“Radcliffe’s lip wobbles precipitously as he takes it all in. There seems a fair chance he might break down once more. Reality TV and big budget drama may do their worst. But yet again Who Do You Think You Are? reminds us that, for muggle and wizard alike, nothing tugs at the heartstrings as devastatingly as real life, with all its triumphs, reversals and bittersweet stings. ★★★★ ”

“There’s a lot to dig into in that one sentence,” says Radcliffe, visibly stricken by the language. Samuel killed himself five months later. Within weeks, his wife had legally changed her name. With every episode of Who Do You Think You Are?, there is, as Radcliffe puts it, a lot to dig into. Radcliffe makes for an amiable, self-effacing and even-handed conduit, clearly moved by what he discovers, but not gripped by the need to get emotional on behalf of people he never met. As ever, it is the documents themselves that bring these stories to life: business directories, marriage certificates, witness statements – even, in this case, a suicide note. Names and dates diligently recorded in loopy pencil and faded ink, mountains of pages stored in defiance of the great human business of forgetting – it is all out there somewhere, waiting, and that is why Who Do You Think You Are? will never get old. ★★★★”

“The genealogy stalwart, now on its 16th series and fresh from another Bafta win, remains consistently superb. Its latest line-up of celebrities – including Kate Winslet and Paul Merton over the coming weeks – promises to be another corker. Radcliffe got it off to an absorbing, affecting start. Four points to Gryffindor.”