Episodes
| Episode | First Broadcast | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| 01 | 20100719 | It was the imminent birth of her son that prompted the poet and novelist Jackie Kay to try and trace the parents who had given her up for adoption in the 1960s. Her own childhood had been a profoundly happy one with open and loving parents . They had always made it clear to her that she and her elder brother, both mixed race, were 'special' because they had been 'chosen'. But Scotland and indeed Britain was not always an easy place to be, particularly in those early years, if your skin colour happened to be several shades darker than everybody else's. The casual offensiveness of the oft-phrased question 'where are you from?' - which looked beyond her obviously Scottish accent and saw only her non-white skin - provoked a defiant assertion: 'Here.' School lessons about Africa were always an uncomfortable experience as classmates trotted out the dancing, drumming, mud-hut cliches. Eventually, with the solid support of her family and her partner and friends, Kay decided that she needed to know the story of where she was from, and embarked on the complex emotional and physical journey. Her Mum was a great storyteller and had often shared imaginings of a tragic romance broken off by an arranged betrothal, a princely heritage and a Sidney Poitier-like figure for a father. The truth, as Kay discovers, never quite matches the fantasies - sometimes it outdoes them. As for the jigsaw puzzle of heritage, family and identity, assembling the pieces doesn't always provide answers. Read by the author. Producer/Abridger: Jill Waters Poet Jackie Kay traces her biological parents, in a journey from Scotland to Nigeria. |
| 02 | 20100720 | Acclaimed Scottish poet Jackie Kay traces her biological parents in a journey from Scotland to Lagos. Jackie continues her journey in search of her roots. Today she meets her birth mother for the first time, and comes closer to tracking down her birth father. Read by the author. Producer/Abridger: Jill Waters Continuing her journey in search of her roots, poet Jackie Kay meets her birth mother. |
| 03 | 20100721 | Acclaimed poet Jackie Kay traces her biological parents in a journey from Scotland to Lagos. Nigeria: Jackie finally meets her birth father, an encounter full of memorable moments and some curiously personal questions. Read by the author. Producer/Abridger: Jill Waters Jackie meets her birth father, a memorable encounter with curiously personal questions. |
| 04 | 20100722 | Acclaimed poet Jackie Kay traces her biological parents in a journey from Scotland to Lagos. In September 2009, six years after her first trip to Nigeria, Jackie is invited to participate in a writers' workshop in Lagos. She is determined to visit her ancestral village and hopes to meet not only her father but also some of her half siblings. Read by the author. Producer/Abridger: Jill Waters Jackie heads to Lagos, determined to see her ancestral village and to meet half-siblings. |
| 05 LAST | 20100723 | Acclaimed poet and novelist Jackie Kay's emotional conclusion to her Nigerian odyssey. |