Local historian Kristy Rudd had quite a Day when TV network SBS’ crew arrived to film her and a world-famous Australian actor in the cold cellar below an historic Shepparton hotel for the current season of Who Do You Think You Are?
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Now in its 17th season, the show takes a deep dive into the family histories of well-known celebrities.
Actor and producer Matt Day is among this season’s subjects, who also include singers Guy Sebastian and Kate Ceberano and Olympian Cathy Freeman.
As viewers of tonight, June 30th’s, episode will learn, Day has strong family ties to Shepparton and the Goulburn Valley through his great-great-grandfather Alfred Day.
Kristy, who is also Shepparton Heritage Centre’s executive officer, jumped at the chance to be involved when she was contacted “out of the blue”, even though the documentary-style filming process was foreign to her.
“It was more of a research inquiry (to begin with),” Mrs Rudd said.
“I actually had no idea what it was about initially; I knew that they were from Warner Bros or something, but it was more just the, the research side of it.”
She said the producers were researching a man who’d once owned Shepparton’s Criterion Hotel and sought further information from local history buffs.
“That was the start, and I did a little bit of research and went, oh, actually this is quite significant because this is really, really early, like we’re talking 1870s here,” Mrs Rudd said.
After more correspondence, it occurred to her that the man she was researching, Alfred Day, was one of Shepparton and Numurkah Shire Council’s early councillors.
“This is when we had the Shaping Shepparton exhibition on, showing the Shepparton City Council and Shepparton progression, and I’m talking to one of the contacts on the phone, I said, hang on a minute, I think I've got a photo of him,” Mrs Rudd said.
“And she said, ‘No way!’.”
It turns out she did have that photo; an image the crew had never before seen.
Using Trove and Ancestry as tools for research tips and to confirm dates, Mrs Rudd trawled through shire records and rates notices, searched to find a will in the public archives, as well as allotment locations of premises in question and so on.
“Then of course you start looking into our photo archives, which then tells another story,” she said.
“So by putting all those together, you can cross reference everything to make sure you have it right.”
Mrs Rudd said uncovering the history became a collaborative effort.
The crew arrived in Shepparton — with Day — to put her in front of the camera.
“That was a whole different experience for me,” Mrs Rudd said.
“They said I didn’t need any experience, but to get there and actually have a script and actual certain documents that you’re presenting to the person, the celebrity, Matt (Day), was quite daunting in a sense.”
Given the Criterion Hotel no longer exists on the corner of Maude and High Sts, in the row of shops bordered by the High St car park adjacent to O’Dea’s Saddlery, the Shepparton scenes for the episode were shot in the cellar at The Aussie Hotel, on the corner of Maude and Fryers Sts, last winter.
“So we were down in the cellar and I’m reading the script going, gee whiz, you know, I’ve done TV interviews and I’m quite comfortable now talking in front of an audience, but to read off a script and know the schedule of what’s coming in a timeline, it wasn’t just doing it once, there were multiple takes and voiceovers as well,” Mrs Rudd said.
“I was there at 8am and I don’t think we finished until lunchtime, and then there were a lot of still shots that they took as well, different camera angles, different lighting.
“All in all, it was an amazing experience.”
Mrs Rudd said Day was “down to earth and so humble”.
Though her lines were scripted, she said Day was discovering these parts of his family’s history for the first time.
“His reactions were completely authentic,” Mrs Rudd said.
One year later, now the show is going to air, she’s able to talk about her experience, after being sworn to secrecy through confidentiality agreements.
She could not even disclose to her husband the exact nature of the project she was working on.
But tonight, what happened during those long hours down her rabbit hole of research and underneath Shepparton’s ground level will all be revealed when the Who Do You Think You Are? episode putting Shepparton in the spotlight premieres.
“I probably won't go down the acting stage, that’s probably not my comfort zone,” Mrs Rudd said with a smile.
“But, to be there and to be involved and actually showcase what the organisation is about, not me, but Shepparton, to have national exposure, was an opportunity I was really honoured to have.
“There’s other celebrities that have had forebears and ancestors here, but to be able to have Shepparton on a national program, and particularly that I’m from the Shepparton Heritage Centre, I think that was a real honour.”
Tune in to SBS at 7.30 tonight, June 30, or later on SBS On Demand to watch.