Who Do You Think You Are? - Series 2

Review by David Woodward

Who Do You Think You Are? started in 2004 in the UK as a documentary series on genealogy with each episode featuring a different celebrity tracing his or her family tree.

The franchise has since been picked up across the world with versions being filmed and screened in Canada, Ireland, Sweden and South Africa.  An Australian version commenced in 2008 with a second series screening in 2009.

This latter SBS Australian series has been released on DVD through Madman.

Series 2 includes research into the family trees of six well known Australian celebrities – (footy legend) Ron Barassi, (actress) Sigrid Thornton, (actor) Ben Mendelsohn, (singer) Christine Anu, (celebrity cook) Maggie Beer and (singer) John Butler.

All episodes start off with great archival footage describing the celebrity’s immediate background and claim to fame.  All the celebrities display some degree of emotion at least once when pivotal points of their family history are revealed.  They travel around Australia and overseas following the trail of their maternal or paternal origins - or both.

Ron Barassi’s story is particularly interesting. The look in Barassi’s eyes as he learns the details of his father’s death in WW2 from his father’s surviving soldier mates is very touching.  Known for his recent attempts to defend a woman who was being attacked, Barassi isn’t afraid to acknowledge the irony of this event when he finds out that one of his Irish ancestors was convicted of beating and killing his wife. There is a happy ending though when he learns that the family later reconciled.

Sigrid Thornton’s episode is perhaps less exciting but maintains your interest as she delves into both sides of her family history and discovers some remarkable coincidences. (Like some of the other celebrities in this series) she even flies to the UK to find out first hand why one of her ancestors was deported to Australia as a 14 year old convict.

Ben Mendelsohn traces his family back to Europe, while Christine Anu discovers a heritage of music in the Torres Strait Islands. Maggie Beer’s family has a varied history spanning Europe and Australia, while John Butler discovers his Bulgarian ancestry.

It is obvious that the series production team employed a number of expert researchers to obtain the necessary degree of detail to develop the background for the celebrities. I’m sure it would not be as easy for you or I to move from one source of information to another as the celebrities do.

However, Who Do You Think You Are? does generate an interest in exploring your own family history and perhaps discovering a ‘skeleton in the cupboard’!

DVD Special Features

The DVD includes 25 minutes of additional scenes (which are hard to identify if you hadn’t originally seen the series on TV) and a bonus music track by John Butler.

Conclusion: Episodes 80% Extras: 50%