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Vic Reeves

Known to millions as the master of surreal comedy, Vic Reeves is the on-screen creation of Jim Moir, a man with a mysterious past.

"I've always grilled my Mum about what happened in our family," he says. "I suppose it's being a nosy Parker, starring in your own personal soap opera."

Certainly all the ingredients are there. Moir's grandfather was the son of a butler, sporting spats and a wing collar.

"Turns out my grandfather was a bit of a spinner of yarns," he reveals. "There are some dark areas to sort out.

"It seems he had three sons from his first marriage. But he wasn't a widower when he married his second wife - and he wasn't divorced!"

Moir travels back to a house where this possible bigamist lived and confesses a surge of emotion on touching an original banister that his roguish relative would have touched.

"It's great to touch a bit of wood that they might have touched and see the same things they saw. It sort of unifies your soul."

But Moir feels more at home with the spirit of ancestor Edward Leah, who was the gamekeeper on a large, Yorkshire estate.

"I love the countryside and I'm a very good clay pigeon shooter," he laughs.

"Perhaps that's something that's been passed down in the genes.

"There's a loyalty, good solid hard work and a smartness," he adds mischievously.

"I've inherited all of those things. My ancestor the butler too - the word comes from the French for someone who is in charge of ordering all the wine into the house - which is what I do in my house!"

Moir's researches into his mother's family tree revealed quite a few surprises for the comic, but he professes himself more interested in his father's side of the family.

"I probably identify most with them - they were printers going back thousands of years - and me, my Dad and my grandad are all called Jim Moir!"