In this week's Who Do You Think You Are?, Jack Whitehall and dad Michael step into the genealogical limelight. What will they discover?
The discoveries that Jack Whitehall and his dad Michael make when they look into their family history together are pretty harrowing, but somehow, their cheeky banter and Jack’s not-so-subtle digs at his old man over their colourful ancestry make this one of the most entertaining, if slightly irreverent, episodes we’ve seen of Who Do You Think You Are?
Jack and Michael spoke to TV Times about their reasons for doing the show. "For me," explained Jack. "I wanted to maybe establish that there is no biological link to Dad! Finding out about bad stuff in my family wouldn’t have disturbed me, though. I was open-minded about finding out if there were dodgy things in the past."
As for Michael: "It’s nice we’re both doing this because he’s the next generation and I think it’s important that Jack knows more about his family, because I’ll probably be gone in about 10 years."
First up, they uncover the incredible story of Michael’s grandfather Richard Whitehall, who lost both parents to syphilis but later inherited a family fortune.
"I was completely speechless, which is rare for me," says Michael. "I don’t really remember my grandfather ever talking about his background but maybe we never asked him."
But Jack’s outraged when he learns about the role his Welsh four-times great-grandfather Thomas Phillips played in trying to bring down the Chartists who were fighting to extend the vote in the 19th century. "It turned out our great ancestor was gathering evidence to bang up the guys fighting for the rights of workers in Wales," says Jack.
"We peeled away the layers and Thomas went from being an officious windbag to a full-blown snitch who tried to stop people fighting for freedom!"
TV Times rating: *****
