Episode 1

He first meets a historian (“geezer called Anthony”) who tells him that he can trace his history back through Louis IX, Henry II and Eleanor of Aquitaine and William the Conqueror to the Viking king Rollo. Danny is delighted – “He’s livened me right up!” – so off to Scandinavia we speed. There, Danny takes part in a battle re-enactment in period dress and unremarkable headgear (“’Orns were a myff,” he explains), eats a Viking meal of axe-split sheep’s head, shark meat and whey and, after a brief rush to the khazi, listens to a lecture on Rollo’s warrior credentials from “clever Scandinavian geezer” Dr Søren Sindbæk.

 

Episode 2

30 January 2019. In this episode, Danny's first stop is Edward II and his French wife Isabella whose lives, to Danny's delight, play out like a medieval soap opera. As Danny romps through his family tree he dons 14th-century armour and learns to fight like his 19-times-great-grandfather, famous medieval knight Henry Hotspur Percy. To get closer to his Tudor ancestors Danny brushes up on his etiquette by learning to sing and dance just like one of Henry VIII's courtiers. And finally, Danny gets his hands on a ruff when his own family, in all their Tudor finery, join him at an Elizabethan sugar banquet.

 

 

Credits

Presenter	Danny Dyer
Director of photography	Joe Taylor
Photographer	Jack Coathupe
Photographer	Richard O'Brien
Sound	Sam Diamond
Graphic Designer	Keith Robinson
Production Company	Joint
On-line editing	Tom Knowles
Re-recording mixer	Wid
Hairdresser	Lauren Alice Buck
Makeup Artist	Lauren Alice Buck
Costume designer	Mark Ferguson
Costume designer	Charlotte Sewell
Production Designer	Stephen Bryce
Production Designer	Rupert Tucker
Production Assistant	Jared Peysner
Production Coordinator	Olivia Wood
Participant	Sara Khan
Archive Source	Debbie Townsend
Production Manager	Nicola King
Executive Producer	Louise Murray
Researcher	Katie Bryant
Researcher	Meltem Kamalvand
Assistant Producer	Rebecca Fairbank
Assistant Producer	Jessie Potts
Film Editor	Tim Thompsett
Film Editor	Gordon Mason
Executive Producer	Colette Flight
Series Producer	Anna Kirkwood
Director	Sue Hills
Production Company	Wall to Wall Media
Participant	Elizabeth Kyle