![A Flicker Production ELLIE SIMMONDS: MY SECRET FAMILY Coming soon to ITV1 Pictured Ellie Simmonds Multiple gold medal winning Paralympian, Ellie Simmonds explores the relationship between disability and adoption in a brand new hour-long documentary Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family a raw and emotional journey of personal discovery for ITV. In this thought-provoking documentary, Ellie follows her own adoption journey as she tracks down her birth mother who gave her up for adoption when she was two weeks old. Ellie spends time with families who adopted Disabled children, hears deeply personal stories from Disabled people who tried to find their birth parents, only to be rejected again and highlights the amazing work of social services teams around the UK. Ellie explores barriers on both sides of the adoptive process ??? both social and institutional ??? and asks if we are perpetuating an unfounded stigma around having Disabled children. From probing the existence of in-built systemic bias from the moment of birth, to a lack of awareness, Ellie???s mission is to investigate and unravel this complex issue. (C) Flicker Productions For further information please contact Peter Gray Mob 07831460662 / peter.gray@itv.com This photograph is (C) *** and can only be reproduced for editorial purposes directly in connection with the programme or event mentioned herein. Once made available by ITV plc Picture Desk, this photograph can be reproduced once only up until the transmission [TX] date and no reproduction fee will be charged. Any subsequent usage may incur a fee. This photograph must not be manipulated [excluding basic cropping] in a manner which alters the visual appearance of the person photographed deemed detrimental or inappropriate by ITV plc Picture Desk. This photograph must not be syndicated to any other company, publication or website, or permanently archived, without the express written permission of ITV Picture Desk. Full Terms and conditio TV still ITV](https://wp.inews.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/07/SEI_162080592.jpg?crop=0px%2C0px%2C2495px%2C1411px&resize=640%2C360)
Pick of the day: Ellie Simmonds: Finding My Secret Family
9pm, ITV1
Multiple gold medal-winning Paralympian swimmer Ellie Simmonds was given up for adoption by her birth mother at only two weeks. “One of the reasons for being given up for adoption was dwarfism,” she says. “Until now it’s never emotionally affected… never made me feel rejected.” In this moving documentary, Simmonds investigates her adoption story and eventually tracks down her birth mother for an off-camera reunion. In the meantime, she looks at the whole relationship between adoption and disability, and why children from diverse backgrounds are more likely to be placed for adoption.
Britain’s Best Beach Huts
8pm, Channel 4
Jay Blades and Laura Jackson continue their hunt for Britain’s most luxurious beach huts, starting in Dorset at Britain’s most expensive beach huts, where a spot on the sand can set a buyer back £500,000. Blades then heads to Scotland to a smugglers’ tunnel and a secret beach hut on the shores of a private bay, while Jackson visits a wellness centre in a Margate hut.
Our NHS: A Hidden History
8pm, BBC Two
A repeat of David Olusoga’s documentary to mark the 75th anniversary of the NHS. The historian explores the hidden history of the nurses, doctors and health workers who, for more than 70 years, have been arriving from overseas to serve in the NHS. Without them the health service would have been in danger of collapse – not least during the Covid-19 crisis. From its origins, the story of this institution has been intertwined with the divisive social and political issue of immigration.
Who Do You Think You Are?
9pm, BBC One
Actress, television presenter and comedian Emily Atack may not be related to blue-blooded royalty, but she is the first cousin, twice removed of a pop royal – none other than Sir Paul McCartney. Indeed, Atack’s grandmother used to look after brothers Paul and Mike McCartney and taught Paul the ukulele. Her grandparents, Mike and Betty, met at a Butlin’s holiday camp in Skegness, where Mike was a redcoat and Betty a beauty contestant. Atack’s search then takes her to Wales and an ancestor who, after an accident in which she lost some teeth, became not just a professional whistler but the “champion whistler of the world”.
The Great British Dig: History In Your Back Garden
9pm, More4
Hugh Dennis (also playing Toby in Not Going Out) and the team visit the village of Strelley in Nottinghamshire, on a quest to find the long-lost medieval castle of a knight from the 14th century. Sampson de Strelley came from a long line of knights and rose to become the sheriff of Nottinghamshire, but the castle that he had built has vanished from the landscape altogether.
Not Only – But Also
10pm, BBC Two
BBC One and Two are pretty much wall-to-wall Wimbledon tennis this week and next, but they are throwing a few titbits to comedy lovers along the way. This is a compilation of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore’s much-loved sketch show that aired for three series between 1964 and 1970. Prepare to meet Sir Arthur Streeb-Greebling, The Leaping Nuns of the Order of St Beryl and the rest of their surreal creations.
