[man] Can you find my son?

It would mean the world.

[woman] I miss my brother.

We just don't know where to turn.

[Davina] In the last year, over 4,000 people from across the UK have contacted the Long Lost Family team... Do you know what her full name would be?

...asking us to find their missing family.

[woman] I tried to write so many times to my brother.

There's this one, this one, this one.

I need to meet my birth father.

He is part of who I am.

It's been like an obsession for 20 years.

It's been an obsession.

[Nicky] Using trained intermediaries, DNA experts, and investigators all over the world, we find people that nobody else could trace.

-We've found your mum.

-Ahhhhh!

[laughs] [Nicky] We uncover incredible family secrets... -Don't tell me she was there?

-She was.

[woman] Meeting a famous person who happens to be your sister-- I can't even begin to describe what that actually feels like.

[Davina] ...and answer questions th at have haunted entire lives.

I knew there was gonna be twists and turns.

I said it.

This week, a man seeking answers to questions he's had his entire life.

[man] I need to find an understanding of why my birth mother did what she did.

And a woman searching for her little brother, who she spent just one week with as a child.

[woman] We laughed, played games, joked about.

But then it was all over in a flash.

Never saw him again.

[dramatic music ends] Often on Long Lost Family, we meet people whose questions about their past shape their entire futures, and that's the case with our next searcher, a man who needs to find peace in order to move forward.

[man] I work a lot of hours, starting usually 4:00 or 5:00 in the morning.

-[man] Morning, fellas.

-Morning.

[man] Good weekend?

Seventeen hours a day, seven days a week.

Busy week this week.

Big job, Hastings to Eastbourne.

My work helps me to stop thinking too much.

But I'll never, ever forget what happened.

[continued] It's just something always there.

[seagulls calling] [phone ringing] Mark Ratcliffe Moving.

Good afternoon, can I help?

56-year-old Mark Ratcliffe runs a removal and storage company in Eastbourne, on the South Coast.

Do you have a move date yet at all?

But he grew up over 300 miles north in the small town of Nelson in Lancashire with his adoptive parents and two sisters.

[Mark] I couldn't have wished for a-- for a better childhood.

Fabulous upbringing.

My mum was a proper mum, a great mum.

She cared.

My mum and dad just only ever wanted a family, they only wanted children.

And, uh, their lives were complete, once they had myself and my two sisters.

Throughout his childhood, Mark had no idea he was adopted-- until one day when he was 12.

[Mark] I remember it very clearly.

Um, Mum and Dad sat me down.

"Oh my God, what have I done, what's happened?"

And, um, they did explain to me that-- that I wasn't theirs, and I was adopted when I was very, very young.

Um... and I just didn't get it.

"What do you mean...

I'm not from you, from-- I just don't--" didn't understand.

So I thought, why would your mother give you up?

Why?

What reason?

When I love my mum so much, my adoptive mum, who I'd always believed was my mum-- how could then another mum give up their child?

I definitely felt a sense of betrayal.

Not by my adoptive mother and father at all-- by the world.

I felt as though I'd then lived a fantasy childhood that wasn't real.

It was all fictitious.

It didn't really mean as much as I thought it did.

And it's hard.

Now, 44 years after finding out he's adopted, Mark is still struggling to come to terms with it.

So, I just work, work, work, so I don't think too much, I suppose.

It helps me to forget where I came from.

But it's always there, all the time.

The problem with adoption, it's just something you can't do anything about.

It hurts when you're a child.

Doesn't hurt any less when you're older.

It's just a different kind of hurt.

I need to find an understanding of why my birth mother did what she did, um... and that decision that she came to, to draw some peace with it, and then I can move on.

[Nicky] When Mark came to us, he'd gathered as much information as he could about his birth mother.

He knew her name, Nancy Whiston, and the fact that she was 25 when he was born.

So, she'd be in her 80s today.

We started our search by lo oking for a birth certificate in the hope that we could get an exact date of birth-- and that was when we made a heartbreaking discovery.

Nancy died in 2009.

But we still wanted to find anyone who might be able to help Mark understand what led to his adoption.

We came across a birth certificate for another Nancy Whiston, born in 1972.

As this was an unusual name, we felt there might be a connection, especially as this woman was registered in the Manchester area, the same city where Mark was born.

