Who Do You Think You Are? (Australia - Series 2)
Based on and replicating the successful UK formula, an assortment of celebrities finds out about their pasts. Each episode focuses on one person, and begins with the celebrity telling us what he or she knows about his or her heritage, and what she or he expects or hopes to uncover.
And it's what the show uncovers that tends to be most interesting.
Ron Barassi's learns some poignant news about his father's death. It turns out that Sigrid Thornton's mother made a political stance in the sixties, chaining herself to a bar in a pub, to protest against women's exclusion from public bars.
Other celebrities include culinary expert Maggie Beer, musicians John Butler and Christine Anu, as well as a scruffy-looking, raspy-voiced Ben Mendelsohn, whose apparent initial lack of interest in the project is quite off-putting. It is, after all, the person's openness in the journey that attracts the viewer, probably much more so than the "celebrity" status. Indeed, the Australian version doesn't boast as impressive a line-up as its British counterpart. The narration is not as good as the UK version, either.
Still, it's interesting viewing, and occasionally intriguing, and you always have the option of skipping over the less interesting subjects.