‘AT school, the teachers used to think ‘Micallef’ was either Scottish or Irish… [and] when you told people it was Maltese, they didn’t know where Malta was.’’
So begins the fourth series of SBS’ homegrown adaptation of the ever-captivating genealogy series Who Do You Think You Are?
Producers have had no trouble getting big- name Australians to trace their family trees – Jack Thompson, Sigrid Thornton and Magda Szubanski – and this season is no exception. Actors Melissa George, Vince Colosimo and John Wood and former 7.30 Report host Kerry O’Brien are among those featured this season. But the first cab off the rank is comedian and actor Shaun Micallef, who swaps his quick-witted Talkin’ ’Bout Your Generation guise for one altogether more serious. Micallef confesses straight up that he doesn’t know much about his family history – his father Fred, who emigrated to Australia in the 1950s, has always kept his cards close to his chest.
‘‘My great fear [participating in the program] is that it will reveal very dull people,’’ confesses Micallef.
Of course, with this popular franchise (eight seasons have aired in the UK, three in the US), things are never dull. Micallef’s adventure begins by tracking down information about great, great, great grandfather Patrick in a former Turkish war hospital. The comedian is astonished to learn of his relative’s brush with Florence Nightingale and his involvement in the Crimean War.
Micallef then heads to Malta for the first time in his 49-year existence, where he visits his father’s childhood home and uncovers some startling revelations that, in his eyes, explain his father’s reluctance to detail his time in Malta in depth.
The success of a show like Who Do You Think You Are? depends not only on the stories being told, but on the willingness of the celebrities to engage with the concept. And after Micallef quickly realises his fears of dullness are ill-founded, he devotes himself to learning more about his family history, becoming emotional at several points and speaking candidly about his relationship with his father. After one conversation, he reveals: ‘‘That’s the most I’ve ever spent speaking to my father one-on-one in my life.’’
Another winner for SBS?
You bet.
SBS, Tuesday, 7.30pm.
