Rebellious comic Meera Syal reveals the roots of her bolshy streak tonight.
The Goodness Gracious Me star has delved into her family history and discovered scandalous love affairs and communist freedom fighters.
And the 41-year-old Walsall-born actress is convinced her genealogy has led to her success on stage and screen.
"I had often wondered if I had any rebellious roots, because in a way it had always been a bit like that for me," she said.
"My life would have been so much easier if I had simply married a pharmacist and lived in Wolverhampton. Now it turns out that both my grandfathers were odd ones out, too."
Meera's parents both settled in Walsall after causing a scandal in their native Punjab by marrying for love.
"They came from different religious backgrounds, my father's family were Hindus and my mother's family were Sikh," she said.
Meera travelled back to India as part of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are? genealogy series, where guests have included comedian Vic Reeves and newsreader Moira Stewart.
She discovered a grandfather who was a communist journalist and one who was given a Freedom Fighters award for his part in the struggle for Indian Independence from the British.
"I've got freedom fight-ers on both sides of the family, I'm quite proud of that," added Meera, whose partner is Kumars at No 42 co-star Sanjeev Bhaskar.
"Our legacy is that two generations learned from bitter experience that their world can turn upside down in a moment."
Tortured
The actress was deeply moved to discover that one of her grandfathers had been imprisoned and tortured in India for his resistance to British rule.
"I found my grandfather's name mentioned inside the Golden Temple as a Punjabi martyr, which was amazing," she said.
* Who Do They Think You Are? is screened tonight, at 9pm, on BBC2.
