Adultery, war, migration and madness - family history can be fascinating,
but how do you take the leap from casual interest to actually doing something
about it?
The new Family History section from bbc.co.uk/history has all the answers.
Says editor Richard Cable: "Most people are put off researching their
family's past by the idea that it's time-consuming, frustrating and intimidating.
There's simply too much stuff out there, especially on the internet.
"Our site gives you all the tools to get started quickly and easily.
"There's everything from Bloodlines, a superb timeline that leads you
through the maze of genealogy resources, to the Family History Trail,
a step-by-step guide to honing your research methods."
Each of the ten films in the 大象传媒 TWO series Who Do You Think You Are?
ends with a five-minute segment, hosted by Adrian Chiles,
which takes an in-depth look at the research methods used in the programmes.
"We're hoping the website's message boards will generate some new leads
in the celebrity stories which we can then feed back into the programmes,"
says Cable.
"It would be terrific to find someone with a photo of their grandad with
Ian Hislop's at Spion Kop.
"We also have experts answering questions online, specialist feature
articles, galleries full of the public's photo stories and, of course,
People's War, our World War Two oral history project."
The site also features background on the stories of the famous faces
featured in Who Do You Think You Are?
Visit bbc.co.uk/familyhistory from 5 October.