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This Is Your Life Stop Press feature
Arthur Christiansen This Is Your Life Arthur Christiansen This Is Your Life Arthur CHRISTIANSEN

21 October 1957

Arthur - whose imagination and artistry set a new standard in British journalism - was the editor of Lord Beaverbrook's newspaper, the Daily Express, from 1933 until his recent retirement.
He was surprised by Eamonn outside the BBC Television Theatre.

     
     
Stanley Bishop This Is Your Life Stanley Bishop This Is Your Life Stanley BISHOP

14 December 1959

The production team created a 'mock' robbery at the BBC Television Theatre to entice the Fleet Street journalist to the 'scene of the crime' - where Eamonn surprised him.
Stanley - regarded as Britain's number one crime reporter - worked for five national newspapers over a 56-year career.

     
     
  This Is Your Life Big Red Book Godfrey WINN

1 May 1961

The journalist, writer and actor - who had been a star columnist for the Daily Mirror and the Sunday Express - was surprised by Eamonn at the BBC's Broadcasting House while recording the radio programme Housewives' Choice.

     
     
  Denis Sefton Delmer This Is Your Life Denis Sefton DELMER

8 January 1962

The journalist and foreign correspondent - who began his career with The Daily Express, and famously interviewed Adolf Hitler in the early 1930s - was surprised by Eamonn outside the Caprice restaurant in the Mayfair district of London.
Among those paying tribute are fellow journalists Noel Barber and Arthur Christiansen.

     
     
  This Is Your Life Big Red Book Patrick CAMPBELL

30 December 1970

Eamonn surprised the journalist and television personality - who was the first son of the 2nd Baron Glenavy - outside the Savoy Hotel in London.
Patrick - who became a household name as a regular team captain on the long-running BBC game show Call My Bluff - was greeted by, among others, broadcaster and director Ned Sherrin.

     
     
Marjorie Proops This Is Your Life Marjorie Proops This Is Your Life Marjorie PROOPS

10 March 1971

Marjorie - best known as an agony aunt through her Dear Marje problem page in the Daily Mirror - was surprised by Eamonn during a staff meeting in the newspaper's newsroom.
The columnist was also a familiar face on television, and among her guests are French singer Sacha Distel and entertainer Danny La Rue.

     
     
Bill Tidy This Is Your Life Bill Tidy This Is Your Life Bill TIDY

17 December 1975

Eamonn employed the help of a group of Morris Dancers from Garstang in Lancashire in order to surprise the newspaper cartoonist - who is best known for his comic strips.
The dancers had been the inspiration for Bill's famous cartoon strip The Cloggies, which first appeared in the satirical magazine Private Eye in 1967.

     
     
Terry Fincher This Is Your Life Terry Fincher This Is Your Life Terry FINCHER

21 April 1976

Another newsroom and another newspaper – this time The Daily Express – is Eamonn's destination to surprise the award winning photojournalist.
Terry's career took off in 1956 when he accompanied the British forces that invaded Egypt during the Suez Crisis. He later did five tours of Vietnam covering the war there for the Daily Express.

     
     
Noel Barber This Is Your Life Noel Barber This Is Your Life Noel BARBER

12 December 1979

The Daily Mail foreign correspondent who used his colourful travels as the basis for a series of successful novels was surprised by Eamonn outside London's White House Hotel.
Among those paying tribute are fellow journalist Alan Whicker and husband and wife actors Michael Denison and Dulcie Gray.

     
     
Derek Jameson This Is Your Life Derek Jameson This Is Your Life Derek JAMESON

19 February 1986

Eamonn dressed as a newspaper vendor and surprised the tabloid journalist and broadcaster on Fleet Street, by handing him a paper declaring the headlines 'Derek Jameson, This Is Your Life!' Derek was celebrating 40 years in the newspaper business, having been editor of four papers, and was about to start broadcasting on the breakfast television channel TVAM.

     
     
Monty Fresco This Is Your Life Monty Fresco This Is Your Life Monty FRESCO

19 November 1986

Monty was lured to Thames Television's Teddington Studios on an assignment to photograph what he thought was the moment Eamonn would surprise reporter Nigel Dempster - who was in the studio audience. However, the tables were turned and Monty - the successful Fleet Street photographer - found himself in the spotlight.

     
     
Robert Maxwell This Is Your Life Robert Maxwell This Is Your Life Robert MAXWELL

14 December 1988

The former Labour MP for Buckingham was surprised by Michael in the unlikely setting of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists.
Awarded the Military Cross for war action, Robert went on to build an extensive publishing empire which included the Mirror Group Newspapers. Among his guests is the former Prime Minister Harold Wilson.

     
     
Claire Rayner This Is Your Life Claire Rayner This Is Your Life Claire RAYNER

11 January 1989

Michael boarded a train on route to London dressed as a ticket inspector in order to surprise the broadcaster and agony aunt - whose advice columns appeared in The Sun and the Sunday Mirror newspapers.
Claire had worked with our host in previous television assignments, and in a first for This Is Your Life, Michael introduces himself as an on-screen guest!

     
     
Lord Deedes This Is Your Life Lord Deedes This Is Your Life Lord DEEDES

14 December 1998

Still working at the age of 85, Bill Deedes is to date the only person to have been a member of the cabinet and an editor of a daily newspaper. As Conservative MP for Ashford he served under Harold Macmillan as Minister without Portfolio and later became editor of The Daily Telegraph. He was surprised by Michael while undertaking an interview with footballer David Ginola.

     

* the pre-1970 subjects were surprised by a different coloured book - see the Big Red Book feature for full details