Big Red Book
Celebrating television's This Is Your Life
"Well, This Is Your Life has become so much part of my life, I wouldn't know what to do without it..."
This Is Your Life presenter 1955-1964 / 1969-1987
Remembering This Is Your Life - a compilation of memorable moments
This Is Your Life was a television institution.
One of the most popular programmes on British television, covering five decades of broadcasting and producing over eleven hundred editions.
The programme's premise was simple – an unexpected surprise for an unsuspecting subject, as the host opened the Big Red Book to reveal a life story told through a reunion of family and friends. Part biography and part celebration, each edition aimed to entertain in a warm-hearted and joyful way.
At the peak of its popularity, in the 1970s and 80s, audiences of up to, and sometimes more than,
20 million viewers regularly tuned in every Wednesday at 7pm in anticipation of whose name
would be embossed on that week's Big Red Book...
Open this Big Red Book to discover a record of every edition broadcast in Britain between 1955 and 2003, and learn about the series, the subjects and the secrets, as we turn back the pages of one of the best-loved television treasures of all time... and celebrate the show and the lives it honoured.
"...the book is the amulet...
that is what makes the show work. I could be wearing a barrel –
it's the red book they see –
and they go crazy..."
This Is Your Life presenter 1988-2003
An extract from TV's Biggest Blockbusters, first broadcast on ITV in July 2012, featuring This Is Your Life at the number two position
"Big Red Book website is a living archive - a unique and illuminating document, which combines a mass of historical data with a fund of fond memories of our much-loved programme.
A well-researched and conscientiously collated, This Is Your Life, This Is Your Life."
This Is Your Life producer 1974-1982 / series producer 1997-2003
Producer Jack Crawshaw recalls This Is Your Life in a clip from Channel 5's Top of the Box, initially broadcast in June 2018, which highlights a year in the show's history - 1978
The Big Red Book website is an independent research project which receives no official funding and is free of advertising. A true labour of love - online since 2010.
If you find the site informative or enjoyable, please consider a donation - no matter how small - to help with the running costs - and keep the Big Red Book open!
Thank you - please enjoy the pages of the Big Red Book...
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| SERIES | SUBJECTS | FEATURES | ARTICLES | INTERVIEWS | ||||||
| a year by year account of the show's history and subjects | an A to Z of the 1104 subjects from Abbot to Zarb | exclusive features on all aspects of the show's history | a growing collection of published articles | an expanding online archive of exclusive interviews | ||||||
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| Paul NICHOLAS | Rosemary CONLEY | Bonnie LANGFORD | ||||
| the actor and singer remembers his 1991 tribute | the businesswoman, author and broadcaster recalls her 2002 tribute | the actress, singer and dancer recalls her 1986 tribute | ||||
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| Richard STILGOE | Gerald HARPER | Lionel JEFFRIES | ||||
| the songwriter and lyricist recalls his 2001 tribute | the actor recalls his 1980 tribute | Ty Jeffries recalls his father and his 1971 tribute | ||||
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| Clive MANTLE | Ronald SHINER | Nick ROSS | ||||
| the actor remembers his 1996 tribute | the son of the comedian and actor recalls his father's 1958 tribute | the broadcaster recalls his 2002 tribute | ||||
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| Frankie HOWERD | Mervyn DAVIES | Pam AYRES | ||||
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| Ivy BENSON | Joss ACKLAND | John INMAN | ||||
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| Patrick CARGILL | Molly WEIR | Anthony QUAYLE | ||||
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| Leonard SACHS | Cyril FLETCHER | Tony GREIG | ||||
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| Alberto SEMPRINI | ||||||
