The Tony website page for this programme is now online. The website address can be found on this Channel 4 webpage: (then follow the link on the front page).
Originally posted by hopski: I just knew what Phil's pedigree was going to be before they announced the DNA results. 100% Celt.
Don't understand this. How do they know to what language group his ancestors belonged from a DNA sample? If they can tell where his maternal ancestor came from in prehistory, why not with the paternal ancestor?
Broadly, there's one type of DNA that you only inherit from your mother - mitochondrial DNA. Because it isn't subject to usual mix n match of reproduction (recombination) the only way it changes down the generations is via slow, steady mutation. Because of this you can use it to track ancestry down the female line. And arrive at interesting conclusions like 'Mitochondrial Eve', our most recent matrilineal (down the mother-to-mother branch) common ancestor, who lives around 140,000 years ago. Estimates vary but everyone on the planet could have a common ancestor perhaps 10,000 years ago.
Don't understand this. How do they know to what language group his ancestors belonged from a DNA sample?
They can't, it's just a popular simplification of a very complex subject. In this case, the hypothesis is that the ancient Britons came from Iberia at the end of the last ice age. At some point after that, a handful of celtic speakers somehow caused the ancient Britons to start speaking Celtic languages with the result that former celtic speaking areas tend to be inhabited by ancient Britons who have now converted to english speakers.
However, many highly qualified geneticists produce evidence which does not support this view. We'll have to wait and see.
Just to add to Harry A's post, if anybody is interested in finding out more about the genetic evidence for the origins of the people of Britain, I can thoroughly recommend the following book:
Just to add to Harry A's post, if anybody is interested in finding out more about the genetic evidence for the origins of the people of Britain, I can thoroughly recommend the following book:
The Origins of the British by Stephen Oppenheimer
An excellent choice for starters, alongside the similarly fascinating 'Blood of the Isles' by Brian Sykes from Oxford University. Oppenheimer entertains a few revolutionary notions that have threatened to kill the sacred cows of our traditional history, namely that the Celts came from South-West Europe and not the Alpine region, and secondly that English was spoken in Britain before the Anglian invasion. He argues that 'The Saxon Shore' reflected long-term Saxon settlement before the Romans departed and that the Anglo-Saxon invasion/migration was actually conducted by the earliest Vikings from the same area of Denmark as Guthrum and Co 300 years later. A very different conclusion, say, from the work of Catherine Hills.
(Not that he isn't lovely now, of course!!) 
