst Jobs In History in quick succession and just merged them together.
I think that if I was the BBC commissioning editor responsible for Who Do You Think You Are, I might be a little peeved that ITV is not only ripping off my idea, but using the same production company to do it.
ITV’s in trouble, but copycat programming is not the way to go.