Who Do You Think You Are?

Save

Season 23
8 episodes

Documentary
History

Summary

Fresh run of the genealogy series, featuring celebrities Zoe Ball, Adeel Akhtar, Amy Dowden, Harriet Walter, Joe Swash, Katarina Johnson-Thompson, Ruth Madeley and Toby Jones.

Episode 8: Katarina Johnson-Thompson

Summary

Heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson traces her late father's Bahamian ancestry from Liverpool to the Bahamas and Miami. She uncovers ancestors who endured migration, bereavement, segregation and racist violence, while building lives through landownership, faith, Freemasonry and civil rights activism

Review

Jane Rackham

Liverpool-born heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson travels to the Bahamas and Miami, birthplace of her father Ricardo, to trace her family roots. Written records are rare in the Caribbean, but she discovers a lot about her great-great-grandfather Matthew Farrington Jnr’s life after he emigrated to Miami in 1913.

The city was racially segregated under the Jim Crow laws at the time, so people like him faced harassment by the police and were arrested for vagrancy for being in “whites only” areas. What shocks Johnson-Thompson most, however, is learning about the widespread violence inflicted by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan during the first half of the 20th century. Happily, the journey ends on a hopeful note as she discovers upbeat, positive stories about her ancestors’ involvement in the community and the civil rights movement.

How to watch

Next showing

There are no live broadcasts scheduled for this show. But it is available via the streaming provider below.

Streaming

BBC iPlayer

Details

Released on

2026-08-06

Languages

Formats

Colour

Credits

Crew

rolenamePresenterKatarina Johnson-ThompsonNarratorAngela GriffinSeries producerLucy SwinglerExecutive producerColette FlightDirectorDes DanielsProducerGeorgia Azzi

All episodes

Episode 8

Katarina Johnson-Thompson

Summary

Heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson traces her late father's Bahamian ancestry from Liverpool to the Bahamas and Miami. She uncovers ancestors who endured migration, bereavement, segregation and racist violence, while building lives through landownership, faith, Freemasonry and civil rights activism

Review

Jane Rackham

Liverpool-born heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson travels to the Bahamas and Miami, birthplace of her father Ricardo, to trace her family roots. Written records are rare in the Caribbean, but she discovers a lot about her great-great-grandfather Matthew Farrington Jnr’s life after he emigrated to Miami in 1913.

The city was racially segregated under the Jim Crow laws at the time, so people like him faced harassment by the police and were arrested for vagrancy for being in “whites only” areas. What shocks Johnson-Thompson most, however, is learning about the widespread violence inflicted by the white supremacist group the Ku Klux Klan during the first half of the 20th century. Happily, the journey ends on a hopeful note as she discovers upbeat, positive stories about her ancestors’ involvement in the community and the civil rights movement.

How to watch

Next showing

There are no live broadcasts scheduled for this show. But it is available via the streaming provider below.

Streaming
- BBC iPlayer
Details

Released on

2026-08-06

Languages

Formats

Colour

Credits

Crew

rolenamePresenterKatarina Johnson-ThompsonNarratorAngela GriffinSeries producerLucy SwinglerExecutive producerColette FlightDirectorDes DanielsProducerGeorgia Azzi

Show more
Episode 7

Dame Harriet Walter

Loading
Episode 6

Adeel Akhtar

Loading
Episode 4

Ruth Madeley

Loading
Episode 2

Amy Dowden

Loading
Ad
Episode 1

Zoe Ball

Loading
Harriet Walter

Loading