Mirren plans documentary

Helen Mirren is making a documentary about her Russian ancestry.

The actress - whose real name is Ilyena Lydia Mironova - and her sister Kate plan to travel to Moscow with a documentary crew to explore their aristocratic roots.

Helen and Kate's grandfather was a diplomat working for Tsar Nicholas II, forced out of Russia during the 1917 revolution and unable to return.

The documentary, to be titled The Journey, will fulfil a lifetime's ambition for Mirren.

She says: "I'm hoping to get the full family tree, at long last."