Big Red Book
Celebrating television's This Is Your Life
This Is Your Life first appeared on BBC Television in 1955 - despite some reluctance from certain quarters of the press - when the creator and host of the original American version, Ralph Edwards, introduced the show to British audiences.
The popular BBC personality Eamonn Andrews was signed up to present the series. However, in an unexpected twist, he became the programme's first subject when the press leaked the identity of the original choice for the first edition, the footballer Stanley Matthews.
Programmes were generally broadcast live in the show's first few series, but the first pre-recorded edition of This Is Your Life was broadcast in January 1956 and featured, ironically, Stanley Matthews!
The first edition was broadcast live on a Friday evening in July, while the series began its actual run the following autumn. Initially, it was screened monthly on a Sunday evening, then fortnightly as its popularity grew.
This series was the shortest in the programme's history. Still, despite that, a wide-ranging choice of subjects was featured, from a music publisher to a market porter, and the series closed with a special edition featuring 'highlights and sidelights on the personalities and behind the scenes stories...'
related pages...
a review of the first series
the man who created it all
the genesis of the programme
first-hand recollections
the show's fifty year history
Snoopers on TV? Not on your life!
The Daily Express reports on an American import
Radio Times previews the first edition
The Manchester Guardian reviews the first edition
Radio Times previews the second edition
This Is Your Life: The Show that can never be fully rehearsed
TV Mirror goes behind-the-scenes of the first series
John Bull Magazine interviews Eamonn Andrews
| Eamonn ANDREWS | Radio and television presenter | 29 July 1955 |
| Yvonne BAILEY | former Special Operations Executive agent | 25 September 1955 |
| Ted RAY | Comedian | 23 October 1955 |
| James BUTTERWORTH | Methodist minister | 20 November 1955 |
| C B FRY | Sportsman, journalist, author and scholar | 18 December 1955 |
| Johanna HARRIS | British Red Cross nurse | 1 January 1956 |
| Donald CAMPBELL | Speed record breaker | 15 January 1956 |
| Joe BRANNELLY | Musician and music publisher | 29 January 1956 |
| Stanley MATTHEWS | Footballer | 12 February 1956 |
| Henry STARLING | Market porter | 26 February 1956 |
| Ida COOK | Novelist and campaigner | 11 March 1956 |
| Lupino LANE | Actor and theatre manager | 25 March 1956 |
| Hugh Oloff DE WET | Artist | 8 April 1956 |
| Elizabeth WILDE | Spinal injury patient | 22 April 1956 |
| Robert STANFORD TUCK | RAF fighter pilot | 6 May 1956 |
| These Were Your Lives | Review of the series | 20 May 1956 |
Broadcast details
BBC Television Service15 editions | 1 special | 15 x 30 minutes | 1 x 45 minutes
Sunday | 7.45pm x 12 | 8.15pm x 1 | 3.30pm x 1 | 7.50pm x 1
Friday | 7.45pm x 1
Production team
Devised by: Ralph EdwardsProducer: T Leslie Jackson
Writer: Gale Pedrick | Researchers: Peter Moore, Nigel Ward | Research Assistant: Nickola Sterne
Music written by: James Turner | Orchestra conducted by: Eric Robinson, George Clouston | Music played by: Tom McCall
Designer: Barry Learoyd | Production Assistant: Ronald Lane