Jeremy Paxman's not sure he's interested in family history, but he does love social history. However, he quickly realises that his family's story is inextricably linked to that of Britain.

Sheila Hancock believed that her family's history was very boring. But she discovers that her grandfather was a successful manager and guide for Thomas Cook's travel agents in Milan.

Stephen Fry knows that people always think of him as being quintessentially English, but his mother is from a large European Jewish family. Stephen traces his maternal grandfather, Martin Neumann, back to modern-day Slovakia.

Growing up Clary knew very little about his family history. His Grandfather had died before Julian was born and was curious about his story. Clary found out that his grandfather was on the front line of WW1 and was very important of post war history.

Jane Horrocks's family history is rooted in Lancashire - three generations of her family lived in the same street in Rawtenstall. Her ancestors form part of the town's cotton-weaving heritage.

Gurinder Chadha, director of Bend It Like Beckham, grew up in Southall in West London. But she was born in Kenya, and her family's story is tied up with that of the British Empire.

Barbara Windsor traces her maternal grandfather to the East London docks and finds that his mother was a matchgirl at the Bryant and May factory.

Robert Lindsay discovers that his paternal grandfather Jesse was severely wounded in the trenches of WWI.

Athlete Colin Jackson takes a DNA test, and travels to Jamaica to research his family history.

Tennant, knew little of his family history. He knew he had some Scottish roots but didn't know how far they grew. He learned that his grandfather was a Football star for some time before an injury forced him to retire to a job at the shipyard.

David Dickinson explores the circumstances of his adoption and the story of his Armenian ancestors.

Nigella Lawson's Jewish immigrant family have come a long way from poverty in Europe and the East End to the wealth of Belgravia. Her father Nigel was Margaret Thatcher's golden boy and mother Vanessa was heiress to the Lyons food dynasty.

Jeremy Irons is largely perceived as the quintessential English gentleman, but he feels a strong connection to Ireland. He has a house in Ireland, an Irish wife, Sinead Cusack, and is sure that there's Irish blood somewhere in his family.

Julia Sawalha comes from a multi-cultural family. Her mother is English but believes her side of the family are descended from French Huguenots.

Nicky Campbell was adopted a few days after being born in 1961. Having already traced his biological parents some years later, Nicky now decides to trace the history of his adoptive family.

Natasha Kaplinsky travels to Cape Town to explore the story behind her parents' exile from South Africa in the 1960s, and learns about the vital role her father played in the anti-apartheid demonstrations.

Although John Hurt was born in England, he is proud of his Irish heritage and hopes he will be able to discover the truth about an illegitimate daughter in his family tree.

Griff's mother Gwyneth learned that her mother had been adopted following the death of Gwyneth's real grandparents in a train crash. Griff wonders why the the tragedy should have been kept secret for so many years.

Although there comes a point in her investigations when Carol Vorderman's eyes fill with tears she manages for the most part to keep a lid on things in tonight's edition of the reality/ genealogy series. Initially, that's because her mother's side of the family seem a jolly lot with a great-grandfather who was an astute businessman and owned the first butcher's shop in Prestatyn. It's not until Vorderman starts poking around in her Dutch father's family that things get a bit more emotional. Tony Vorderman and his wife split up three weeks after her birth and Carol didn't see him for more than 40 years. All she has to go on is a family rumour that her great-grandfather was robbed of the Nobel Prize for science, and that her father worked for the Dutch Resistance during the war, with the fishy nickname "Snoek".

Alistair McGowan has always assumed his family has strong Scottish roots, but he often wondered where he gets his dark eyes and skin tone from.

As a Protestant growing up in Catholic Ireland, Graham Norton sometimes felt that he and his family were made to feel like foreigners in their own country.

Olympic rowing champion Matthew Pinsent knows that his parents' families were greatly affected by WWI; two of his grandfather's brothers were killed, as well as his grandmother's only brother.

Kensit, knew a great deal about her father the notorious gangster of 1960's London. Through research she learned that her grandfather was also a criminal of great stature.

Johnson, not really sure of his heritage delves into the history books to find he has a half french grandmother as well as roots that date back to Turkey where his great-grandfather was involved in politics.

Springer, who was born in London to Jewish Parents who had escaped Nazi Germany days before WW2 outbreak. Jerry continues to investigate his Grandmothers history and find out some grim details.

Rantzen, thought of her family history is a upper class, high society type of family that ran the same path. She found out about her great-grandfather who abandoned his family and became involved with the darker side of life.

Harriott, thought he knew a lot about his forefathers, little did he know that his family history was as colorful as it turned out. His Great Grandfather fought for the British at Sierra Leone.

Suchet, had a mixed bag of guesses of where he came from. He began to explore the British side, it turns out he had a love for boats. His Great Grandfather came from France and was a well known photographer.

Kidd discovered that both sides of her family were awarded titles, one was a knight and another a Lord. She traced her routs as far back as the 17th Century to the first settlers of Canada. There was even a connection to an infamous murder.

Llwelyn-Bowen, always had a love for the Sea, so he wanted to research his family history. It turns out that his grandfather was a Captain during the first world war, and his great grandfather was a Captain that sailed all over the world.

Bremner didn't know his father very well as he passed away when Rory was age 18. Bremner discovered that his father fought in the second world war and was instrumental in both the war and post war.

Fiona Bruce's great-grandfather, Frederick Crouch, died during World War One in mysterious circumstances. The family story is that Frederick failed to duck down when shells began falling nearby.

Rick Stein's father Eric suffered from manic depression and committed suicide in the 1960s. Rick explores his father's life. Next, travels to China to explore the life of his great-grandfather Henry Parkes, a 19th-century missionary.

