- This Is Your Life (UK TV series)
Infobox Television
show_name = This Is Your Life
caption = Title card of 2007 revival
genre = DocumentaryBiography
presenter =Eamonn Andrews ;Michael Aspel ;Trevor McDonald
starring =
country = UK
producer =BBC ;Thames Television ;
ITV Productions/SMG Productions
runtime =
network =BBC One ;ITV
first_aired = 1955-1964, 1969-2003, 2007-"This Is Your Life" is a television documentary series airing in the United Kingdom, originally on
BBC Television , and nowITV . It is based on the US show of the same name which aired from 1952 to 1961, and again in 1972 onNBC .The UK version was launched in 1955 on the
BBC and was presented byEamonn Andrews (who also ended up being the first "victim"). It ended in 1964 whenEamonn Andrews moved to ABC, but it was revived on ITV (produced byThames Television ) in 1969, andMichael Aspel (himself [http://www.tv-ark.org.uk/itvlondon/thames/progs/thisisyourlife1980s.rm a "victim" in 1980] ) became presenter after Andrews died in 1987. It returned to the BBC in 1994, though it was still produced independently by Thames Television, and was axed again in 2003. It returned again in 2007.Celebrity guests on the UK version included
Muhammad Ali ,Ken Dodd ,David Nixon ,Frankie Howerd ,Norman Wisdom ,David Jason ,Jeremy Beadle ,Anne Kirkbride ,Lord Mountbatten ,Frank Skinner ,Jim Davidson ,Charlie Cairoli ,Joan Collins ,Bernard Manning ,Shirley Bassey , Stephen Behan father ofBrendan Behan andDominic Behan ,Windsor Davies ,Sydney MacEwan ,Peter Davison ,Alfred Marks ,Brian Rix ,George Best ,Spike Milligan ,Jon Pertwee ,Eric Sykes ,Marty Wilde ,Justin Hayward ,Bernard Braden ,Paul Young ,Gary Glitter ,Patrick Macnee ,The Bee Gees ,Bill Oddie ,Tim Brooke-Taylor , producerBill Kenwright ,Barbara Windsor , DJJohn Peel , andLynn Redgrave in December1996 , who was caught while taking her bow in her one-woman show on stage at theHaymarket Theatre , the only time the Redgrave clan was seen together onstage at the same time.Bob Hope andDudley Moore have been the only subjects of two-part editions of the programme, in 1970 and 1987 respectively. Both were broadcast over two weeks.Clive Mantle 's profile included a post-credits sequence where he thanked the audience for coming.Footballer
Danny Blanchflower turned down the "red book" on the British show in February1961 , as didauthor Richard Gordon (of "Doctor in the House " fame) in1974 . In2001 Bill Oddie (of "The Goodies ") initially turned it down, but changed his mind and appeared on the show. ActorRichard Beckinsale was a feature on the show shortly after his 31st birthday, 8 months before his death.Originally it included non-celebrities who had done extraordinary things in their lives. In later years, following a persistent criticism of only deeming celebrities worthy of being featured on the show, non-celebrities were featured again. These included businesspeople, military personnel, the clergy and those had performed outstanding community or charity service but who were not well-known to the general public. Examples include Group Captain Sir
Leonard Cheshire ,Chay Blyth , SirNicholas Winterton and SirFitzroy Maclean . The series never profiled serving politicians, although retired politicians were occasionally featured, e.g.Lord Brabourne .A few celebrities have appeared on the show twice, though, such as
Bob Monkhouse andEamonn Andrews himself. On10 December 1969 , the 20-year-old modelTwiggy became the UK show's youngest "victim" - a record which still stands. When snooker playerStephen Hendry was surprised with the red book in 1990, aged 21, he remarked that he had "hardly had a life"."This Is Your Life" returned in June 2007 on
ITV for a special programme hosted by SirTrevor McDonald .Simon Cowell was the first "victim" of the new series. The new edition was co-produced by ITV Productions,SMG Productions ,TIYL Productions ,Click TV andRalph Edwards Productions .
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