Jonathan Wright previews upcoming programmes on history and family history

Who Do You Think You Are?

BBC One
Thursday 26 May

It’s back! The long-awaited 19th series of WDYTYA? consists of five episodes. Sue Perkins kicks the series off, with Richard Osman, Matt Lucas, Anna Maxwell Martin and Ralf Little following in her wake.

Without giving too much away, the former Great British Bake Off host, comedian and, we learn, enthusiastic amateur boxer finds plenty of humour in her tree, even in the poignant story of an orphaned grandfather and a great grandfather interned as an ‘enemy alien’ during the First World War. But when she delves into a German branch who were living in Eastern Europe through the Second World War, she uncovers a harrowing and unfortunately all-too-timely tale of refugees fleeing across borders.

In the second episode, TV producer, quiz-show presenter and bestselling novelist Richard Osman reveals that he was close to his maternal grandfather Frederick when he was growing up. He was a military man who became an expert signaller and “a perfect male role model”. Osman traces his forebear’s life and, further back, learns about a murder case that gripped the attention of Regency Britain.

Matt Lucas of Little Britain and Bake Off fame is Jewish and wants to know more about his maternal grandmother Margot, who came to the UK from Germany in 1939. The Holocaust looms large in what he discovers, in both Berlin and Amsterdam.

Actor Anna Maxwell Martin, whose screen appearances include Motherland and Line of Duty, visits Northern Ireland and Scotland in her research. Family tragedy and a life built in the face of huge adversity feature.

The final episode focuses on Death in Paradise and Royle Family star Ralf Little.

Despite seeing himself as Mancunian to the core, Little knows that he has Welsh roots. He uncovers, among others, a naval man who fought in the Pacific, and a gifted footballer who found God.

We Are England

BBC iPlayer
Streaming now

The BBC’s We Are England strand explores contemporary issues through local stories. The documentaries are grouped under subheadings on iPlayer and in the “My Hometown” category you will find Graft:

Uncovering My Roots, in which the winner of BBC Three’s The Rap Game embarks on a journey to trace his ancestral roots. Another highlight is Jassa Ahluwalia: Am I English? which sees the writer, director and actor ponder his mixed Indian and Anglo-Saxon heritage.

The Great British Dig

More4 and All 4
Monday 2 and 9 May, 9pm (TBC)

Back for a third series after a brief hiatus, Hugh Dennis and the team continue their efforts to persuade ordinary Britons to conduct excavations in the name of community archaeology. There are plenty of episodes available via All 4 too, including a show first broadcast in April that centred on a housing estate in Oldham where a Victorian mill once stood.

In the Second World War, the mill was used as a camp housing more than 6,000 prisoners of war. How was this transformation brought about, and what would life have been like for those who were incarcerated?

Secrets Of The London Underground

Yesterday
Thursday 5 May, 8pm (TBC)

Railway historian Tim Dunn and the London Transport Museum’s Siddy Holloway return with a second series of the programme where they show us the world hidden underneath London as they explore the capital’s Tube network. In the first of 10 new episodes they head for Charing Cross Station, which until 1979, when it became the terminus for the Jubilee Line, was two separate stations: Strand and Trafalgar Square. When the Jubilee Line was extended towards Stratford in the East End in 1999, a number of platforms fell out of use. But don’t be surprised if they seem vaguely familiar. The disused parts of the station, which are usually locked away, have starred in cinematic blockbusters such as Skyfall and The Bourne Ultimatum.

This programme also finds Holloway walking the Kennington Loop, a section of track where southern-bound trains on the Northern Line turn around to head back into Central London.

In other episodes, the duo learn at first hand why the Waterloo & City Line is nicknamed “the Drain”. They also visit King William Street, a station that was open for less than a decade between 1890 and 1900.

Now streaming: ITV Hub

DNA Journey

After debuting in 2019 with two episodes starring Ant and Dec, DNA Journey has become ITV’s flagship genealogy series. Series two and the recently aired series three are currently available to stream on the ITV Hub. Each episode follows two celebrities as they learn about their ancestors, including Dame Maureen Lipman and Rula Lenska who first met on the set of Coronation Street.