2.5/1040 votesLoading...#1 - John Barnes
Season 9 Episode 9 - Aired 10/17/2012
Fifty years after Jamaica gained independence from Britain, former footballer and sports pundit John Barnes sets out to investigate the extraordinary role his grandfather, Frank Hill, played in the island's struggle for self-rule. John discovers how his grandfather became the subject of secret telegrams, and why he was interned by the British during World War Two. John also uncovers how, from being at the heart of Jamaican politics, Frank fell from grace among his political allies.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 2.8/1042 votesLoading...
#2 - Dervla Kirwan
Season 7 Episode 3 - Aired 8/2/2010
Irish actress Dervla Kirwan became a household name in the hit series Ballykissangel. But she has never spoken about her great-uncle Michael Collins, a national figure who changed Irish history and fought to establish the Irish Free State. Dervla wants to find out how her grandfather Finian, Michael's nephew, fits into the events shaped by his famous uncle.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 2.8/1040 votesLoading...
#3 - Hugh Quarshie
Season 7 Episode 8 - Aired 9/6/2010
Holby City actor Hugh Quarshie was born in Ghana, but moved to Britain with his parents as a child. He knows there is Dutch ancestry in his family, but doesn't know where the bloodline began. To find out, he visits his uncle in Ghana, where he discovers a new relative and learns some interesting facts about his mother. Finally, he travels to the Netherlands to unravel the truth.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
2.9/1044 votesLoading...#4 - Reggie Yates
Season 11 Episode 8 - Aired 9/25/2014
Presenter and DJ Reggie Yates grew up knowing very little about his father's side of the family. Reggie sets out on the trail of his grandfather, Harry Philip Yates. His journey takes him to Ghana, where he unravels a complex family history where Ghanaian culture and British colonialism collide.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 3.0/1044 votesLoading...
#5 - Tracey Emin
Season 8 Episode 10 - Aired 10/12/2011
Tracey knows very little of her maternal line, and is keen to find out more about her East End roots
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.0/1042 votesLoading...#6 - Nitin Ganatra
Season 10 Episode 7 - Aired 9/4/2013
EastEnders star Nitin Ganatra moved to England from Kenya when he was just three years old. Now Nitin has questions about his identity and wants to investigate why his family left Kenya, and why they immigrated to Africa from India in the first place. The trail leads Nitin to Gujurat and his family's ancestral home. Along the way, Nitin makes an emotional and shocking discovery about his mother's family.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 3.1/1037 votesLoading...
#7 - William Roache
Season 9 Episode 7 - Aired 9/26/2012
Actor William Roache has always known that his grandmother, Zillah Waddicor, ran a cafe in Alton Towers in the 1920s and 1930s, long before it became a theme park. But as Bill sets out to discover more about Zillah, whom he remembers as a kindly elderly lady, he is astonished to find out that the cafe was a far more ambitious enterprise and that, while overcoming a challenging personal life, Zillah was a trailblazing entrepreneur. Bill discovers that his great-grandfather James was also an innovative business person, dealing in some very unusual wares in late 19th century Blackpool.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.1/1045 votesLoading...#8 - Adil Ray
Season 14 Episode 4 - Aired 7/27/2017
Citizen Khan star Adil Ray identifies as Brummie, British, Muslim, Pakistani and African - his mum came to England from newly independent Kenya with her family in 1967. Heading back to east Africa, Adil traces his mixed Asian and African ancestry across Kenya to Uganda. On the trail of rumours of a link to African royalty, Adil meets African relatives for the first time in the traditional kingdom of Buganda and is amazed to discover the truth about his lineage.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.2/1045 votesLoading...#9 - Gurinder Chadha
Season 2 Episode 6 - Aired 2/15/2006
Gurinder investigates her roots in Kenya and India.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.4/1048 votesLoading...#10 - Meera Syal
Season 1 Episode 9 - Aired 12/7/2004
Meera's exploration takes her to the Punjab.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.4/1049 votesLoading...#11 - Marvin Humes
Season 15 Episode 6 - Aired 8/6/2018
DJ, presenter and former member of boy band JLS, Marvin Humes delves into his Jamaican and his English heritage, and finds exceptional stories on both sides of the family. Deep in the Jamaican countryside, Marvin's discoveries about the lives of his black ancestors during the time of slavery turn his expectations upside down. In England, Marvin's follows the trail of his great-grandfather about whom he knows almost nothing. But Marvin's research reveals a hero, who overcame a traumatic childhood to play a part in one of the most dramatic events of the Second World War.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 3.5/1040 votesLoading...
