Doctor Who do you think you are?

SBS has an episode of Who Do You Think You Are? coming which features actor David Tennant. In this episode you’ll hear a lot more of his natural Scottish accent.

The excellent UK genealogy series shows celebrities tracing their family tree, which as anyone who has seen the show will know, becomes a wonderful piece of detective work, matched with some emotional moments.

This Sunday the subject is Julian Clary, in an episode which has already aired on the UKTV channel.

SBS has cleverly scheduled the Tennant episode after Doctor Who has concluded on the ABC -a wise move given both shows share the same timeslot.

Who Do You Think You Are? airs 7:30pm Sundays on SBS.

Press Release:
What mysteries are hidden in old family photographs? Can old documents reveal secrets, long forgotten by family members? What role does family history play in our daily lives? Can a person know who they really are? Who Do You Think You Are? is a documentary series chronicling the social, ethnic and cultural evolution of national identities through the personal family histories of prominent celebrities.

In this new series of Who Do You Think You Are?, British celebrities such as actors Jeremy Irons and actor Sheila Hancock, author & comedian Julian Clary, and Olympic Gold medallist Mathew Pinsent trace their family tree to reveal the surprising, extraordinary and often moving stories of their ancestors.

Sunday October 12 at 7.30pm
Episode Seven – DAVID TENNANT

David Tennant is best known for his role on the popular British science fiction series – Doctor Who. A seasoned Shakespearean theatre performer, Tennant is currently enjoying critical acclaim for his role as Hamlet on the London Stage.

In this episode of Who do you think you are? David decides to abandon the Tardis and investigate his own history. At the start of his journey, he knew very little of his background, other than the fact that he and his family had been brought up in Glasgow, and that there was some Irish blood in his veins. This information came from his maternal grandmother, Nellie Blair, who had been born in Londonderry (Derry) Ireland. She had met her husband, Archie McLeod, while he was playing for the local football team, Derry City in a “Posh & Beck’s” type romance of the time.

Archie’s roots were very different, and after an injury halted his playing career, he returned to his native Glasgow to work in a shipyard. The McLeod’s originally moved to Glasgow having been forced to leave the Scottish highlands like many others, unable to afford the rent that was being raised by land owners across the region. To this day, stone cottages still litter the empty countryside.

Nellie Blair’s background is equally revealing about the history and social tensions that have affected Londonderry throughout the 20th century. Her father, William came from a staunch protestant family with descendants caught up in the Bloody Sunday march in 1972, the catalyst for the Troubles that have gripped the province ever since.