Every Family Has A Secret

Reviews

Series

  • Series 1
  • Series 2
  • Series 3
  • Series 4

Ep 1
Angela Hamilton searches for the truth about her brutal father, whom she suspects had collaborated with Nazis during World War II. And Actor David Field searches for his real Dad. A death bed confession by David’s grandfather more than 25 years ago raised questions over his paternity and now a DNA test holds the answer.

Ep 2
Li Ying Andrews travels with her daughter, Olivia, to the country of her birth, Taiwan – searching for her true identity and a family who disappeared 60 years ago. Marie-Anne Keefe, adopted as an infant, goes in search of her biological father.

Ep 3
Lance Innes investigates the mysterious life of his father who had multiple identities, multiple families, and left a trail of secrets spread across the world. Was he an international spy or a conman? Michelle White investigates her mother’s hidden criminal past and finally unlocks her Mum’s secret, discovering why she did time in one of the country’s toughest prisons.

Ep 1
Nurse Marie O’Connor has spent a lifetime without her Italian father by her side. She was told by her mother’s Lithuanian family that her Dad was responsible for the death of her brother Aldo in the days prior to Marie’s own birth and that he was ‘a bad man’.

Ellis Treleaven’s real identity has been kept from her for more than half a century. A birth document reveals her father was not her Dad and that she was born in a Czech concentration camp with her father listed as ‘unknown’. Ellis discovers why her mother lied to her, who her father is and how she came to be born in one of the worst places on earth.

Ep 2
Kerry Stevenson believes her mum kept secrets. Prior to her second marriage her Mum Joan Stevenson supposedly led a glamorous life as a Hollywood actress, dancer and model. Kerry wants to separate fact from fiction.

Matthieu Heimel was born in the Philippines and placed in an orphanage at a young age before being adopted by a French family.. DNA testing led him to his African American biological father, but his search for his mother took an unexpected turn ….listed as missing, presumed murdered. Is she alive with a new identity or dead, and if so, what were the circumstances around this tragedy?

Ep 3
Elizabeth Brierley knows her sex worker mum Louise McLaughlin was five months pregnant with her when her boss, brothel madam Shirley Finn was murdered in Western Australia. Her mother provided an alibi to a suspect on the night of the suspected contract killing and in the days following helped organize Shirley’s funeral. Elizabeth’s mother died before Elizabeth could discover the identity of her father who she suspects may be one of the corrupt police involved in the murder investigation.

Paul Morris wants to discover if his father was a Russian spy. Paul has felt estranged from Australia since his father David Morris was publicly named at the Royal Commission on Espionage in the 1950’s following the Petrov Affair. Was David Morris a card carrying Communist or traitor to his country?

Ep 1
South Australian businessman Peter Eden searches for the truth about his Hungarian born father – was he a war criminal responsible for a murderous rampage in Budapest during World War II?

Journalist and novelist Derek Pedley endeavours to find answers to his own story and discover the identity of his father.

Ep 2
Siblings Priti and Prashant Ieraci seek out the truth about their mother’s death and search for their relatives in India, with extraordinary results.

Dawn Slater discovers why she was abandoned by her mum at a London train station and searches the world for her missing siblings.

Ep 3
Arrernte woman Danielle Chisholm seeks answers to a 100 year old mystery… is she descended from an illegitimate child born to Prince Edward VIII after his 1920 tour of Australia and therefore a member of the British Royal family?

Adoptee Heather Horne travels to her birth place of New Zealand in search of her mother.

Ep 4
Linda Lawless seeks understanding and acceptance as the child of a priest.

39 year old Perth businesswoman Lisa Bird investigates her grandfather’s connection with one of the 20th Century’s most notorious mob bosses.

Vale Peter Eden
21 Apr 1954 – 27 August 2022

Ep 1
Siblings Jacquie Blatchford and Michael Damnjanovic try to uncover their French-born mother's mysterious past. Investigations reveal links to far-right political movements and also shed light on Michael's biological father.

Ep 2
Dr Sofia Rios Miranda investigates family rumours about her great-grandparents raising a British baby boy they supposedly kidnapped; Dr Penny Mackieson, an adoptee, looks into how, as a baby, she was swapped from a Melbourne hospital in 1963.

Ep 3
Paula Morrison uncovers the truth about her Austrian-born father's upbringing and the abuse he suffered; siblings Rod Cordery and Sandra Rowlands look for answers about the identity of their biological father.

Ep 4
Historian Grace Karskens looks for answers about her father's brother and his links to Nazi Germany; retiree Ming Balintong tries to uncover his father's name, find a photograph of him and learn more about his life.

  • Awards

    2019

    Every Family Has A Secret

    Series 1: Finalist 2019 ATOM Awards for Best Documentary – History category

  • Credits Series 1 & 2

    • Writer / DirectorSteve Peddie, Russell Vines
    • Series ProducerClaire Forster
    • Field ProducersPhillipa Hutchison, Christian Horgan, Robin Eastwood, Julie Raffaele, Judi Barrett-Lennard
    • Line Producer / Production ManagerRobin Eastwood
    • Director of PhotographyTorstein Dyrting ACS, Nigel Tomkinson, Tim Hawkins
    • EditorsRoland Smith, Steven Robinson ASE, David Fosdick, Nick Dunlop
    • Executive ProducerCelia Tait
    • ComposerAsh Gibson Greig
    • Sound RecordistsGlenn Martin, Brett Stayt, Laurie Chlanda, Ben Ohayon
  • Credits Series 3

    • Writer / Series DirectorSteve Peddie
    • DirectorClare Kingston (Derek Pedley & Dawn Slater)
    • Series ProducerClaire Forster
    • Field ProducersPhillipa Hutchison, David Karsten
    • Line Producer / Production ManagerRobin Eastwood
    • Directors of PhotographyNigel Tomkinson, Torstein Dyrting ACS, David Rose
    • EditorsDavid Fosdick, Peter Pritchard, Beckett Broda
    • Executive ProducerCelia Tait
    • ComposerAsh Gibson Greig
    • Sound RecordistsGlenn Martin, Alex Wilson, Rob Beck, Wendy Adams
  • In The Media