Rory Bremner
Rory Bremner didn't know his father very well, remembering him as a somewhat distant figure who died when his son was 18. Rory knew he was an infantry officer in the Second World War, but thought he had seen little action.At his brother's house Rory discovers some of their father's wartime letters, which refer to a battle for a Dutch city. Rory travels to Holland, where he meets a man who served alongside his father and discovers the pivotal role Major Bremner played in this crucial battle. Next Rory moves on to Germany, learning about the part his father played in the post-war reconstruction, as well as finding out how he managed to find time to get to know the locals.
Further delving in his brother's treasure trove of family memorabilia uncovers a painting of Surgeon General John Ogilvy, Rory's great-grandfather. Investigations reveal that John Ogilvy was an army medical surgeon during the Crimean War and was on the front.
Fiona Bruce
Fiona's great-grandfather, Frederick Crouch, died in the First World War under mysterious circumstances. The family story is that Frederick failed to duck down when shells began falling nearby, despite the fact everyone else around him dived for cover. A letter, written by Frederick's widow to her son's school soon after the war, reveals the sad truth behind the story.Another family story about Frederick is that he joined the army to escape his parents. Hoping to understand the reasons, Fiona investigates the life of Frederick's father, seemingly a highly-respected Victorian photographer. It soon becomes clear that all is not as it first appears with William Crouch, who emerges as a larger-than-life rogue and star of a celebrated court case.
Rick Stein
Rick sets out to explore the life of his father, Eric, who tragically took his own life in the 1960s. He traces the causes of his father's manic depression, exploring the racial abuse he suffered as a child during the First World War due to his German ancestry, and the electric shock therapy he received as an adult.Before marrying Eric, Rick's mother Dorothy had a brief marriage to a man she met while studying at Cambridge University. Rick researches his mother's early life and her time at Newnham College, Cambridge. He explores the story of her first marriage, and talks to his half-brother Jeremy, the child Dorothy was sadly forced to leave behind when she married Eric.
Finally, Rick travels to China in the footsteps of his great-grandfather Henry Parkes, a 19th century Methodist missionary. Henry was one of the first missionaries to travel into China after the Opium Wars. Rick learns of the harsh conditions in which Henry lived and the personal tragedy he suffered.
Zoë Wannamaker
Zoë Wanamaker was born in New York, but when she was three her father, American actor Sam Wanamaker, fled to the UK to escape the anti-communist McCarthy witch-hunts. Hoping to better understand her father's decision, Zoë heads to Washington DC where she visits the FBI headquarters. Here, under the Freedom of Information Act, Zoë gains access to her father's FBI file, an extraordinary document that reveals the level of scrutiny Sam was under and the very real risk of imprisonment he faced.Wanting to explore the roots of her father's left-wing politics, Zoë next looks into the life of her father's father Maurice Wanamaker, an émigré Russian Jew. Zoë is moved to discover that, soon after his arrival in Chicago, Maurice suffered a series of personal tragedies and hardships that almost destroyed his American dream.
Finally, Zoë travels to Nikolaev in Ukraine where she discovers the original form of her unusual surname and the reason why her family left for America.
Kevin Whately
Kevin Whately, famous for playing working-class characters, in fact has a surprisingly affluent family history. Kevin begins his journey in his home town of Newcastle where he investigates the career of his grandmother Doris, a singer whom he believed failed to fulfil her true potential. Doris' father was the self-made 'fishing king' of the north-east and Kevin next tries to discover what became of his fortune and the business empire he built.Delving much further back into his family history, Kevin uncovers an 18th century ancestor who was a turkey trader. Intrigued that he could descend from a 'Georgian Bernard Matthews' Kevin investigates further, but the truth he uncovers is even more surprising. The trail leads him to the Bank of England, the Royal Exchange and finally to a vast country estate in Surrey.
Kevin then pushes his family tree even further back into the 17th century, where he's amazed to discover that his ancestors, the Thomson brothers, were amongst the richest and most powerful men of their time. Not only were they close associates of Oliver Cromwell, but their fortune, made in the new colonies of America and the West Indies, helped fund the Parliamentarians in the English Civil War.
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