[Nicky] Right... We traced Nancy using the electoral roll and discovered she still lived in Manchester.

We made contact, and she confirmed she was Nancy's daughter.

We had found Mark's sister.

For decades, Mark has yearned to know why his birth mother couldn't find her way to keep him.

Sadly, he'll never have the chance to ask her.

But what light, if any, can his sister Nancy shed on the situation?

-Hello, Nancy.

-Hi, Nicky.

-How are you doing?

-Good.

Nice to meet you.

-[Nicky] Nice to meet you, too.

-Come in.

So, how do you feel about this?

At first, it was a shock.

I know my mum had children that I've never met, but Mark wasn't on any of my records.

Your mum never mentioned Mark to you?

No.

Never.

But she would talk about the children, me and my brother and my sister who had contact with her, but the ones who had been adopted or... there was no real mention of them.

Okay.

I need to find out stuff.

So, how many children did your mother have?

Eight.

Seven other children-- with Mark, eight, yeah.

And how many lived with her?

Well, there was only really me, my brother and sister that I was in care with that we was with her for a short time, but not for long.

-You were in care?

-Yeah.

Pretty much all of my life.

I don't remember-- I haven't got any memories of living with my mum.

So, what were the domestic circumstances that led to this situation?

Why didn't you live with her?

You know, I think we were being neglected, from what I can gather.

She was drinking heavily, I think.

Eventually, we was-- the three of us was put into care together.

And we were older as well, so we couldn't really be adopted, so... We just stayed in the care system.

I mean, it must have been awful for you.

Yeah, it wasn't easy growing up in care, but, you know, it wasn't-- it could have been a lot worse, you know.

I think because we weren't adopted, that's how three-- us three managed to keep contact with my mum throughout her life.

Did she come and see you?

Did she make su...

Sometimes, yeah.

The nuns used to hold garden parties, and she would make an effort to come to those, and-- That meant a lot?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Do you remember how you felt about her at the time?

I think happy, and I think from the bits I can remember, excited.

And was she affectionate?

Not really affectionate.

I think she was usually quite emotional, and sometimes she'd been drinking and things, so it could get a bit heated.

But I think, you know, you did get glimpses of the-- a caring woman.

From the outside, it sounds like you've been through a hell of a lot.

Yeah.

But she wasn't a bad woman.

There was nothing bad about her.

Do you have a picture of her?

Um, yeah, I do, actually, yeah.

That was one of the last pictures, I think, that was taken of her.

And that's one when I was about 12 and she'd come to visit me.

Just looking at her, thinking about what these photographs are gonna mean to Mark.

He was lucky to have a very nice adoption, lovely parents, and he found out he was adopted when he was 12 years old.

It's dominated his thoughts that she put him up for adoption.

-[Nancy] Mm, sad.

-You can understand it.

Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

It wasn't just him, 'cause, obviously, there was other children adopted and we was taken off her, whereas, you know, probably reluctantly, but we was, so that might help him.

If he knows the full extent of everything that's happened with me and my brother and sister, he might start to feel maybe, if he's had a good life with his family, you know, that, that was a good thing that maybe happened to him.

'Cause the alternative is... the care system.

It's a thought, isn't it, that, in some ways, life has been kind to him.

[Nicky] Mm.

It's one way of looking at it, yeah.

There he is.

Oh, wow!

Gosh.

Hmm.

Wow.

That's amazing, yeah.

That's lovely.

I think there is a resemblance.

[Nicky] Do you feel a kind of connection with him?

When I look at his face, you do feel a sort of, yeah, connection.

I think that's gonna mean a lot.

Good.

It's just a really nice thing to know that, you know, there's somebody out there.

If I can help him understand, then that's what I'm happy to do.

[Davina] Before we tell Mark about his sister Nancy... Our second story comes from Peckham and a woman whose chance to connect with her family slipped away 50 years ago.

How much is the plantain, please?

-[man] 1.20.

-1.20?

Thank you.

I was 12 years old, didn't know that I had a little brother.

It was a surprise, it was a shock.

This little cuddly boy was there smiling at me.

His name was Sam.

-[man] Your change.

-Thank you very much.

We spent that week together, and that was it.

