Jason taken to the Tower

Actor finds queen's jailer and Jane Austen are ancestors

- TOM BRYANT

BAFTA-WINNING actor Jason Watkins has discovered he is related to both Jane Austen and the man who oversaw Lady Jane Grey's execution.

On a new show, the star finds out he is a descendant of Sir John Brydges, who was Lieutenant of the Tower of London when the "Nine Days' Queen" was in custody there before her beheading in 1554.

This proves quite the plot twist as Jason, 62, narrates the popular series Inside The Tower of London.