SAYS KEN HANKINS

IF all the world loves a lover, then it is equally true that all the world loves a success story. And for that reason I applaud the BBC's wise decision to obtain the television rights for two years of This Is Your Life.

We had a preview of this American-fostered show last week, when Eamonn Andrews came under the spotlight.

A number of my fellow critics got extremely hot under the collar about this unusual programme. They shied like startled carthorses and queried whether this all-revealing feature had any right to be classed as TV entertainment.

Well, I am quite prepared to stand alone and declare that I found it one of the most refreshing and entertaining items the BBC has given us for a long time.

I am also willing to wager that the average viewer felt the same way about it, too.

This Is Your Life created such an impression that it managed to capture those balmy days. On Saturday morning the show was a talking point in offices, shops, pubs, clubs and on park benches. In other words, it caught the public's attention - and the public, as a whole, seemed to like it.

The critics objected to what they described as the "gawky sentimentality" of the show. For any weaknesses along those lines we can blame Mr Ralph Edwards, who will not be at the helm when the BBC launches a series.

And what if the surprised and bewildered Mr Andrews did brush away a silent tear? What's wrong with that?

People have wept for less in public and have been sympathetically received by understanding folk who are happy to leave the stiff upper lip stuff to fictional characters like Bulldog Drummond.

I firmly believe there is room in television for a programme on the lines of This Is Your Life. The surprise element is perhaps not absolutely necessary in presenting a visual biography of a celebrity.

VICTIM'S HELP

By removing it, the producer would be able to seek the co-operation of the "victim" in order to offer the viewer a comprehensive picture of the life under review.

It would also do away with those shock reunions, which would tend to bore the watcher after the initial novelty had worn off.

If television is to look for something new and break away now and again from the binding chains of panel games and variety capers, it is important that fresh and original shows such as This Is Your Life should be given the chance to register.

This Is Your Life - Article: TV Has Room For 'This is your life'