It takes a good half hour but finally Daniel Radcliffe lives up to his side of the bargain on the returning Who Do You Think You Are? Clasping a letter that holds the tragic key to a long-lost family secret, the former boy wizard sniffles slightly and dissolve into tears.

There has, for much of the preceding 30 minutes, seemed a very real danger that BBC1’s pre-eminent celebrity blub-fest might skimp on the emotional devastation. But no, here it is – and with bells on. Radcliffe’s cheek-dampening moment (which admittedly falls short of full-on hanky blowing) arrives as he reads aloud the suicide note of his maternal great-grandfather to the wife he is about to leave behind.

The scene is obviously heart-rending. How jolting, in particular, to witness the chipper Radcliffe’s lightly worn bonhomie evaporate with one shake of a sorting hat. The missive also goes towards solving a decades old mystery: why did his mother’s side change their name from the more exotic Gershon to the stoutly anglicised Gresham?

Radcliffe’s hunch was that, this being the late Thirties, the family were eager to wallpaper over their Jewish heritage. The true motive, the archives reveal, was to allow the Gershon/Greshams move past the taboo of Samuel Gershon’s suicide at age 41.

Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked Show all 10 1 /10 Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 10. Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald JK Rowling gifted herself a whole new world to explore with the Fantastic Beasts franchise, with five films to dial back and explore the Wizarding World as it stood in the early 20th century. While the first, and far superior entry, took place in New York, The Crimes of Grindelwald shifts the action to Paris. And, for the majority of the film, it continues in the spirit of originality and creativity, with new beasts for Newt Scamander (Eddie Redmayne) to tame and magical delights to be uncovered. All this good will is swiftly undone, however, in the film’s closing chapter. What follows is a baffling series of expositional conversations and meaningless connections, dragging The Crimes of Grindelwald down into the murky depths occupied by the Star Wars prequels. Rex Features Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 9. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix The Harry Potter franchise’s greatest weakness, perhaps, was its need to mature at the same pace as its audience. And as that audience plunged into awkward adolescence, so too did the movies. The Order of the Phoenix may have its ardent supporters, but it most acutely represents the lag between the franchise’s bright-eyed, whimsical beginnings and the epic weight of its conclusion. In the attempt to adapt the longest Potter book into the shortest Potter film, the rush to maturity looks all the more thorny. Dudley Dursley (Harry Melling) is suddenly transformed into a chain-wearing thug, while the plot works overtime to sidetrack Harry (Daniel Radcliffe)’s inevitable confrontation with Voldemort with a handy political metaphor. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 8. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part I Splitting the last Potter book into two films was, inevitably, the right decision in order to save audiences from a rushed conclusion to one of the most popular franchises ever. Yet The Deathly Hallows Part II could only shine if The Deathly Hallows Part I was willing to take the fall and act as pure set-up to its successor. It’s arguably the most emotionally unsatisfying of the series, following Harry, Ron (Rupert Grint), and Hermione (Emma Watson) as they attempt to evade Voldemort’s clutches and destroy the Horcruxes, the artefacts containing the Dark Lord’s soul, the keys to his final destruction. The film trades on conflict between the trio, as Ron’s jealousy (as influenced by the locket) serves only to prefigure his eventual future with Hermione. Even the film’s animated history lesson isn’t enough to make this film memorable. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 7. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets The franchise’s second instalment certainly has its standout moments – it introduces both all-time legend Dobby into the game and lets Kenneth Branagh steals scene after scene as the vainglorious Gilderoy Lockhart. However, its bloated 161-minute runtime can make it tough work. Director Chris Columbus returned with as much enthusiasm as he expressed in The Philosopher’s Stone, delivering thrills in Aragog, the basilisk, the petrifications, the Whomping Willow, and the Quidditch matches. That isn’t enough, regrettably, to fully distract from its rather dry narrative, which delivers endless plot twists about the dark history of Hogwarts and the truth behind Tom Riddle’s diary. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 6. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Another of the adolescent-stage films of the franchise, The Half-Blood Prince could just as easily have fallen prey to The Order of the Phoenix’s tonal awkwardness, but there’s a much keener sense of the wider stakes here – Severus Snape (Alan Rickman)’s machinations make for particularly gripping viewing, culminating in a face-off that still has the propensity to shock years later. What’s crucial, however, is the sense of balance that’s also brought to this film, as the students of Hogwarts find moments for the old magic: a Butterbeer shared with friends, or a game of Quidditch. Professor Slughorn (Jim Broadbent) provides a light sense of comic relief, alongside the now-infamous “Hermione’s got nice skin” moment between Ron and Harry. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 5. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part II Director Yates and screenwriter Steve Kloves faced the ultimate challenge with The Deathly Hallows Part II: to satisfactorily conclude a story 10 years in the making. Few would argue against their success, since the film is actually the highest rated of the entire Potter series (at 96 per cent on Rotten Tomatoes), although its reliance on narrative tricks and deceptions have made it slightly less appealing on repeated viewing. That said, there are some bold creative decisions here that save The Deathly Hallows Part II from simply feeling like a procession of notable character deaths, including the decision to relegate some of those deaths to offscreen. It’s a film that knows how to manipulate its audience, but also knows when to show restraint. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 4. Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them The Harry Potter series became the Wizarding World with the release of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, a film that incites instant curiosity for its cinematic frontier: 1920s New York, divided between the slick Art Deco design of MACUSA, The Magical Congress of the United States of America, the smoke-filled speakeasies (complete with goblin jazz singers and bartenders), and the dark corners inhabited by the Second Salemer witch hunters. In one film, screenwriter Rowling and director Yates were able to establish both a visual and thematic depth to their world that feels equal to the universe of Harry and his friends. Add to that, they found an empathetic protagonist in Eddie Redmayne’s Newt Scamander, a magical zoologist with a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Rex Features Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 3. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire At this point, the Potter series was four films in, so a change of pace had become essential to the franchise’s survival. The Triwizard Tournament fulfilled that need magnificently, allowing the introduction of a more global perspective thanks to Fleur Delacour (Clémence Poésy) and Viktor Krum (Stanislav Ianevski), alongside a neat sequence of set pieces, from deadly mermaids to dragons. The Yule Ball also remains a visual delight. It’s an almost comically elegant backdrop for Ron, Harry, and Hermione’s youthful angst over dates and relationships. Add to that, the film boasts both Brendan Gleeson’s brilliant performance as Mad-Eye Moody and the film debut of Robert Pattinson, as Hufflepuff’s tragic hero Cedric Diggory. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 2. Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone “You’re a wizard, Harry.” And, with that, thousands of childhoods became instantly filled with wonder, never mind the looming disappointment of realising a letter from Hogwarts was never going to turn up in the post. As tempting as it may be to ridicule The Philosopher’s Stone for its badly aged special effects (poor Fluffy) and objectionable child acting, there is no replacing the magic conjured in our very first look at Hogwarts, a soft glow emanating from its many towers. The film is a sugary sweet delight that rightly deserves its place as a modern children’s classic. It relishes in its air of joy and fantasy – and that cannot be underestimated, no matter how epic the series’ conclusion. Every Harry Potter and Fantastic Beasts film ranked 1. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban The franchise’s biggest risk is also its biggest triumph. As unexpected as the move may have been to hand the reins over to Alfonso Cuarón, fresh from his sensual coming-of-age tale Y Tu Mamá También, The Prisoner of Azkaban has become the ultimate Harry Potter movie. Cuarón could subtly warp the look and feel of this word to progress towards maturity, without disrupting what had been established in the first two films. It’s the most successful in doing so of the entire series. The balance between light and dark provides risk without sacrificing enchantment. The Dementor is the most frightening creation of this universe, while the Patronus is the most beautiful. And yet it’s still a film grounded in character, and Cuarón does not allow the pain haunting the likes of Sirius Black (Gary Oldman) and Remus Lupin (David Thewlis) to be lost in the visual fray.

