What to watch

The enduring appeal of this series lies in part in its diversity. While some can be filed under Transcontinental, Generation-spanning Epic, others are more intimate and relatable. Tonight’s genealogical detective story is one of the latter, as Lulu investigates the story behind her mother’s adoption. The middle child of seven, Elizabeth only discovered her blood history in her teens and struggled with the revelations for the rest of her life. Yet the story that Lulu and assembled historians unravel indicates how fortunate Elizabeth was to have escaped her parents, Hugh and Helen, and their troubled lives.

Their tale may have begun as a Romeo and Juliet story of love across the divide (in this case religious, with her grandfather a Catholic and grandmother a Protestant), but ended in an altogether bleaker manner, much to Lulu’s understandable distress. It’s a story largely confined to a girl, her parents and the city that forged their personalities and steered their lives, but is none the worse for that. For her part, Lulu drops her celebrity affectations quickly and is an engaging guide. While it may not be a vintage episode, there’s plenty here to hold the attention. Gabriel Tate