Who Do You Think You Are? (2004)

Biography · Documentary · History

A British genealogy documentary series in which celebrities trace their ancestry, discovering secrets and surprises from their past.

IMDb rating: 8.0 (1,415 votes)
Episode average: 7.4 -0.6 vs IMDb
Seasons: 23
Language: EN
Type: TV series

Rollercoaster trajectory: big swings from season to season. Rising Shows ranks whole shows by the shape of their rating trend rather than one average score, which is how you find a show that got better rather than a show that started well. See every Rollercoaster show in the explorer →

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Ratings refreshed Oct 3, 2026 · 23 seasons indexed

Cast

Angela Griffin Self - Narrator

Seasons

Season 1 (2004)

7.89 avg 10 episodes 8.7 → 6.2

Season 1 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Bill Oddie	8.7	65
2	Amanda Redman	8.5	46
3	Sue Johnston	8.3	46
4	Jeremy Clarkson	7.6	82
5	Ian Hislop	9.1	55
6	Moira Stuart	9.2	49
7	David Baddiel	8.5	50
8	Lesley Garrett	8.9	48
9	Meera Syal	3.9	55
10	Vic Reeves	6.2	46

Season 2 (2006)

7.55 avg 6 episodes 8.6 → 3.9

Season 2 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Jeremy Paxman	8.6	58
2	Sheila Hancock	8.5	48
3	Stephen Fry	8.4	118
4	Julian Clary	8.2	58
5	Jane Horrocks	7.7	51
6	Gurinder Chadha	3.9	53

Season 3 (2006)

6.65 avg 8 episodes 4.6 → 6.5

Season 3 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Barbara Windsor	4.6	64
2	Robert Lindsay	8.5	53
3	Colin Jackson	4.1	53
4	David Tennant	8.9	100
5	David Dickinson	6.4	45
6	Nigella Lawson	6.1	59
7	Jeremy Irons	8.1	73
8	Julia Sawalha	6.5	56

Season 4 (2007)

8.39 avg 8 episodes 9.0 → 5.7

Season 4 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
0	Nicky Campbell	9.0	42
1	Natasha Kaplinsky	8.9	44
2	John Hurt	9.0	59
3	Griff Rhys Jones	8.3	45
4	Carol Vorderman	8.3	48
5	Alistair McGowan	9.5	41
6	Graham Norton	8.4	53
7	Matthew Pinsent	5.7	42

Season 5 (2008)

7.93 avg 8 episodes 9.3 → 5.9

Season 5 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Patsy Kensit	9.3	48
2	Boris Johnson	8.8	59
3	Jerry Springer	7.1	60
4	Esther Rantzen	8.1	45
5	Ainsley Harriott	6.1	50
6	David Suchet	9.2	53
7	Jodie Kidd	8.9	48
8	Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen	5.9	41

Season 6 (2009)

8.60 avg 11 episodes 9.4 → 8.4

Season 6 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Rory Bremner	9.4	38
2	Fiona Bruce	9.3	39
3	Rick Stein	8.2	36
4	Zoe Wanamaker	8.9	54
5	Kevin Whately	9.2	38
6	Davina McCall	8.6	42
7	Chris Moyles	6.6	40
8	Kate Humble	9.1	38
9	David Mitchell	8.2	46
10	Kim Cattrall	8.7	72
11	Martin Freeman	8.4	68

Season 7 (2010)

7.31 avg 9 episodes 8.5 → 8.8

Season 7 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Bruce Forsyth	8.5	48
2	Rupert Everett	9.2	50
3	Dervla Kirwan	3.3	48
4	Monty Don	8.4	40
5	Rupert Penry-Jones	6.1	43
6	Alexander Armstrong	8.9	46
7	Jason Donovan	9.1	45
8	Hugh Quarshie	3.5	47
9	Alan Cumming	8.8	64

Season 8 (2011)

6.14 avg 10 episodes 4.6 → 3.0

Season 8 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	June Brown	4.6	59
2	J K Rowling	6.5	83
3	Sebastian Coe	4.4	40
4	Larry Lamb	6.1	39
5	Emilia Fox	8.7	53
6	Alan Carr	8.5	45
7	Robin Gibb	8.6	43
8	Richard Madeley	7.3	42
9	Len Goodman	3.7	42
10	Tracey Emin	3.0	46

Season 9 (2012)

6.84 avg 10 episodes 8.0 → 6.1 59 min avg

Season 9 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Samantha Womack	8.0	44
2	Gregg Wallace	4.7	42
3	Patrick Stewart	8.8	63
4	Annie Lennox	9.1	52
5	Hugh Dennis	8.0	45
6	Alex Kingston	8.7	54
7	William Roache	3.1	38
8	Celia Imrie	8.9	44
9	John Barnes	3.0	46
10	John Bishop	6.1	41

Season 10 (2013)

7.76 avg 10 episodes 6.8 → 9.4

Season 10 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Una Stubbs	6.8	44
2	Nigel Havers	9.3	46
3	Minnie Driver	9.1	52
4	Lesley Sharp	8.3	45
5	Gary Lineker	7.0	46
6	Nick Hewer	6.4	33
7	Nitin Ganatra	3.0	43
8	Sarah Millican	8.9	43
9	Marianne Faithfull	9.4	44
10	John Simpson	9.4	41

Season 11 (2014)

