The Generation Frame sees two families go on a personal journey to uncover their family story with an exciting and modern twist. With the help of genealogists and experts, each family discovers how their story fits into the wider history of Scotland and their past influences their life today.

Lauren Stewart is a young entrepreneur helping to regenerate the east end of Glasgow. Lauren’s work and family life has meant she could never invest the time needed to investigate her own family history, despite admitting a childhood hobby of hunting for ancestors in the local graveyard! As she delves deeper into her past, she discovers the roots of her Italo-Scottish heritage and the often harsh reality of what being Italian in Scotland would have meant for her family over the past century. With the help of local archives and genealogist Elizabeth Cunningham, she also discovers a long line of entrepreneurs on both sides of her family and which is one of the reasons she lives in the old grain mill she now calls home.

On the west coast of Kintyre, siblings Melissa and Philip James unearth a very different family history - one of privilege and influence. The current residents of Skipness Estate, the James family live a very different lifestyle from their grandfather who bought the estate in 1936. With the help of genealogist Chris Halladay, their journey sees them unearth links to the legendary ghost story writer M R James, the upper echelons of British political society, the Great Exhibition of 1851 and even the Battle of Waterloo. But closer to home, a surprise discovery means they can finally get closure on a pressing family matter.

As each family investigates their past they discover Scotland’s archives, which are available to the public, and meet experts who offer context to the family stories that have passed through the generations.

At the end of the programme each family is presented with a unique 21st century family treasure - their own Generation Frame. Show less