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Twin medical doctors Chris and Xand van Tulleken (main) and actor Claire Foy (below right) are among the latest celebrities to receive the Who Do You Think You Are? treatment
Family lines
Who Do You Think You Are? / BBC One, June
The familiar format of WDYTYA? is deceptively straightforward. In each episode, a celebrity, assisted by genealogists and historians, traces family stories. Accounts of personal heroism and overcoming huge odds rub shoulders with tales of criminality and bankruptcy.
You could of course suggest that any research into family history, where the number of greatgrandparents doubles with every generation, is bound to reveal interesting stories. And yet such scepticism is to undervalue the sheer sophistication and depth of the research that goes into the show.
It also doesn't explain the power of the mostgrandparent. Think of Danny Dyer's delight in discovering royal connections or, less happily, how Sir Patrick Stewart gained insights into his violent father's PTSD.