Never saw Sam again.

Never.

61-year-old grandmother Alice Jones has lived in southeast London all her life.

[Alice] Hello!

Can you give me a hug, please?

Helloooo!

[Alice] My parents were both from Jamaica... Let me have a look at you.

...and the reason that they came over was to have a better life.

Alice's parents arrived in Britain in 1954.

They were among the first wave of migrants from the Caribbean and former British Empire who made the long journey to help rebuild the UK after the war.

Like many new arrivals, they'd left their families at home in Jamaica.

My parents did not know each other in Jamaica.

They met on the boat.

They were married, but they were not married to each other.

I presume they fell in love, had their affair, and I was the product of the affair.

Alice was born in 1956, and her birth parents set up home here in Deptford, despite each having a spouse back in Jamaica.

My parents were living this secret life until things changed.

When Alice was 18 months old, her parents received word that their partners were coming over to the UK.

They were probably thinking, "What are we going to do?

What are we going to tell each other's partner?

Do we say anything?"

So... We couldn't stay as a family.

Alice's birth mother never revealed the truth to her husband, but Alice's father did tell his wife.

And Alice went to live with them.

My childhood was nice, strict at times, but I was happy.

But when I was about 10, 11, and I started misbehaving, I was a bit rebellious.

At the age of 12, Alice was sent to visit her birth mother who was now a widow, in a flat opposite this café in Catford.

I walked through the front door...

I was expecting my birth mother to love me.

A child that she had not seen for so many years... but she was very cold, very stern, always looking cross.

No smile or any emotion.

I felt lost and unwanted.

There was just no connection.

But there was someone at the flat Alice did feel a connection with.

There was a little boy there.

He was introduced to me as my younger brother Sam.

His smile made me feel happy.

There was an instant bond.

But then, it was all over in a flash, and I never saw Sam again.

I could be walking past him on the street, and I don't know that's my brother.

[boy] Do you need me to help with anything?

No, no, it's all right at the moment.

I'm just gonna dish out in a minute.

Alice spent just a week with her brother when she visited her birth mother at the age of 12.

My biological mother said to me, "Ah, this is your brother, Sammy."

'Cause she used to call him Sammy.

"This is your brother Sammy," and he looked, and he smiled, and I smiled, and that was it, really.

We laughed, played games, joked about, giggled.

The moment we knew that we were brother and sister, that was it.

There was an instant bond.

He was my little haven of happiness.

But when Alice returned home to her father and his wife, Alice's mother and brother were never mentioned again, and all contact was lost.

I never ever forgot about him, and I've tried to find him.

I have so many questions.

Where is he?

Is he abroad?

Is he doing some big job or does he even remember my name?

I do hope that we have a connection again.

I really do.

To find Alice's brother Sam, we had to start with the details she already knew about her mother.

Alice knew her mother's name was Emily Richards and that her maiden name was Charlton, and that she had Sam roughly two years after her.

So, with all this information, we started scouring birth records for Sam.

We found a likely match-- a Samuel Richards whose mother's maiden name was Charlton, born in London in 1958.

But we needed to know where Sam was living now.

Searching the electoral rolls, we found a number of Sam Richards of his age living in London.

Our intermediary contacted them one by one, until we finally found Alice's brother.

Now 60, he was still living in Catford, just 10 minutes away from where Alice had last seen him as a child.

Sam informed us that his mother, Emily, had died in 1983.

But then, Sam told us something extraordinary.

He wasn't the only sibling in the house when Alice had visited.

He has two older brothers, John and Richard, who Alice has no idea about.

Richard doesn't want to appear on camera, but I'm in Catford to meet Sam and John.

Alice has never forgotten about the brief time she spent with her brother Sam.

And she cherishes the moment she had with him.

But with Sam being younger, will he remember the visit of his older sister?

And has he thought about her over the years?

-[Sam] Oh, hello.

-Sam.

-Hi, Nicky.

-Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

-Come in.

-Thank you.

-Nice to meet you, John.

-All right?

So, Alice was looking for you, Sam, and it's a wonderful surprise that you're here, John.

How has this been for both of you?

Well, it's been quite surprising, really.

-Yeah, it's great.

Yeah.

-Did you know about her?

-[John] We've met her once.