#12 - Len Goodman
Season 8 Episode 9 - Aired 10/5/2011
Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman investigates his mother's family.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.6/1048 votesLoading...#13 - Colin Jackson
Season 3 Episode 3 - Aired 9/20/2006
Colin's roots extend to Panama, Jamaica and Scotland.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.6/1053 votesLoading...#14 - Jerry Hall
Season 12 Episode 4 - Aired 9/3/2015
Jerry Hall knows her father’s family originally came from Oldham, but wants to discover how they ended up in America.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.7/1051 votesLoading...#15 - Sunetra Sarker
Season 13 Episode 9 - Aired 2/22/2017
Actor Sunetra Sarker sets out to explore her Bengali heritage.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.7/1045 votesLoading...#16 - Lisa Hammond
Season 14 Episode 9 - Aired 9/7/2017
Best known as market trader Donna Yates in EastEnders, actress Lisa Hammond wants to get to the bottom of why her paternal grandfather Harry Hammond never spoke about his experiences in World War II. She uncovers the moving story of the trauma he endured and his efforts to overcome it. On her mother's side of the family, Lisa is reassured to discover many generations of London stock as she finds the countryside unsettling. But her relief is short lived as, going further back, her investigations plunge her deep into rural Wales.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.7/1053 votesLoading...#17 - Shirley Ballas
Season 15 Episode 5 - Aired 7/30/2018
Strictly Come Dancing's head judge Shirley Ballas investigates a family story that her maternal great-grandmother abandoned her husband and children for a more exciting life in America. What Shirley discovers casts her great-grandmother in a completely new light. On her father's side, Shirley pursues a rumour that she has black ancestors - a trail which leads her to colonial Cape Town and the era of slave trafficking to South Africa via the Indian Ocean.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.7/1046 votesLoading...#18 - Jonnie Peacock
Season 15 Episode 8 - Aired 8/20/2018
Paralympic gold medal winner Jonnie Peacock was named for his maternal grandad, who died the year before he was born. Like Jonnie, his grandad was a sportsman - an excellent amateur footballer scouted by a professional team, only to be thwarted by parental pressure to take a 'proper job' as a painter/decorator. Pushing back down the generations, Jonnie uncovers the legacy of poverty and unexpected disease that led the family to value job security over the beautiful game. On his father's side, Jonnie is captivated by his four-times-great-grandmother, branded a 'bad character' in 1841 by a local village policeman. But Jonnie's further research reveals a strong woman prepared to stand up in court and testify against the men who had wronged her.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.8/1050 votesLoading...#19 - Craig Revel Horwood
Season 14 Episode 2 - Aired 7/13/2017
Strictly judge Craig Revel Horwood reveals his softer side. Heading to his home town of Ballarat in Australia, Craig investigates what happened to his great-great-great-grandfather who risked everything in the Australian Gold Rush. A visit to his beloved 100-year-old grandmother sends Craig in pursuit of another maverick ancestor. Craig's great-great-grandfather Harry turns out to have been the life of the party and, better still, a fabulous dancer.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
3.8/1057 votesLoading...#20 - Sharon Osbourne
Season 16 Episode 7 - Aired 9/4/2019
Sharon Osbourne uncovers the difficult circumstances of her mother’s and grandmother’s lives, and is stunned to learn that her great-grandmother was born in the US.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 4.0/1048 votesLoading...
#21 - June Brown
Season 8 Episode 1 - Aired 8/10/2011
During her search to find out if she is a real EastEnder, June unravels her Jewish heritage, and discovers how momentous historical events shaped her family's destiny, forcing them to migrate across Europe.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
4.1/1053 votesLoading...#22 - Ricky Tomlinson
Season 13 Episode 5 - Aired 12/22/2016
Celebrity genealogy series. Ricky Tomlinson is well-known for playing the archetypal Scouser and it turns out that his Liverpool roots run deep. Ricky discovers that he comes from generations of carters, who transported goods on Liverpool's docks when the city was the British Empire's busiest port. Ricky's rage and sorrow build as he discovers how dangerous conditions were for his ancestors, eerily echoing his own fight for workers' rights in the 1970s.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
4.2/1054 votesLoading...#23 - Barbara Windsor
Season 3 Episode 1 - Aired 9/6/2006
Barbara roots extend through East London and Suffolk.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
- 4.2/1037 votesLoading...
#24 - Sebastian Coe
Season 8 Episode 3 - Aired 8/24/2011
The former Olympic gold medal winner sets out to discover if there is any truth in his grandmother's claims that the family's origins were once quite grand.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
4.5/1074 votesLoading...#25 - Naomie Harris
Season 16 Episode 2 - Aired 7/29/2019
Actor Naomie Harris’s dramatic discoveries in this episode inspire her to anger, sadness and tears of joy. On a journey from Trinidad to Grenada to Jamaica, Naomie exposes her four-times-great grandfather’s involvement in the exploitation of so-called 'liberated Africans' shortly after the abolition of slavery, is delighted to discover the identify of her African five-times-great grandmother, and, in nearer generations, uncovers a family story of tragic poverty in Jamaica’s capital, Kingston.
Director: N/A
Writer: N/A
The Worst Episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?
Every episode of Who Do You Think You Are? ranked from worst to best. Explore the Worst Episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?!
A British genealogy documentary series in which celebrities trace their ancestry, discovering secrets and surprises from their past.
Genres:DocumentaryFamily
Worst Episodes Summary
"John Barnes" is the worst rated episode of "Who Do You Think You Are?". It scored 2.5/10 based on 40 votes. Directed by N/A and written by N/A, it aired on 10/17/2012. This episode scored 0.3 points lower than the second lowest rated, "Dervla Kirwan".