Actor Toby Jones was the latest celebrity to discover their family's past in the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?21:27, 16 Jul 2026The Mr Bates vs The Post Office star was speechless as made a huge discovery.‌During the latest episode of the BBC's Who Do You Think You Are?, actor Toby Jones was keen to learn more about his family's history as he made an unexpected discovery.‌Before his journey began, he went to visit his two brothers as they created a family tree of members they could recall with images.‌While the majority of it consisted of his mother's side, the 59-year-old explained that there were five generations of actresses that could trace back to his great-great-great-grandmother, Sarah Thorne.Wanting to know more about Sarah Thorne, the ITV actor, headed off to Margate, where his ancestor was the theatre manager at the Theatre Royal Margate in the 1800s.‌Meeting up with Hayley White, who is currently in charge of helping to restore the theatre, Toby got to see a written interview his three times great-grandmother had given in 1895.The article explained that Sarah was the first in the family to appear on stage as Toby got to read reviews about Sarah during her performances.As he continued to learn more about her, Toby read an extract that shared Sarah ran a drama school as Hayley replied: "Yeah, so we believe one of the first-ever UK drama schools was set up by Sarah Thorne, here, in this very theatre.‌"We also know that until that point, acting had been largely handed down and taught in families. So, this is the first professionalism of acting and performances as a skill and as a career."Toby replied: "Wow. This is while she was the theatre manager here? How interesting, what an extraordinary woman."‌However, this wasn't the only bombshell Toby learnt during his time on Who Do You Think You Are?. Elsewhere in the show, Toby wanted to know more about his father's side of the family as he headed to Stoke.Aware that his father was believed to have had Indian roots, which he confessed the family always brushed off, he was blown away to discover he had been correct.Learning that his great-grandfather was a saggar maker, Toby met with Ben Miller, who was the curator of ceramics at a museum, to discover more about his family's pottery past.‌When the pair sat down, Toby learnt his great-great-grandfather was married to a woman who had been born in India, which blew him away to learn his father's instincts were correct.Ben replied: "There's something else I feel I need to reveal at this point in time. I was visiting my mum, who still lives locally. She showed me a letter from a TV production company saying they were interested in researching the family history.Article continues below"A branch of her family was of interest to them. So, we're related. It's quite the coincidence, I know, it really is. So John and Jane are also my mother's great-great-grandparents, which makes us third cousins once removed."Toby shook Ben's hand as he joked it was good to meet him before replying: "That's extraordinary!"Who Do You Think You Are? Is available to watch on BBC iPlayer