-Only met her once.

-Back in the '70s, weren't it?

-The '70s, for about 10 minutes.

-That was it.

-That was when she stayed... -[Sam] Yeah, she stayed... -...for a week.

-Yeah.

-She was there for a week?

I just thought 10 minutes, if that.

This is the thing-- she doesn't remember you, John, but she remembers you, Sam, and she remembers really bonding with you.

-[Sam] Yeah.

-Tell me about that week.

I remember the knock on the door, right, and my mum saying, "Oh, it's your sister."

I was like, "Okay."

All right.

And, uh, you can't sort of say-- go in... [John] Who is she?

Where's she from?

You can't go too much into detail, otherwise, you'll get that look as if to say, "Enough now."

It was just a weird way of doing things, 'cause as I said, you can't start-- start asking questions, because it just don't wash. Was your mother quite strict?

Because Dad died, what, '60 something... -[John] '67.

-I must have been very small.

So, she had to be mum and dad.

So, you step over the line, you felt it.

So, what was your mother like?

Well, she was a hardworking woman.

She used to work in the hospital, cleaning the hospitals.

I would say generous, even though she didn't have a lot of money.

Um... And, you know, just brought us up as well as best she could.

'Cause when Alice came for that week to see her birth mother, Alice felt that she was distant towards her, and she didn't really feel that she bonded.

Oh.

You were the great bond.

Do you remember playing with her?

I don't, to be quite honest.

I'm-- You know, I am 60 now, so it goes back a long way.

Are you surprised that she remembers very well playing with you and feeling very close to you and bonding with you?

Yeah, I am surprised, yeah.

Very surprised.

The fact that she had come for that week, did you never ever again ask any questions about the little girl who was your sister?

Well, I sort of said, "What's-- where's she gone?

What's happening?"

But that got sort of, "Oh, she's gone, that's it."

It was one of those things where we-- we didn't know what was going on, it was just there and gone.

And did she ever talk about Alice again?

Not really, no.

But-- the best part of this is that we can now... [John] Yeah, put that... ...to one side, and get on with it, you know.

We can be what we're supposed to be.

-Absolutely.

-[Sam] Yeah.

She's written a letter to you, and, obviously... She didn't know about me, did she?

Yeah.

And this is the letter that she's written.

-Would you like to read it?

-Are you sure?

-[Sam] Yeah.

-All right.

"Dear Sam, I have often wondered where and how is my little brother.

Recently, I celebrated a special birthday with family and friends, and my greatest wish was to have you there celebrating with us.

Sam, it would be absolutely wonderful to see you again.

I often wonder if you're thinking of me.

I hope so.

I'd love to hear how life has treated you.

Let's hope we'll see each other soon.

What a joyous day that will be.

Hoping to see you soon.

Love, your big sis, Alice."

That's lovely.

Thank you very much.

[John] Is she... Is she living in London?

-Mm.

Peckham.

-Serious?

[Sam] It's just up the road.

No, we're... Um...

I'm literally in Peckham.

That's where I live, really.

So...

I've probably passed her dozens of times, -or she's passed me.

-[Sam] Yeah, probably have.

Because Peckham is-- is my area, you know, and-- [Sam] Yeah.

You probably have passed her.

Have you got a photograph?

-[Nicky] Sorry?

-Have you got a photograph?

Thank you.

Oh, okay.

[Sam] Have I seen this woman somewhere?

-[John] Quite possible.

-[Sam] Quite possible.

Yeah, she'll do!

Pass.

She'll do nicely, know what I mean?

Yeah, it's my little sister.

Can't wait to meet her now.

-Thank you.

-That's all right, old chap!

[Sam] Yeah, it's time we met this woman.

Oh, yeah, our sister.

Peckham!

[Davina] 56-year-old Mark Ratcliffe has always wanted to know why his birth mother gave him up for adoption as a baby.

Unfortunately, we discovered she'd died in 2009.

We've let him know this difficult news away from the cameras.

Mark has spent a lifetime imprisoned by thoughts as to why his mother couldn't keep him.

But now his sister's been found and she can answer some of those questions, perhaps he can lay those difficult thoughts to rest at last.

-Hi, Mark.

-[Mark] Davina!

[Davina] How are you doing?

