In the first episode, Fern Britton is shocked to discover one of her ancestors was dissected for medical research because his family couldn't afford a funeral for him. Brian Cox learns that his great grandfather was branded a malingerer by the workhouse when they refused to believe he was really ill. Barbara Taylor Bradford discovers her grandmother was forced into the workhouse to give birth to two illegitimate children. Kiera Chaplin discovers her grandfather, Charlie, was sent to a school for poor children when his mother was taken away from him and put in a mental asylum.