He’d taken his life as the Hatton Garden jeweller’s business inherited from his father (a dead ringer for Radcliffe) teetered under crippling debt. These were desperate times for the husband and father of two. Samuel’s solution was desperate too. He and his brother apparently faked a robbery in order to cash in their insurance premium.

The police quickly rumbled the swizz. The pressure on poor Samuel was redoubled. One day he drove off and never returned. “You want to just reach into the past,” says Radcliffe. “[Say], ‘whatever you’re going through, you have so much to offer the people who are around you and they still would all have loved you’”.

Who Do You Think You Are?’s great achievement across the years has been to flesh out the humanity of its stars. We’ll never think of Danny Dyer in the same way after the series revealed his blood ties to right royal geezer Edward III. Ditto current affairs bulldog Jeremy Paxman, blubbing for England as he delved into his ancestors’s horrible histories.

The latest celebrity guinea pig is different in that Radcliffe has consistently come across as uncomplicated and humble – that rare child star not warped by early fame. It isn’t that he lacks a deeper side so much that he’s always presented himself honestly to the world. And so it continues here. With his gap-year beard and un-starry ways, he moves easily among the muggles on a journey that takes him from Southend to Banbridge (near Belfast).

Southend is where Samuel lived while commuting to Hatton Garden and the ultimately doomed jewellery business. The bleak conclusion to that story has its mirror in Ireland where Radcliffe catches up with the four great-great-uncles who marched off to the First World War.

Three made it back. But it’s the story of the fourth that captivates Radcliffe. Ernie had a sweetheart at home, whose love letters turned Radcliffe’s cheeks pinker than the Hogwarts rose garden. A happy ending of sorts materialises in the archives. Ernie and his beloved Jeannie married on Valentine’s Day 1915 and had a year together before he returned to the trenches where a stray German shell awaited.