This Is Your Life: Jill Dando

Jill DANDO (1961-1999)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Jill Dando, journalist, television presenter and newsreader, was surprised by Michael Aspel while recording a voiceover for the television programme Holiday at the BBC Television Centre in London.

Jill, who was born in Weston Super Mare, had groundbreaking surgery to correct a serious heart condition as a child. She began her career as a cub reporter with the Weston Mercury newspaper before moving to BBC Radio Devon in 1985 as an assistant. After a brief spell at ITV Plymouth, she joined the region's BBC programme Spotlight.

In May 1988, Jill achieved national recognition when she joined the BBC Breakfast Time programme as a newsreader and, within a year, had become a key member of the presenting team. In addition, she worked on other BBC television programmes, including Holiday and Crimewatch.

"What's this? No! No - I don't believe it!"

programme details...

Edition No: 955
Subject No: 930
Broadcast date: Fri 8 Nov 1996
Broadcast time: 8.00-8.30pm
Recorded: Tue 29 Oct 1996
Venue: Teddington Studios
Series: 37
Edition: 8
Code name: Sun

on the guest list...

Bob Wheaton - partner
Eamonn Holmes
Jack - father
Nigel - brother
Dr Beryl Corner
Ronald Belsey
Bet Jones
John Crockford-Hawley
Alan Dedicoat
Juliet Morris
Robin Walsh
Bob Wilson
Justin Webb
Julian Pettifer
Maxine Smith
Judith - cousin
Cliff Richard
John Bailey
Mervyn Davies
Gordon Wilsher
Richard Turner
Judi Kisiel
Sally Magnusson
Nick Ross

production team...

Researchers: Clare de Vries, Elizabeth Ross
Writer: Ian Brown
Directors: Terry Kinnane, Paul Wisdom
Associate Producer: Sue Green
Executive Producer: John Longley
Producer: John Graham

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

News At Ten

reporting the news

Ratings slump sounds death knell for This Is Your Life

Press speculation on the future of This Is Your Life

Nick Ross

Bob Wilson

Screenshots of Jill Dando This Is Your Life

Brian Cathcart recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, Jill Dando, Her Life and Death...

The last couple of months of 1996 brought a turning point in the life of Jill Dando. November of that year began with her appearance, as recipient of the famous red book, on This Is Your Life. This was the usual upbeat affair, featuring among others her father, her brother, the surgeon who performed her heart operation, John Lilley, Nick Ross and Cliff Richard. And sitting beside the delighted Jill as the guests rolled in was Bob Wheaton, 'the man in your life'. They were presented as the ultimate in busy couples, she constantly on the road with Holiday and he caught up in a new job setting up the BBC's international television news service. 'Thank you for bringing us together,' Wheaton joked to Michael Aspel. 'We hardly ever see each other.' The programme, broadcast in that early-evening territory Dando had come to dominate, told the story she had recounted so many times - her childhood, the operation, Weston, the Mercury, Radio Devon, the loss of her mother and so forth. It was, in its way, television's own acknowledgement of her arrival as a star.

David James Smith recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, All About Jill, The Life and Death of Jill Dando...

Jill went on to the BBC, where she had some voiceover recording to do for Holiday that afternoon. She had not been in the studio long when Michael Aspel appeared with a red book under his arm. That was the pick-up, as they call it on the programme. 'Jill Dando, This Is Your Life.'

The programme was recorded that evening and broadcast a week later, the day before Jill's thirty-fifth birthday.

Bob had worked closely with the researchers who had prepared the programme. Along with the predictable roster of celebrity guests, they had involved Jill's immediate family and people who had played a part in her early life - the surgeon who carried out her childhood heart operation, a primary school teacher, colleagues from the beginnings of her career - while somehow managing to miss out on many of Jill's closest friends and workmates. She rang round some of them afterwards to apologise. She felt that the programme was not really about her but a version of her, filtered in part through Bob's eyes.

She was flattered, of course, and, as Jenny Higham said, it was a kind of validation of Jill and how much she'd achieved. It was reinforcing and good for her confidence.

Still, Jill was irritated, when she went off to change for the recording, to find that Bob had already laid out two choices of outfit for her to wear, a number one choice and a number two choice. He was just being methodical, thinking of everything, but Jill complained about it later to friends, even though she went ahead and wore the number one choice.

Ally, her agent, was with Jill on the way to the studio in Teddington. Ally had worked with the programme too, getting very cloak-and-dagger with Bob, worrying that Jill was going to think they were having an affair.

Jill didn't look very happy before she went in and Ally said, 'Are you all right?'

Jill said, 'Yes, but I'm only thirty-four!'

'Yes, I know,' said Ally, 'but you can have it done again?'

'Can I?'

'Yes,' said Ally. 'It's not the end of your life.!'

Ally sensed that the lack of security with Bob was not helping.

Jill said that she and Bob were not 'really together-together'.

After the show and the post-show hospitality, Jill and Bob went home and had an argument, or at least a rather tense conversation.

The way Jill described it later, some people were left with the impression that she and Bob had a blazing row, apparently about This Is Your Life. That was certainly how she presented it the following morning when she went to meet her family for coffee at the hotel where they had been billeted overnight. Judith, who was in the last term of pregnancy with her first child, had flown in from the Alps, and Auntie Esme and Uncle Ken were there, too.

Esme recalled that Jill was upset because of the trouble with Bob the night before, when she had told him he had ruined her special day.

In fact, the disagreement had been, on the face of it, about Jeffrey Archer. Bob said Jill had seemed perfectly happy when they got home and they'd had another glass of champagne, probably both had a bit too much to drink. A stressful time for both of them. Then Jill had told Bob about meeting Jeffrey - or at least, about having had lunch with a successful, married millionaire.

Bob said he wasn't jealous about it - millionaires could take who they like out for lunch - but ought not to do it without their wives knowing. Did his wife know? Jill said she thought not.

Think about it, said Bob, inventing a headline. 'JILL DANDO GETS ACCUSED OF BREAKING UP MILLIONAIRE'S MARRIAGE.' Not a particularly good idea.

Evidently Jill was not pleased to receive this advice from Bob and became cross with him. They had argued a while, and then, as Bob recalls, she had said, 'Oh God, why must we have an argument on the day my life and career are being fêted?'

Bob had known that Jill would take pleasure in being the subject of This Is Your Life, but he also realised she would be resistant to being seen to be too proud of her life, chancing fate, as she had earlier in the year, falling down the stairs on the way to the Weston reunion. It was tempting providence, This Is Your Life when you were only thirty-four; it could seem like a bad omen.

As it happened, Jill was due to meet Jan Knott for lunch on the day after the This Is Your Life recording. She phoned him that morning to cancel, telling him about the programme and explaining that she had old friends and relatives to see in London.

Series 37 subjects