7.72 avg 10 episodes 8.5 → 8.6

Season 11 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Julie Walters	8.5	59
2	Brian Blessed	9.0	53
3	Tamzin Outhwaite	8.0	44
4	Brendan O'Carroll	4.5	49
5	Sheridan Smith	8.3	43
6	Mary Berry	9.4	46
7	Martin Shaw	8.9	43
8	Reggie Yates	3.0	46
9	Billy Connolly	9.0	60
10	Twiggy	8.6	45

Season 12 (2015)

7.72 avg 10 episodes 6.2 → 8.5

Season 12 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Paul Hollywood	6.2	51
2	Jane Seymour	8.5	59
3	Derek Jacobi	9.1	55
4	Jerry Hall	3.6	54
5	Gareth Malone	6.8	45
6	Anne Reid	8.7	46
7	Frank Gardner	8.6	42
8	Anita Rani	8.7	41
9	Mark Gatiss	8.5	53
10	Frances De La Tour	8.5	51

Season 13 (2016)

7.54 avg 10 episodes 7.5 → 8.8 58 min avg

Season 13 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Danny Dyer	7.5	115
2	Amanda Holden	8.6	49
3	Liz Bonnin	9.3	48
4	Cheryl	8.2	57
5	Ricky Tomlinson	4.2	56
6	Sir Ian McKellen	8.8	89
7	Greg Davies	7.8	70
8	Warwick Davis	8.5	70
9	Sunetra Sarker	3.7	52
10	Sophie Raworth	8.8	47

Season 14 (2017)

6.88 avg 10 episodes 9.3 → 9.1

Season 14 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Charles Dance	9.3	93
2	Craig Revel Horwood	3.9	54
3	Clare Balding	8.8	58
4	Adil Ray	3.2	49
5	Emma Willis	8.3	55
6	Lulu	8.8	61
7	Fearne Cotton	7.0	51
8	Noel Clarke	6.5	50
9	Lisa Hammond	3.9	50
10	Ruby Wax	9.1	63

Season 15 (2018)

6.56 avg 8 episodes 7.4 → 4.3 58 min avg

Season 15 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Michelle Keegan	7.4	58
2	Olivia Colman	8.5	90
3	Lee Mack	7.7	62
4	Boy George	8.8	75
5	Shirley Ballas	3.8	57
6	Marvin Humes	3.6	52
7	Robert Rinder	8.4	64
8	Jonnie Peacock	4.3	54

Season 16 (2019)

6.80 avg 8 episodes 8.2 → 6.7 58 min avg

Rollercoaster

Season 16 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Daniel Radcliffe	8.2	99
2	Naomie Harris	4.8	82
3	Jack and Michael Whitehall	6.6	79
4	Kate Winslet	7.8	81
5	Katherine Ryan	7.5	69
6	Paul Merton	8.6	59
7	Sharon Osbourne	4.2	66
8	Mark Wright	6.7	53

Season 17 (2020)

6.53 avg 4 episodes 4.9 → 6.6 58 min avg

Season 17 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Jodie Whittaker	4.9	78
2	David Walliams	8.3	62
3	Ruth Jones	6.3	62
4	Liz Carr	6.6	60

Season 18 (2021)

7.13 avg 7 episodes 9.1 → 7.4 58 min avg

Front-loaded

Season 18 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Josh Widdicombe	9.1	75
2	Judi Dench	9.1	95
3	Alex Scott	4.6	70
4	Joe Lycett	8.1	53
5	Pixie Lott	5.8	46
6	Joe Sugg	5.8	24
7	Ed Balls	7.4	28

Season 19 (2022)

7.32 avg 5 episodes 7.4 → 6.8 58 min avg

Bad finale

Season 19 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Sue Perkins	7.4	39
2	Richard Osman	7.5	29
3	Matt Lucas	7.9	40
4	Anna Maxwell Martin	7.0	25
5	Ralf Little	6.8	22

Season 20 (2023)

7.57 avg 9 episodes 7.8 → 8.0 58 min avg

Rebound

Season 20 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Andrew Lloyd Webber	7.8	26
2	Claire Foy	7.3	37
3	Bear Grylls	7.3	23
4	Kevin Clifton	8.6	22
5	Chris and Xand van Tulleken	7.6	25
6	Emily Atack	7.5	14
7	Dev Griffin	7.2	15
8	Chris Ramsey	6.8	15
9	Lesley Manville	8.0	16

Season 21 (2024)

7.54 avg 7 episodes 7.8 → 6.6 57 min avg

Bad finale

Season 21 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Vicky McClure	7.8	29
2	Paddy McGuinness	7.3	23
3	Melanie Chisholm	7.2	22
4	Rose Ayling-Ellis	8.0	23
5	Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill	7.9	17
6	Olly Murs	8.0	22
7	Gemma Collins	6.6	21

Season 22 (2025)

7.73 avg 8 episodes 8.1 → 8.1

Season 22 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Andrew Garfield	8.1	41
2	Mishal Husain	8.0	20
3	Ross Kemp	7.4	17
4	Layton Williams	6.5	18
5	Aisling Bea	7.5	18
6	Fred Sirieix	8.0	18
7	Will Young	8.2	21
8	Diane Morgan	8.1	35

Season 23 (2026)

7.60 avg 8 episodes 7.9 → 6.0 58 min avg

Season 23 episodes - IMDb ratings
#	Title	Rating	Votes
1	Zoe Ball	7.9	16
2	Amy Dowden	7.2	17
3	Joe Swash	7.8	11
4	Ruth Madeley	8.9	16
5	Toby Jones	7.6	16
6	Adeel Akhtar	7.6	12
7	Harriet Walter	7.8	12
8	Katarina Johnson-Thompson	6.0	13

Who Do You Think You Are? (2004)

Cast

Seasons

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