Note the date. BBC1’s family history programme Who Do You Think You Are? returns on Thursday and for actress Vicky McClure, keeping accurate notes on dates is proving to be very important.
In the opening episode of the new series, the Line Of Duty star learns about her great-grandfather Thomas, a sailor who went to Canada almost a century ago, before Vicky’s beloved ‘Nonna’ was born.
In one of the painstaking scenes of archival detective work that makes this show such a popular format, Vicky pores over shipping records with an expert. She deduces that the old boy left in January 1925, came home to his wife Ruby the following July… and Nonna was born in December.
When the full implications finally sink in, Vicky’s jaw drops. “He can’t be my Nonna’s father!” she gasps.
Danny Dyer traced his ancestry to East London, in Newham and Poplar, where many of his ancestors worked on the docks
Danny Dyer discovered that his lineage dates back to the 16th century, and Henry VIII’s brutal advisor, Thomas Cromwell
It’s a moment that sums up the appeal of this show, which first aired 20 years ago and regularly draws an audience of five million. The emotional rush, the whiff of scandalous gossip, the satisfaction of deep investigation and the thrill of a story well told all combine to make for an unmissable TV series.
One infamous moment epitomises Who Do You Think You Are? at its best. In 2016, Danny Dyer followed his ancestors to East London, in Newham and Poplar, where many of his ancestors worked on the docks.
It’s no surprise that the actor, best known for his role as landowner Mick Carter in EastEnders, comes from such a background. But what stunned him, and us, was the discovery that his lineage stretches back to the 16th century, and to Henry VIII’s brash adviser, Thomas Cromwell. Cromwell’s son Gregory married Elizabeth Seymour, the sister of Henry’s favourite wife, Jane. And those girls were direct descendants of Edward III, who ruled England for half a century from 1327.
Dyer’s macho delight at hearing that he was only 22 generations from the throne was a joy to behold. ‘That can’t be,’ he marvelled. ‘A direct descendant of Edwood the Furd? That’s just stupid, isn’t it? I think I’ll treat myself to a ruff, get a huge ruff and just bowl in it and if anyone asks I’ll just explain it to them.’
What makes Danny special is that an unbroken line of descent can be proven: no gaps, no guesses
Dame Judi Dench was ecstatic when she heard how her father, Reginald, earned his Military Cross and bar in the First World War
The reality, as scholar Adam Rutherford has explained, is that we all share a handful of common ancestors, some anonymous and some famous. In fact, everyone with broad British ancestry is descended from Edward III… and also from their own royal ancestors, including William the Conqueror and Alfred the Great. We are all as royal as Danny Dyer.
Of course, we are all descended from countless farmers in the Middle Ages. What makes Danny special is that an unbroken line of descent can be proven: no gaps, no guesses.
More than 160 celebrities have appeared on the show, starting with Bill Oddie, Amanda Redman and Sue Johnston in 2004. This time around, Spice Girl Melanie Chisholm, Olympian Jessica Ennis-Hill and singer Olly Murs have all joined the cast.
But it has also inspired countless ordinary Britons to delve into their personal history. An estimated 4.7 million people in the UK have paid for private DNA tests to discover their genetic ethnicity, according to a YouGov poll. It’s a huge and lucrative industry, with a full subscription to Findmypast.co.uk costing nearly £200 a year.
Online census pages from the Victorian National Archive have been downloaded more than 386 million times. When the 1911 census was made public in 2011, it received 24 million searches in the first month alone. Seven out of 10 people say they want to know more about their family tree, and I’m one of them: during lockdown I went hunting through court records and yellowing newspaper clippings to piece together the facts about my great-grandfather Thomas Courtain Chivers.
In the late Victorian era he was a coroner in East London, presiding over inquests and murder trials for nearly 50 years. He was also the Poplar undertaker, so it is likely that he buried a fair number of Danny’s ancestors.
In the TV series, comedian Paul Merton found himself in a Cardiff cemetery, standing over an unmarked grave, under an umbrella in a downpour. His grandmother, the wife of a First World War veteran, had died in childbirth. Merton looked destitute, and it was a stark reminder that not all family history ends with a coat of arms.
During a visit to the College of Arms, Andrew Lloyd Webber seized the opportunity to suggest that it was high time he got an official family crest. He fancied something feline, in honour of his musical Cats. ‘We need to stop people having too many pets,’ snapped the college’s heraldic expert.
Because Lord LW already knew a lot about his family tree, the experts at the Beeb challenged him – and uncovered a colourful collection of ancestors he had never suspected existed. They included a Victorian missionary whose life’s work was saving the prostitutes of the East End, and a soldier who fought at Waterloo.
Pictured: Dame Judi Dench’s family vacation in France. From left to right: sister-in-law Daphne, brother Jeffrey, father Reginald and Dame Judi Dench
Sometimes archivists need only go back a generation. Charles Dance revealed that he knew little about his mother’s past and had little memory of his father, who died in 1949, when young Charlie was not yet four.
The episode was full of intriguing surprises: the actor discovered that his father, Walter, was 25 years older than he thought and had fought in the Boer War. He was also the father of two daughters, whose existence Charles had never suspected.
Dame Judi Dench was delighted to learn how her father, Reginald, earned his Military Cross and bar in the First World War. She was shocked to discover that on her mother’s side she was descended from a lady-in-waiting at the Danish royal court in the 16th century.
Kate Winslet also discovered a Scandinavian ancestor, but hers was a Swedish farmer who was imprisoned for stealing potatoes.
Her great-great-grandfather was a former Grenadier Guardsman who became head guard at Dartmoor Prison, while both Twiggy and Tracey Emin heard of ancestors who had been sentenced to hard labour.
Journalist John Simpson’s great-grandmother, Lela, was a bareback rider in a Wild West show. She posed for a target surrounded by electric glass lights while her sharpshooter lover, Sam Cody, shot out the lights. Lela wore red tights so that if she was cut by flying glass shards, the blood wouldn’t show.
She was also the test pilot for a primitive biplane designed by Cody. What a girl!
Wildlife presenter Liz Bonnin was shocked to discover that her great-great-grandfather Francois was a plantation owner in the Caribbean who kept slaves, including girls as young as 13. “Stop filming,” she ordered the cameraman, crying angry tears.
Television baker Dame Mary Berry was delighted to discover a 19th-century Norfolk bread-making machine. Sir Ian McKellen was delighted to hear of his grandmother’s Victorian actor uncle, Frank Lowe, who made his name on the stage in melodramas.
And actor Mark Gatiss, who loves gothic and macabre stories, was delighted to hear about an Irish ancestor who once killed a vampire and buried the body head down under a large stone.
It’s a fascinating story, but what Who Do You Think You Are? proves is that we are all descended from extraordinary people. Sure, they’re remarkable—they survived plagues and civil wars, the Industrial Revolution, religious unrest and empire-building. And they were all survivors, living at least long enough to have children of their own.
Unveiling their names and remembering them again is not just entertainment. It is a tribute. After all, we owe these people our lives.
