The BEST episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?
Every episode of Who Do You Think You Are? ever, ranked from best to worst by thousands of votes from fans of the show. The best episodes of Who Do You Think You Are?!
Well known faces within the British media each embark on individual journeys to answer some questions in regards to their own family history.
#1 - Boris Johnson
Season 5 - Episode 2 - Aired 8/21/2008
Boris Johnson knew a certain amount about his diverse family background, but was intrigued by several family stories and mysteries. He was particularly keen to investigate stories associated with the relatives of his paternal grandparents. Boris's grandfather, Wilfred Johnson, had never spoken about the murder of his Turkish father in the 1920s. Boris’s grandmother Irene Johnson (née Williams), known as 'Granny Butter', had always been the subject of derision in the family due to her grandiose claims of an aristocratic French background. So Boris set out on an international journey of discovery to separate fact from fiction.
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#2 - Len Goodman
Season 8 - Episode 9 - Aired 10/5/2011
Strictly Come Dancing judge Len Goodman investigates his mother's family, and looks into the mystery of an ancestor's descent into poverty.
#4 - Ruby Wax
Season 14 - Episode 10 - Aired 10/4/2017
Ruby Wax's Jewish parents fled Vienna and the Nazis for America in 1938. 'They took the war with them and brought it to our kitchen,' says the comedian and mental-health campaigner at the start of this remarkable episode. They raised their only daughter in a dramatically dysfunctional household - Ruby's father was volatile and her mother 'hysterical... screaming in the street.' Ruby wonders if her own mental illness had its origins in her upbringing and the trauma her parents went through, or whether it is in her family's genes. Ruby journeys to central Europe, where she learns about her parents' flight and the distressing fate of family who remained in Vienna during the war, and she makes a startling discovery about her great-aunt and great-grandmother, which is both harrowing and surprisingly affirming.
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#7 - Ainsley Harriott
Season 5 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/10/2008
Ainsley Harriott heads to the West Indies and discovers that Caribbean history isn't quite as 'black and white' as he'd imagined. In addition to harrowing stories of slavery, Ainsley discovers his ancestors include a soldier, a policemen, wealthy 'free blacks' and even white plantation owners.
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#9 - Patsy Kensit
Season 5 - Episode 1 - Aired 8/14/2008
Patsy's late father was a villain. Jimmy Kensit was deeply involved with the most notorious gangsters of 1960s London: the Krays and the Richardsons. Reggie Kray was even godfather to Patsy's brother. Apprehensively, Patsy embarked on an investigation into her father's murky past, to understand the roots of his criminality and to discover how far back 'the family trade' goes. Patsy met up with a criminologist who had unearthed a copy of her father’s criminal record, revealing the true extent of his crimes. She was then shocked to uncover documents in the National Archives that show her grandfather was also a prolific criminal. After more research, Patsy was at last relieved to discover that her great-grandfather, though impoverished, was an honest walking stick maker. Tracing her roots even further back, an amazing document in Goldsmith's Hall revealed how the Kensit family, once affluent artisans, first fell into terrible poverty. Ultimately Patsy made the emotional discovery that rather than descending from a long line of villains, one of her ancestors was a remarkable vicar who dedicated his life to helping the poor.
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#10 - Mark Wright
Season 16 - Episode 8 - Aired 9/11/2019
Intrigued by family stories from his granddad Eddie, former TOWIE star and presenter Mark Wright investigates his dad’s side of the family. Discovering Sephardi Jewish ancestry and a master swordsman living in late 17th-century Andalucía, Mark’s journey takes him to Spain where he’s astonished to finds out how his nine-times great-grandfather survived the terror of the Spanish Inquisition, while a less fortunate relative was burned at the stake.
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#14 - Larry Lamb
Season 8 - Episode 4 - Aired 8/31/2011
Actor Larry Lamb sets out to learn about his biological grandparents, who gave his mother up for adoption as an infant.
#16 - Paul Merton
Season 16 - Episode 6 - Aired 8/28/2019
Comedian Paul Merton was very close to his late mum, and he knows that her Irish parents died when she was very young. Her father was a shadowy figure said to have been lost at sea. Paul pieces together his grandfather’s story and discovers that he was involved in some of the key events leading to Irish independence in the 1920s, and that the true circumstances of his death were different from the story that has been handed down. In London, on his father’s side, Paul traces a great-great-grandmother who was sent to prison for her part in an assault... involving a banjo.
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#19 - Ruth Jones
Season 17 - Episode 3 - Aired 10/26/2020
Actor and writer Ruth Jones - Nessa from Gavin and Stacey - investigates her Welsh family’s history. On her mum’s side, she discovers that her great-great-great-grandfather was a mariner who rose to the rank of captain in the domestic coastal trade. His son surpassed his father by carrying Welsh coal across the world. On Ruth’s dad’s side, she looks into the career of the grandfather she never met. Henry Richard Jones was a leading light in the Medical Aid Societies of south Wales, which provided a model for the National Health Service in 1948.
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#20 - Emilia Fox
Season 8 - Episode 5 - Aired 9/7/2011
Emilia Fox sets out to learn how far back her acting roots go, and uncovers an extraordinary rags-to-riches tale about a Victorian ancestor.
