VETERAN actor Brian Blessed will explore his family roots in an episode of the genealogy show Who Do You Think You Are? next week.

Brian, 77, who was born in Mexborough and grew up in Probert Avenue, Goldthorpe, had wanted to discover where his adventuring spirit comes from.

He said: "It's been a fantastic experience retracing the Blesseds. I was hoping it would be a human story - I wasn't interested in finding a king or a prince. I wanted to find out about wonderful, real people, and boy, did I get real people.

"The whole thing is incredibly moving."

Brian's journey not only takes him to areas such Mexborough, Goldthorpe and Sprotbrough but further afield to London and Portsmouth.

• Who Do You Think You Are? will air on Thursday at 9pm on BBC One.