This Is Your Life: Jim Shekhdar

Jim SHEKHDAR (1946-)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Jim Shekhdar, ocean rower, was surprised by Michael Aspel during a reception being held in his honour at a London hotel.

Jim, who was born in Leamington Spa, trained as a civil engineer at London's Queen Mary's College. He worked on various engineering projects worldwide before moving into IT and management consultancy. As a one-time water polo international, he won the county championships for Warwickshire five times and played for England.

In 2001, Jim became the first person to complete a solo unassisted nonstop crossing of the Pacific Ocean, setting off from Peru and finishing in Australia. During the journey of almost 10,000 miles, which took 274 days, Jim survived several encounters with sharks, had a near miss with a tanker, and almost ran out of food.

"Thank you very much!"

programme details...

Edition No: 1075
Subject No: 1050
Broadcast date: Wed 25 Apr 2001
Broadcast time: 8.35-9.05pm
Recorded: Thu 12 Apr 2001
Venue: Teddington Studios
Series: 41
Edition: 22
Code name: Billy

on the guest list...

Andrew Lincoln
Jim Stone
Renata Prokova
Jan - sister
Sarah - daughter
Anna - daughter
Jane - wife
Bob - brother
Sacha - nephew
Bob Jelfs
Nigel Clutterbuck
Paul Unsworth
Paul Sivey
Terry Benstead
Iain Hutchison
Dr Peter McCartney
Roddy Jones
David Hunt
Nigel Horton
Ingrid Darracott
David Jackson
Vera Jelfs
Martin Johnson
Lawrence Dallaglio
Jason Leonard
Gordon Burns
Prof Heinz Wolff
John Ridgway

production team...

Researchers: Emma Dooley, Alex Renton
Writer: Ian Brown
Director: Steve Docherty
Associate Producer: Helen Gordon-Smith
Executive Producer: John Longley
Series Producer: Jack Crawshaw
Producer: Sue Green

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

Life on the Ocean Wave

adventurers of the high seas

Jason Leonard

Screenshots of Jim Shekhdar This Is Your Life

Jim Shekhdar recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his autobiography, Bold Man of the Sea...

This is Your Life was quick off the mark. I was in the middle of a thank you speech for a presentation by British Home Stores, one of my sponsors, when Michael Aspel crept up on me with the famous large red book. Jane and the girls had managed to keep the secret effectively, and I was amazed to be whisked to a television studio filled by many friends and acquaintances.

Michael Aspel could not have been more amiable, setting us all at ease, and I enjoyed the show. Mrs Jelfs, who had been so kind to me in my youth, emerged as the surprise appearance at the end of the programme, and she showed her mettle afterwards when she was, again, the last to leave the pub.

I was interested by the procedures of the show. One of my old university friends was brought from behind the screens, and he told a story that meant a lot to him and me, but not much to anyone else. So that element was simply cut and he did not appear in the broadcast of the final edited tape.

Series 41 subjects