The Gift

Original version

BBC Radio 4 FM

BBC Radio 4 is a radio channel that started transmitting on the 30th September 1967. It replaced BBC Home Service.

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What happens when an online ancestry test reveals more than you bargained for?

Without us realising, an enormous DNA database has been created online. But what happens when online ancestry tests reveal more than you had bargained for?

Without us realising, an enormous DNA database has been created online. It holds the secrets of your true identity and promises to reveal untold family connections. But what happens when online ancestry tests reveal more than you had bargained for?

Across six episodes, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.

BBC Radio 4 LW

The Gift: 1. Fraud

1. Fraud

BBC Radio 4 - The Gift, 1. Fraud

A DNA test given as a birthday present exposes a scandal at the heart of Harley Street.

Jenny Kleeman uncovers extraordinary truths that emerge when people take at-home DNA tests. In this first episode, a birthday gift exposes a scandal at the heart of Harley Street.

In this first episode, a scandal deep in the heart of London's Harley Street is exposed when a man in his eighties receives a DNA test Christmas present from his daughter.

It's the go-to Christmas present for the person who already has everything. A gift that promises to tell you who you really are and how you're connected to the world.

Millions of us have spat into a tube and sent a vial of our DNA to a company like Ancestry and 23andMe. Their tests promise to unlock the truth of our heritage - perhaps even a future foretold in our genes.

Across six episodes, Jenny Kleeman meets the men and women whose lives changed forever after they opened a box that contained a DNA test. Exposing scandals, upending identities, solving mysteries and delivering life-changing news - Jenny investigates what happens when genealogy, technology and identity collide.

Presenter: Jenny Kleeman
Producer: Conor Garrett
Commissioning Editor: Dan Clarke
Executive Producer: Philip Sellars
Production Co-ordinator: Gill Huggett

Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

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The Gift

1. Fraud

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