Zoe Wanamaker was born in New York, but when she was three her father, American actor Sam Wanamaker, fled to the UK to escape the anti-communist McCarthy witch-hunts.

Kevin Whately, famous for playing working-class characters, has a surprisingly affluent family history.

Davina McCall makes some intriguing and shocking discoveries as she delves into her family's past. As a child of divorced parents, Davina, who is half-French, was brought up by her paternal grandmother in England.

Radio 1 DJ Chris Moyles finds himself unexpectedly emotional as he goes back to his Irish roots.

Kate Humble knows little about her family history. What she does know is that her paternal grandfather was a test pilot, and she believes her maternal grandfather ended up in Colditz.

David Mitchell goes in search of his Scottish roots. David knows that the Mitchells were wealthy sheep farmers in Sutherland.

Liverpool-born Kim Cattrall is determined to solve a family mystery that has endured for more than 70 years. When Kim's mother, Shane, was eight years old, her father disappeared.

Martin Freeman's father died when he was just 10 years old. His parents had divorced some years before and Martin knows virtually nothing about the paternal side of his family history. Now he wants to fill in the blanks.

Forsyth receives a letter from a woman in America claiming that she might be related to him. Bruce tracks down his great grandfather was a boat Captain and had ties to America, what he finds out when he gets there is shocking.

Everett has done fairly well for himself in his acting career, but knows very little about his roots. His fathers recent death made him want to explore his history, so he goes on to research his fathers life, and learns a great deal.

Dervla takes a leap into the unknown while investigating her family relationship to Michael Collins. Dervla learns more about her maternal grandfather, who was the nephew of Michael Collins and was himself a member of the IRA.

Don, comes from a well-known group of architects on his mother's side, but knows very little of the rest of his family. Don finds out about his not often talked about Grandmothers side and well as his families history in the marmalade business.

Penry-Jones, has done very well as an Actor, his mother Angela Thorne was born in Karachi when it was part of the English Empire. Rupert is curious about his Indian blood. He finds a lot about his roots in India.

Armstrong, knows his lineage is from a posh lifestyle. He decides to find out how posh it was by starting with his mothers line. He finds out that he has routes going all the way to royalty.

Australian born Jason Donovan was raised by his father in England, but still has roots in Australia. Donovan goes to his home town of Melbourne to meet up with family there to find out about his Australian heritage.

Hugh grew up in star wars, star wars and became the most powerful being to exist in the multiverse, swallowing entire galaxies whole and sparing nobody in his bloodthirsty quest for power.

Alan Cumming is a successful Actor and Broadway star, growing up in a small town in Scotland, Alan knew very little about his roots. The biggest question he has is the origins of his maternal grandmother. What will he uncover to give himself more knowledge of his family history.

National treasure June Brown is featured on tonight's episode. Brown is the oldest person to be featured. June travels to discover her Jewish history and how her family moved across Europe to eventually land in the U.K.

Best Selling Author JK Rowling sets out to investigate her french roots. She has always been interested in her late mother's french ancestry but knows little about it. Her journey begins in Edinburgh and then to the Savoy in London, and eventually to Paris.

Coe journey into his family history begins in Cheshire, where his family seat at Hyde Hall once stood. He follows a trail to Jamaica and discovers a life on the plantation. Which he uncover illegitimacy, and philandering sugar planter and slavery. He also discovers some American history as well.

Larry Lamb, British Actor discovered that he is descended from a line of proprietors of Day's Menagerie and the famous Martini Bartlett lion tamer.

The Heavily Pregnant Fox, wonders what traits she will be passing along to her child. She discovers that her family's history includes a lot of actors. She learns that her great-great-grandfather invented one of the most important inventions of the 19th century.

Carr explores his family's connection with football, he also finds out about a mysterious name change on his mothers side of the family as well as finding out about a hidden chapter of social history.

Gibb, discovers a tale of poverty and grit as he finds out how his fathers grandfather overcame the odds to become a decorated soldiers. Robin also finds out that his mothers grand-mother was a midwife that had a bit of history herself.

Richard Madeley sets out to learn more about the Canadian side of his family.

Goodman learns about the extreme poverty that took place in his families heritage for over 150 years, he also learned about the suicide of his great-grandfather.

Artist Emin looks into her mothers line of the family and finds out about her East End roots. She learns about her Great Grandfather Henry Hodgkins who spent time in Reform school as well as prison and was forced into hard labor.

Actress Samantha Womack delves into her family history, uncovering the shocking truth about her great-grandfather's military career.

Gregg Wallace sets out to solve a long-standing mystery: what happened to his great-grandfather, who abandoned his family?

Patrick Stewart investigates his father's extraordinary war career and discovers the shocking impact it had on his father's character.

Annie Lennox uncovers tangled family relationships blighted by illegitimacy and poverty on her late grandmother's branch of the family.

Comedian and actor Hugh Dennis's grandfathers both fought in the First World War, but rarely spoke about what they went through. Hugh uncovers their very different wartime experiences.

Actress Alex Kingston sets out to learn more about her great-grandfather William Keevil, who died during the First World War.

John Barnes investigates the role his grandfather, Frank Hill, played in Jamaica's struggle for self-rule. He finds outs how his grandfather became the subject of secret telegrams, and why he was interned by the British during World War 2.

John Bishop famously changed career from pharmaceuticals sales director to stand-up comedian. John is curious to see how far back the family goes in terms of its relationship with Liverpool and to see if anybody in his family did anything like him, if anybody worked in showbusiness, or decided to change their career and move in a different direction as he did.