-I'm fine.

And you?

-Aww.

[Davina] It's lovely to meet you.

-Lovely to meet you too.

-Can we have a chat?

-I'd love to.

Come through.

-Thanks.

Thank you for the tea.

You're very welcome.

I'd firstly like to say how sorry I am that we couldn't bring you better news.

I know.

I know.

How've you been?

Yeah, it was... it was a shock, but I half expected it, and if she was alive, she would have been 81.

Um, so, you know, the ultimate would have been probably to have met her.

But, obviously, that's not-- not the case.

It's been tough for you, I think.

From being told at 12, 13 that my mother put me up for adoption, it was always there, it was also tapping away.

I mean, every day, I wanted to find out why and draw something from it.

Well, you know, there is somebody would be able to tell you about that.

Because we did find a half-sister.

Wow!

No, no, no.

-Really?

-Yeah.

She's called Nancy, like your... -Nancy.

-...like your birth mother.

Yeah, my mother was called Nancy.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

So, she named her after herself, Nancy, yeah.

Wow.

Did she have a lot of children, like, kids?

She had a lot of kids.

She had you and Nancy, and six other kids.

Eight kids.

But none of them lived with her.

Wow.

They were taken into care or something?

So, Nancy's probably, interestingly-- out of all the siblings, Nancy is possibly the best place to be able to tell you who your mum was and what she was like.

Because even though she was placed into care, Nancy stayed in contact with your mum until she died.

Wow!

And Nancy said your mum was very troubled, and she had a very tough life.

Um... she also drank quite a bit.

That was something she'd turned to sometimes, um... She's... all right?

Did Nancy never get adopted?

She didn't get lucky then, like I did.

'Cause I really, really did get lucky.

-Mm-hmm.

She's 48.

-Right, okay.

-And she's a single mum... -Uh-huh.

...and she is a teaching assistant.

Wow.

Nancy did give you a photo of your birth mother.

Oh, my God!

Wow!

I were praying, praying, praying, praying that you had a photograph.

Prayed.

Mm.

'Cause I just wondered what type of woman she was.

Eight kids.

Does Nancy look anything like her?

There's Nancy.

Wow!

Hm.

This means so much.

Wow.

Today, Mark has traveled to Manchester to meet his sister Nancy for the first time.

Forty-five years, I was wondering whether I had any family... where they were, what they were like.

[Nancy] The things that he wants to know about, I can try and answer some of his questions, and, you know, make him feel better.

So, I've got some photos that I'm gonna show him.

[Mark] Today, hopefully meeting Nancy will help me, you know, come to peace with myself and just move on in a more content way.

[Nancy] My mum would have been happy.

She'd have welcomed him.

[crying] I just think... she had such a sad life, just think it's a nice thing for her.

I just don't want her whole life to just be dismissed.

Nancy and Mark are going to meet at a hotel close to where their mother lived.

[Mark] I always sort of dreamt to know more about myself and where I came from.

There's always been something missing, and hopefully meeting my sister will help me draw a line under that.

And then, hopefully, you know, we can build on that and move forward and start a relationship.

Nancy.

[Mark] Hi.

[Nancy crying] [both crying] [Mark] It's okay.

[Nancy] I'm all right.

[Mark] Sit down.

Wow.

[laughs] How are you, then?

[both laugh] Good.

[crying] It's just nice to see you.

Nice to see you too.

You do look like her.

You do look like my mum.

-Really?

-You do.

Yeah, definitely.

There wasn't a day went by since I were 12, 13 that I didn't think of my mum, you know, what she looked like.

Where did she work?

What clothes did she wear?

Did... Did I have any other brothers or sisters, you know?

I've got a picture of her, um, when I was in the home.

Oh, where have I put it now?

I'm getting all nervous now.

Don't worry, don't worry.

It's okay.

We're family.

Oh.

That's when I was about 12 and she came to visit one day.

So, this is you and...?

That's me, and that's... [Mark] Our mum.

You and our mum.

It wasn't always good with my mum, and, you know, I think she did care, but I think she just struggled to show her emotions and things, and, you know, she could be quite difficult with the social workers when she visited sometimes, you know.

I think she... if she'd had a drink, she could be quite fiery.

