Bear Grylls
Adventurer Bear Grylls discovers the stories behind the top secret documents hidden in his grandfather鈥檚 wartime trunk and is delighted by a Scottish royal connection.
As an adventurer, wilderness expert and chief scout, Bear Grylls has travelled to some of the most hostile environments in the world, sharing his survival secrets with audiences of millions. Bear is curious about a tendency to 鈥榝ollow the path less trodden鈥� so he鈥檚 now embarking on a journey into his family鈥檚 history. The trail starts at home where, alongside his wife Shara, Bear explores his paternal grandfather Ted Grylls鈥檚 old trunk, intriguingly full of documents marked 鈥楾op Secret鈥�!
Bear heads to Sandhurst Military Academy where his grandfather Ted trained to be an army officer in the 1920s. Here Bear discovers Ted鈥檚 fascination with all things mechanical 鈥� especially tanks. With help from the team at the British Tank Museum, Bear learns how Ted became one of the British Army鈥檚 biggest experts in armoured vehicles and tank warfare, advising both the British and Americans on how to win on the battlefield and contributing to the success of the D-Day landings.
But it鈥檚 Ted鈥檚 job leading top secret organisation T-Force that helps Bear really understand the pressures his grandfather faced and reveal clues about his character. Charged with identifying, tracing and sometimes even kidnapping Germany鈥檚 best scientists for interrogation by the Allies after the war, Ted had to stay in Europe long after World War II was over, working on a morally complex mission, far from his family.
Bear also wants to find out more about the life of his beloved, 鈥榖ear hug of a man鈥�, grandad Neville. Neville鈥檚 father and Bear鈥檚 great-grandfather, Lionel Ford, is revealed to be a loving family man and progressive headmaster who modernised Harrow School. In Harrow鈥檚 Headmaster鈥檚 House, where his grandad played as a boy, Bear discovers the truth behind a family tragedy 鈥� the death of his great uncle Richard, who died of an infection as a teenager. As a father of three boys himself, Bear is moved to read Lionel鈥檚 own words about his grief and love for a lost son.
Finally, following his family line back several centuries reveals, to Bear鈥檚 delight, Scottish ancestry. His habit of walking the dog in a kilt no longer feels fraudulent! A trip to Scotland uncovers the story of Bear鈥檚 ten-times great-grandfather the Duke of Argyll, whose religious beliefs and devotion to Scotland cost him his head, courtesy of the Scottish maiden, a gruesome type of guillotine. And at his last destination, his mum鈥檚 dreams of a royal connection come true. At the Argyll Mausoleum, Bear discovers his 21-times great-grandfather is none other than a famous Scottish king.
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"I love everything Scottish"
Duration: 01:34
Credits
Role | Contributor |
---|---|
Presenter | Bear Grylls |
Narrator | Phil Davis |
Expert | Duke Argyll |
Expert | Iain Farquharson |
Expert | Jane Hamlett |
Expert | Clare Jackson |
Expert | Peter Johnston |
Expert | Laura King |
Expert | Rachel King |
Expert | Fiona Watson |
Expert | David Willey |
Producer | Helena Greening |
Director | Noa Snowdon |
Broadcasts
Featured in...
Who Do You Think You Are?
Lost connections and unfamiliar histories are revealed.