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In this landmark history series, archaeologist Neil Oliver (of Coast) follows the biggest ever survey of the genetic make-up of the British people. The result is a kind of a DNA map of Britain a genetic Domesday Book - telling us who our ancestors were, where they came from and what they looked like. As Face of Britain reveals, encoded in our genes is a story stretching back countless generations. For our genes represent a living link with our remote ancestors. The same genes also determine who we are and how we look. Indeed, written in our faces, as Neil discovers, is the secret of our ancient ancestry. Look in the mirror and it s thousands of years of history that looks back at you.
Review
This is an intriguing series, transmitting the unmistakable excitement historians feel when the elusive past suddenly takes on tangible form. And all it takes for viewers to share that enthusiasm is a quick look in the mirror for a glimpse back in time ... Following Oxford University geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer's project to create a genetic map of Britain, this fascinating series also shows viewers the everyday signposts (linguistic, genetic and geographical) that point to the distant past. --Victoria Segal, The Sunday Times
What is so striking about this fascinating series is how much a sense of history matters to people, many of whom are determined to prove their indigenous links to a country that has always been vulnerable to invasion. Clearly roots still matter in our age of multiculturalism. --The Mail on Sunday
What is so striking about this fascinating series is how much a sense of history matters to people, many of whom are determined to prove their indigenous links to a country that has always been vulnerable to invasion. Clearly roots still matter in our age of multiculturalism. --The Mail on Sunday
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
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The British Isle's and her people have a long history, reaching back far beyond the invasions of Norman, Viking, Saxon, and Roman to the legendary times of Brutus and even Albion; but are you aware that this history is written in your face? In this 155min 3 part series, archaeologist Neil Oliver uses cutting edge forensic, genetic, linguistic and geographic evidence to illustrate just how true this is; and the results are amazing.
This series is centred around the results of a landmark reseach project, carried out by geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer and his team at Oxford University; who have created the most detailed DNA map of Britain ever, which tells us, I quote:- "exactly who our ancestors were, where they came from and what they looked like.". This indisputable genetic evidence is then digitally analysed to produce mathmatically typical faces of the various regional populations. Backing this up is a mass of linguistic and geographic information, all of which is then used to illustrate how the Celts, Saxons etc... moved across the British Isles from even the most remote times right up to our own.
Just one interesting fact revealed in this programme is that people with the MC1R gene, (known as the ginger gene) inherit this from the very first nomad hunters to have settled these islands at the ending of the Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. By contrast, the people of the eastern regions, East Anglia, Tyneside etc... are still even today; more closely related to the people of Denmark and Germany, than to their Celtic fellow countrymen in the West. All in all, this is a highly interesting, highly relevant series, which graphically illustrates how the actions of now long dead generations still affect us to this day; and how in due course, our own actions will affect those who come after us, literally for ever. Face of Britain [DVD]
This series is centred around the results of a landmark reseach project, carried out by geneticist Sir Walter Bodmer and his team at Oxford University; who have created the most detailed DNA map of Britain ever, which tells us, I quote:- "exactly who our ancestors were, where they came from and what they looked like.". This indisputable genetic evidence is then digitally analysed to produce mathmatically typical faces of the various regional populations. Backing this up is a mass of linguistic and geographic information, all of which is then used to illustrate how the Celts, Saxons etc... moved across the British Isles from even the most remote times right up to our own.
Just one interesting fact revealed in this programme is that people with the MC1R gene, (known as the ginger gene) inherit this from the very first nomad hunters to have settled these islands at the ending of the Ice Age, some 10,000 years ago. By contrast, the people of the eastern regions, East Anglia, Tyneside etc... are still even today; more closely related to the people of Denmark and Germany, than to their Celtic fellow countrymen in the West. All in all, this is a highly interesting, highly relevant series, which graphically illustrates how the actions of now long dead generations still affect us to this day; and how in due course, our own actions will affect those who come after us, literally for ever. Face of Britain [DVD]
6 of 7 people found the following review helpful
What an excellent and informative series. Once again Neil Oliver was captivating. This program allows you to question your past and where you come from. I loved the mix of anthropology, history and archaeology, combining the evidence of language and ethnoicity. It gripped me from episode 1 and just wish the programmes was longer. The fact that DNA is used in evaluating where you originated from was an inspiration for a program.
12 of 17 people found the following review helpful
Amazon Verified Purchase
The programme sets out to find the descendants of the Celts, the Anglo-Saxons, the Normans and the Vikings: how numerous they are in different regions of modern Britain, and what they look like. This could have been fascinating, but unfortunately at least half the run time was taken up with shots of people milling about in shopping centres, having blood taken from their arms (over and over again) and worst of all close-ups of test-tubes of blood filling the screen, which recurred constantly all through the programme as a kind of punctuation mark or time-filler. I hope someone makes a better film on this subject in the future. I give it two stars because I did learn a few things.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Too short
I thought that this serie would tell me more about the people who lived on the east side coast of Scotland...It doesn't mention anything about them...Or have I missed it ? Read more
Published 4 months ago by F.H
okish tv show
I was expecting something more like a documentary. This one turned out to be a tv show with a 15 min content spread to 3 series. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Erdem Karaadam
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