Stranger in My Family

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Nicole Hajimichael

Nic Guttridge

Jazz Gowans

Cat Lewis

Documentaries

Factual: Real Life Stories

BBC Three - Stranger in My Family

Luke searches for his biological father, who mum met on a girls’ holiday in the 90s.

Luke discovers 'dad' is not his biological father and that he is mixed race. That triggers a search for a bartender called Carlos, who his mum met on a girls’ holiday in the 90s.

Luke grew up in a white working-class family in Rochdale but always felt like an outsider. He thought it might be because of his sexuality, but when he came out as gay aged 18, his parents were very supportive, and the feeling did not go away. 

Persistent questions about his appearance eventually inspire him to take a DNA test. The result lays bare a secret Luke's mum has kept hidden since he was born – his dad is not his biological father, and he is mixed race.

To find out who he really is, Luke begins the difficult search for a man his mum Liz and her friend Yvonne befriended on a girls’ holiday in Portugal in the 1990s. All Liz remembers is that the man she had a holiday romance with in Albufeira three decades earlier was a bartender called Carlos, but the lack of information and big obstacles do not discourage Luke. 

Luke is resolved to try and find out as much as he can, not only in the hope of tracking down his biological father Carlos, but also to understand his new ethnic heritage and culture. Enlisting the help of genealogists, family friends and distant relations he finds online because they share his DNA, he begins the search of a lifetime.

Manchester-based Luke’s extraordinary journey takes him back to Portugal with his mum’s holiday companion Yvonne, to see if she can remember which bar Carlos was working in 30 years previously.

They meet Ângela Campos, a Portuguese historian and forensic genealogist, who accompanies them on their search for any signs of Carlos and the answers Luke is looking for.

Luke’s search reveals much more than he ever imagined possible, uncovering six decades of family secrets and a brand new multiracial family. He also finds himself healing much more than just his own emotional pain.

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