In the final episode of the current series of Who Do You Think You Are? Diane Morgan – better known as the clueless historian Philomena Cunk – is unsettled to find herself having to genuinely go in search of the truth as she talks to historians to uncover her family history.  After following the tragic love story of her great great aunt who lost her fiancé in the first World War, Diane returns a poignant family heirloom; she discovers a 19th century ancestor who fearlessly went to court to fight for her illegitimate children’s rights, and finally goes in search of her mysterious 3 x great grandfather ‘German Charlie’.

Morgan talks about her experience below:

Did you ever think you’d be asked to take part in Who Do You Think You Are?

NoI didn’t. I thought I’d blown it after I did a spoof of it in my series Mandy, where Deborah Meaden records her episode of 'Who Are You Do You Think?'

During your journey, we find out your 4x Great Grandmother went to court a coupleof times. Please can you tell us why?

She had five illegitimate children by five different fathers. The men all refused to give hermoney, so she (very boldly for the time) took them all to court and won all but one of the cases.

Another key finding from your journey was the returning of a Death Penny to the family of Albert Dugdale. Please can you tell us why this was so important to you?

Albert was my great Aunty Jinny’s husband to be, but he was killed in WW1 and so she never married. We always talked about what might have been if he’d come back. It’s a very sad love story that thousands of women must’ve gone through. We ended up with his ‘Death Penny’, which was given to the families of all those who’d died in the war. Albert Dugdale’s parents gave it to Jinny, nd she gave it to my family, but we always felt it should be returned to his family now.

Did you find any of your discoveries surprising or unexpected?

It was all surprising and unexpected. All these ancestors who I’d only heard of now came to life with these amazing back stories.

What did you take away from the experience?

Who Do You Think You Are?, Tuesday, June 10, 9pm, BBC One/iPlayer

Credit: BBC/Wall to Wall/Stephen Perry

Interview supplied by publicists