Who Do You Think You Are?

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For other uses, see Who Do You Think You Are? (disambiguation).
Who Do You Think You Are?
Genre Documentary
Narrated by David Morrissey
Mark Strong
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes 32 (as of 18 October 2007)
Production
Running time 60 minutes
Broadcast
Original channel BBC
Original run 12 October 2004 – present
External links
Official website
IMDb profile

Who Do You Think You Are? is a British genealogy documentary series that has aired on the BBC since 2004. Made by Wall to Wall, in each episode, a celebrity goes on a journey to trace their family tree. Four series have been made and a fifth will be transmitted in 2008.[1] A sixth series has also been commissioned for screening in 2009.[2]

Contents

[edit] Episodes

Series One and Two were broadcast on BBC Two, and the first was the channel's highest-rating programme of 2004. This led to episodes being shown on BBC One from the third series onwards. The narrator is Mark Strong, who took over from David Morrissey after the first series, which was nominated for "Best Factual Series or Strand" in the 2005 BAFTAs.

In the first series, the last ten minutes of each episode featured presenter Adrian Chiles and genealogical researcher Nick Barratt giving tips on tracing a family tree. In 2007, a special episode was broadcast in conjunction with the BBC's "Family Wanted" campaign featuring Nicky Campbell, who was adopted a few days after he was born.[3]

The theme tune was composed by Mark Sayer-Wade, who also provides the background music for each episode.

[edit] Series One (2004)

  1. Bill Oddie (12 October 2004)
  2. Amanda Redman (19 October 2004)
  3. Sue Johnston (26 October 2004)
  4. Jeremy Clarkson (2 November 2004)
  5. Ian Hislop (9 November 2004)
  6. Moira Stuart (16 November 2004)
  7. David Baddiel (23 November 2004)
  8. Lesley Garrett (30 November 2004)
  9. Meera Syal (7 December 2004)
  10. Vic Reeves (14 December 2004)

[edit] Series Two (2006)

  1. Jeremy Paxman (11 January 2006)
  2. Sheila Hancock (18 January 2006)
  3. Stephen Fry (25 January 2006)
  4. Julian Clary (1 February 2006)
  5. Jane Horrocks (8 February 2006)
  6. Gurinder Chadha (15 February 2006)

[edit] Series Three (2006)

  1. Barbara Windsor (6 September 2006)
  2. Robert Lindsay (13 September 2006)
  3. Colin Jackson (20 September 2006)
  4. David Tennant (27 September 2006)
  5. David Dickinson (4 October 2006)
  6. Nigella Lawson (11 October 2006)
  7. Jeremy Irons (18 October 2006)
  8. Julia Sawalha (25 October 2006)

[edit] Adoption Special (2007)

  1. Nicky Campbell (11 July 2007)

[edit] Series Four (2007)

  1. Natasha Kaplinsky (6 September 2007)
  2. John Hurt (13 September 2007)
  3. Griff Rhys Jones (20 September 2007)
  4. Carol Vorderman (27 September 2007)
  5. Alistair McGowan (4 October 2007)
  6. Graham Norton (11 October 2007)
  7. Sir Matthew Pinsent (18 October 2007)

[edit] Series Five (2008)

Series Five will consist of six episodes to be broadcast in summer 2008. The celebrities to be featured are Patsy Kensit, Esther Rantzen, Jodie Kidd, Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen, Boris Johnson and Jerry Springer.[4]

[edit] Series Six (2009)

Series Six will consist of eight episodes, to be broadcast in 2009.[2]

[edit] Media releases

The first two series of Who Do You Think You Are? are available on DVD in the UK (Region 2).

In October 2007, BBC Magazines began issuing Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, a monthly publication that includes material from the TV series.

[edit] Other countries

In September 2007, a Canadian version comprising 13 episodes began airing on CBC. An Australian version aired on SBS in January 2008, after six episodes of the BBC version had been shown; the BBC programmes were those featuring Stephen Fry, Bill Oddie, Julia Sawalha, Jeremy Clarkson, Gurinder Chadha and Nigella Lawson. The NBC has also ordered an American adaptation of the show to be produced.[5]

BBC Wales has a similar series called Coming Home, which is made by Yellow Duck Productions and features celebrities with a Welsh background.[6][7]

[edit] References

General
Specific
  1. ^ "Episode 7 - Matthew Pinsent". Who Do You Think You Are?. BBC. BBC One. 2007-10-18. No. 7, season 4.
  2. ^ a b "BBC orders more "Who do You Think You Are"", Digitalspy, 7 December 2007. 
  3. ^ "Who Do You Think You Are? with Nicky Campbell". Who Do You Think You Are?. BBC. BBC Two. 2007-07-11.
  4. ^ "Who Do You Think You Are? returns to BBC1", BBC, 3 April 2008. 
  5. ^ Hibberd, James. "NBC orders celeb genealogy series", The Hollywood Reporter, 11 March 2008. 
  6. ^ "Coming Home, Coming Soon", BBC, 11 July 2007. 
  7. ^ "Coming Home Coming Soon", BBC, 28 January 2008. 

[edit] External links

Languages