Parky's family 'too dull' for show

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Researchers spent six weeks investigating the veteran interviewer's roots but failed to unearth anything of interest among the miners, labourers and domestic staff that make up Parky's antecedents.

Writing in the Radio Times, the 74-year-old said he was a huge fan of the show.

"When Who Do You Think You Are? called and asked if I was interested, I said I would be delighted, but warned that my own research had unearthed nothing of note," he wrote.

"'Oh, they all say that. But we always find something,' they said.

"Six weeks later, they phoned to apologise. My story was so boring they had to cancel the entire project. I was gutted.

"Of all the celebrity-based telly programmes, this was the only one I wanted to be on."

But the no-nonsense Yorkshireman has come up with an unusual idea for a new quiz show.

"What about Celebrity Firing Squad?" he wrote.

Contestants would be asked questions about other celebrity shows, he explained, adding: "At the end of the quiz, the celebrities vote for the worst contestant, who is led out in front of a firing squad of volunteers made up of viewers."