Here in Barga we have known about it since February but now the program will be screened on the BBC in the UK on the 21st August so the secret is out in the open.
Actress Tamzin Outhwaite stars as Detective Superintendent Sasha Miller in the BBC’s long running crime series New Tricks, but is probably best known for her role as the feisty Mel in EastEnders. Tamzin has childhood memories of big Italian meals, antipasto and everyone talking at once – very un-English. But she doesn’t really know where it all started, or when.
In the third episode of this new series, Tamzin’s Who Do You Think You Are? journey to her Italian roots begins in the heart of London’s East End. From the café her Italian great-grandfather Tony Gonella once ran, Tamzin then travels to the Isle of Man, to Barga, Italy and Glasgow as she follows her great grandfather’s rags to riches tale.
Tamzin says: “My family, as far back as I know, are eastenders. My mum was born in Clapton and my dad was from Hackney, so I often play a London character.
“Quite recently, I was doing a play at Hampstead and a friend of mine Izzy said to me after the read through, ‘I’ve just worked it out. I know what it is, you’re Italian aren’t you? You are just very free and very expressive and that must come from the Italian side’.
“I don’t know how Italian I am, but I do know that there is definitely an Italian influence within the family. I’d like to get much more in touch with my Italian roots.
“I’m going to see my mum and she’ll hopefully tell me a bit more about the Italian side. My mum’s father was Remo, granddad Remo. My mum and her dad had a great relationship from what I can remember.
“I don’t know any of his ancestors. I should imagine this is a real treat for my mum to find out about her family too. She is far more linked to Italy, far more spiritually drawn to it, and I think this will be a really exciting thing for her and she is hopefully going to tell us a bit more about her mum and dad’s families and how they came here.”
Who Do You Think You Are? is a British genealogy documentary series that has aired on the BBC since 2004. It is made by the production company Wall to Wall. In each episode, a celebrity goes on a journey to trace his or her family tree. Ten series have been broadcast, the most recent currently airing from August – September 2013. The show has regularly attracted an audience of more than 6 million viewers. More than ten international adaptations of the show have been produced.
The show was nominated for the 2010 BAFTA Television Award for Best Factual Series
Tamzin Maria Outhwaite is an award-winning English actress. She became known for her role as Melanie Owen in the British soap opera EastEnders, whom she portrayed from 1998 until 2002. In 2012 she appeared in the BBC crime drama New Tricks as Victoria Kemp – as of 2013, she currently serves as the lead role, DCI Sasha Miller, replacing Amanda Redman who played DSI Sandra Pullman. source