Maybe she always wanted a family and kids.

Maybe that's why she tried so many times.

[Nancy] She just had such an unstable sort of lifestyle.

I'm sure if she'd have been here she would have met you.

Oh, sorry.

I'm so, so glad.

Thank you so much for coming today, you know.

Awww.

[Nancy] I think my Mum would be happy to know that it turned out well.

[Mark] Now knowing more about my mother, I feel that it's sad that I couldn't have met her earlier, and I'd have loved to have been there for her years ago.

So, tell me all about yourself and...

I don't know what to say now.

But, for me, to meet Nancy today were absolutely amazing.

Feel as though I've known her for years.

And to have somebody so close to me who is my sister, that means everything.

[both laughing] When Alice Jones was 12, she was reunited with her birth mother, and, sadly, it was not what she hoped it would be.

Alice has already been told that her mother's died.

I'm going to have to tell Alice that her mum didn't talk about her again or give any explanation about her past, and that may be difficult for Alice to hear.

But perhaps the news that not only has she got a little brother Sam, who she was looking for, but also a big brother John... and another brother Richard, and that they all live so close to her, will offer her a fresh start.

[beeping] -[woman] Hello?

-Alice?

-Yes?

Hello.

-It's Davina.

All right, Davina?

-Can I come up?

-Okay.

[Davina] It's lovely.

Ahh... thanks for seeing me.

So, you've been looking for Sam.

Yes.

What is it that you remember about him?

I remember his smile.

-Did you get on?

-We did.

We did, yeah.

-Immediately?

Clicked?

-Yeah, because there... you know, I was told that's my brother, and he was there smiling.

I suppose he was looking at this stranger, I'm looking at him.

What do you want from-- from Sam, if you were-- if you were to meet him?

Like, what do you want?

He's my brother, and there is that link, you know.

Is he thinking of me, the same way that I'm thinking of him?

I want to ask him about my mother, what she really thought, if she did think anything.

[Davina] Mm.

And if-- God forbid if anything has happened to him.

Well, nothing has happened to him, he's absolutely fine.

We found him.

Oh, my gosh!

Oh, my gosh!

He was so pleased to hear that you'd been looking... -How is he?

-He's great.

Is he here in this country?

He's here in this country.

Does he want to meet me?

Yeah, he wants to meet you.

Did he remember my name?

He remembers you, but not in the same clear way that you remember him.

And I think that was because you-- you were there, and, suddenly, you weren't.

He-- he was so confused.

It was like, "This is your sister," and then it was like, "Your sister's gone," and it was sort of, "Don't speak of her again" type thing.

But he was so pleased that you found him, and there was somebody else who was at the house that week.

-John.

-John?

John?

-A brother?

-A brother.

-A brother?!

-An older brother.

-What?!

-Yes.

But he really wants to meet you too.

Oh, my God!

I knew there was gonna be twists and turns.

I said it.

I said it, that there was gonna be twists and turns.

And you've got another brother who would love to meet you.

-Another brother?

-Richard.

But he'd like to meet you not on camera.

Oh, my goodness!

And your brother John lives in Peckham.

Are you kidding me?!

-I just...

I can't believe it.

-It's funny, isn't it?

This world is big, but it's small.

I've got a picture.

Hang on, let me show you.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

Yeah.

-[Davina laughs] I cannot remember John.

I just cannot believe what I'm hearing.

Oh, my gosh.

I want to talk to you about your mum.

She didn't actually talk about you again after, and you can read anything you want into that, but maybe it was too painful.

Yeah.

Yeah, yeah.

It's made me feel sad that-- that she didn't talk about me.

Um, did she care?

-Did she want me?

-Mm.

Yeah, I feel a little bit sad.

Do you feel that you can maybe put that to one side?

Now that I've got my brothers, yeah, that's going to compensate very much.

Very much.

They have written you a letter, if you'd like to... Do you think you could read it for me?

-Would you like me to?

-Yes, please.

Okay.

No problem.

"Dear Alice, we are still reeling from the shock of being told that our sister wants to make contact with us.

Our memories of you are vague.

One minute, you were in our lives, and then you were gone.

We thought about you at times but had no idea where you were or where to even begin to look.

Everyone is looking forward to meeting you and getting to know you, and hopefully have a great future together.

