This Is Your Life titles

Eamonn Andrews

"Well, This Is Your Life has become so much part of my life, I wouldn't know what to do without it..."


Eamonn ANDREWS


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.

Michael Aspel

"...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..."


Michael ASPEL


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

Jack Crawshaw

"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."


Jack CRAWSHAW


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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Contents...
                     
  This Is Your Life titles   Dora Bryan This Is Your Life   Michael Aspel feature   Radio Times article   Gary Wilmot This Is Your Life  
  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  
                     
Exclusive new interviews...
             
  Richard Stilgoe subject page   Miriam Moses subject page   Gerald Harper subject page  
  Richard STILGOE   Miriam MOSES   Gerald HARPER  
  the songwriter and lyricist recalls his 2001 tribute   remembering the social reformer - honoured in 1958   the actor recalls his 1980 tribute  
             
             
  Lionel Jeffries subject page   Clive Mantle subject page   Alberto Remedios subject page  
  Lionel JEFFRIES   Clive MANTLE   Alberto REMEDIOS  
  Ty Jeffries recalls his father and his 1971 tribute   the actor remembers his 1996 tribute   the son of the operatic tenor recalls his father's 1976 tribute  
             
             
  Nick Ross This Is Your Life   Ian Woosnam This Is Your Life      
  Nick ROSS   Ian WOOSNAM      
  the broadcaster recalls his 2002 tribute   the golfer looks back at his 2002 tribute      
             
Recent updates...
             
  Russ Abbot This Is Your Life   Carol Vorderman This Is Your Life   Bryan Mosley This Is Your Life  
  Russ ABBOT   Carol VORDERMAN   Bryan MOSLEY  
             
             
  Cheryl Baker This Is Your Life   Errol Brown This Is Your Life   Clive Hornby This Is Your Life  
  Cheryl BAKER   Errol BROWN   Clive HORNBY  
             
             
  Trevor Bannister This Is Your Life   Brian Murphy This Is Your Life   Tim Healy This Is Your Life  
  Trevor BANNISTER   Brian MURPHY   Tim HEALY  
             
             
From the archive...
             
  Matthew Kelly This Is Your Life   Googie Withers This Is Your Life   Nicholas Parsons This Is Your Life  
  Matthew KELLY   Googie WITHERS   Nicholas PARSONS