Big Red Book
Celebrating television's This Is Your Life
While the new series of This Is Your Life continued to make use of Thames Television's Teddington Studios for the majority of recordings, the programme still travelled to the occasional outside broadcast, such as in the edition which honoured an award-winning athlete at the impressively grand Caird Hall in Dundee.
The firm which produced the Big Red Books, namely Walter Phillips (Perivale) Ltd, faced a particular challenge in this series with the need for a book with braille lettering on its cover, which was used to surprise a jazz legend who was blind. This wasn't the first use of braille, though - that was back in 1964 for a disabled hillwalker and writer.
T Leslie Jackson - the programme's original producer - died on the 7th of April 1992. Leslie guided This Is Your Life through the entire nine-year run at the BBC between 1955 and 1964 as producer and then executive producer.
TV Times magazine marked the end of this series with an article which looked at the white lies and deception employed by the spouses and partners of various recent subjects.
related pages...
the show's fifty year history
Celebrities select their ideal This Is Your Life subject
TV Times interviews recent subjects
Press obituaries for This Is Your Life's first producer
Klein's having the time of his life
The Stage interview with Associate Producer Brian Klein
| Paul NICHOLAS | Actor and singer | 16 October 1991 |
| Keith FLOYD | Cook, restauranteur and television personality | 23 October 1991 |
| Gwyneth JONES | Welsh soprano | 30 October 1991 |
| Norman PAINTING | Actor | 6 November 1991 |
| Thelma BARLOW | Actress | 13 November 1991 |
| Nobby STILES | Footballer | 20 November 1991 |
| Bernard MANNING | Comedian | 27 November 1991 |
| Elizabeth MCCOLGAN | Athlete | 4 December 1991 |
| Michael NICHOLSON | Journalist and broadcaster | 11 December 1991 |
| Pam FERRIS | Actress | 18 December 1991 |
| David BERGLAS | Magician and mentalist | 25 December 1991 |
| Gary GLITTER | Pop singer | 1 January 1992 |
| Nigel HAVERS | Actor | 8 January 1992 |
| Maureen MORELAND | Entertainer | 15 January 1992 |
| Tony BLACKBURN | Disc jockey and television presenter | 22 January 1992 |
| Wendy TOYE | Dancer, stage and film director and actress | 29 January 1992 |
| Alan BLEASDALE | TV dramatist | 5 February 1992 |
| George SHEARING | Jazz pianist | 12 February 1992 |
| Jim HOWARD | Aid worker with Oxfam | 19 February 1992 |
| Kevin LLOYD | Actor | 26 February 1992 |
| Josef LOCKE | Irish tenor singer | 11 March 1992 |
| Robert LINDSAY | Actor | 18 March 1992 |
| Hannah HAUXWELL | Farmer | 25 March 1992 |
| Rory UNDERWOOD | Rugby union player | 1 April 1992 |
| Susan HAMPSHIRE | Actress | 8 April 1992 |
| Chris DE BURGH | Singer-songwriter | 15 April 1992 |
Broadcast details
Thames Television production for ITV26 editions | 26 x 30 minutes
Wednesday | 7.00pm x 25 | 5.55pm x 1
Production team
Producer: Malcolm Morris | Associate Producer: John Graham | Programme Consultant: Roy BottomleyDirectors: Brian Klein, Terry Yarwood, Paul Kirrage, Brian Penders, Steve Minchin, Malcolm Morris
Writers: Roy Bottomley, Norman Giller
Researchers: Sue Green, Mandy Nixon, Elizabeth Ross, Tom Wettengel, Ian Brown, Sarah Ann Cockcroft
Production Assistants: Irene Clark, Diane Finch | Programme Co-ordinators: Angela Kennedy, Mandy Lee, Joanna Wood
Designer: Harry Clark | Film Research: Susan Tiplady