Your brothers, Sam and John."

[Alice] Aww, bless.

Thank you.

Lovely.

Lovely, lovely.

A week after discovering we found her brothers, today is the day Alice will see Sam and John for the first time in 50 years.

I'm scared, yes, that they're not gonna show.

Was really scared they weren't gonna show.

But, you're meeting in a minute, so are you gonna have that awkward hug, where you'll just be like, "Ah, ah..." -Or it's just gonna be... -Or the... remember the... [kiss noises] It's an important day.

A very important day.

My brother-- I've been looking for him or wondering where he is, and... now I've found him and found another brother.

There's just such a relief that, yes, they want to meet me.

[Sam] We're just dying to meet her.

We haven't...

I mean, 50 years, you know, be nice to meet our sister.

Can't wait to see her, really.

It'll be a lovely thing.

Then we can have a barbecue, of course, and all the rest of it, but, yeah, I'm... we... he's excited, if you can tell.

It's gonna be a great day.

The siblings are meeting at a local pub in Peckham, where Alice and John both live.

[Alice] It's a nice day, isn't it?

Nice day for nice things.

-Yeah.

-[Alice] Isn't it?

Yeah.

[Alice] From Sam and John, I'd just like to know that I'm gonna be welcome into that side of the family, because what happened was situations beyond our control.

That makes me feel happy that we can start afresh.

[Alice] I'm feeling nervous, now it's getting nearer.

-You shouldn't feel nervous.

-[Alice] Well, I do.

This is...

I just didn't think that this was gonna happen.

-[Sam] Oh, cheers, by the way.

-[John] Cheers, geez.

Oh, no, this is it, right.

-Take care, right.

-Yeah.

I'll be outside.

All right?

Take care.

[sentimental music playing] So, this is Alice then, yeah?

Mm.

[John laughs] -All right, girl?

-Alison.

Oh, my God!

[brothers laugh] My brothers.

Oh, my God!

Hi.

Lovely, aren't we?

[all laugh] And these are for you.

Aww, thank you, thank you, thank you.

-[Sam] Here we are then.

-[John] Mm.

[Alice] When they told me that you were found, I got the shock of my life.

We was never lost.

[laughs] [Sam] You're shaking.

[laughs] -Don't let me go.

-Okey-dokey.

[Alice] It was such a joyous moment, just excited.

I'm shaking now.

I just can't believe that I've met my brothers.

How's life been treating you guys?

So-so.

Only so-so.

It's all right now.

Everything will be all right.

Trust me, it's gonna be all right.

-Don't worry.

Be all right.

-[Sam] Yeah.

-About time, I think, don't you?

-[John] Mm.

So, come on, tell me about our mum.

Do you have no pictures of her?

I have.

Wowee!

Yeah.

Do you think I have a resemblance of her?

You do.

'Cause now you've took your glasses off, yeah.

-You think so?

-Just here.

-You think so, John?

-Mm, yes, yeah.

[Alice] So, when did she pass?

1980... -[John] 3, is it?

-...3, is it?

[John] Somewhere around there, '83.

In my mind all the time, I was thinking, "Oh, obviously, she didn't love me, whatever the case may be," da-da-da.

But then I was happy with my stepmother and father.

Well, that was then.

-This is now.

-[Alice] Yeah, yeah.

We don't know what she went through.

-Exactly.

-You know?

So, we have to really... [Sam] We'll make the best of this... -Embrace what we have now, yeah.

-Yeah.

Haven't had her for 50 years, so what remaining time we have got, gonna make it good-- if you know what I mean.

Yeah, it's gotta be done.

How do you feel now?

-How do I feel?

-Yeah.

I'm just happy.

I'm...

I didn't ever think this was gonna happen.

And so, what about you?

How do you feel?

I'm excited.

Cor, isn't this a happy day, yeah?

Sure is.

Sure is.

-Look at him smiling.

-[laughs] [Alice laughs] Because that's what I remember -when you was little, smiling.

-Yeah, that's me.

[Alice] Anything is possible.

If you want it, grab it and embrace it, and that's what I'm going to do.

I mean, I'm embracing this time, and it'll just last forever.

So, this is where Mum's resting place is.

[peaceful music playing]