This Is Your Life: Simon Weston

Simon WESTON (1961-)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE – Simon Weston, British Army veteran, was surprised by Michael Aspel at the headquarters of the Welsh Guards at Pirbright in Surrey, having been led to believe he was being filmed for a television programme about charities.

Simon, who was born in Caerphilly, joined the Welsh Guards in 1978 at the age of 16 and served in Berlin, Northern Ireland and Kenya before being deployed to the Falkland Islands. On 8 June 1982, his troopship Sir Galahad was bombed by Argentine Skyhawk fighters, who scored a direct hit on the stern with a 2000lb bomb.

Simon survived with 46% burns and underwent years of reconstructive surgery, including over 90 major operations or surgical procedures. He made regular contributions to television and radio programmes, became a patron of several charities that support people living with disfigurements and, in 1988, set up a national youth charity, Weston Spirit.

"I don't know – this is a joke this, innit! I don't know what to say now!"

programme details...

Edition No: 773
Subject No: 763
Broadcast date: Wed 7 Feb 1990
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Tue 9 Jan 1990
Venue: Teddington Studios
Series: 30
Edition: 16
Code name: Tall

on the guest list...

members of Weston Spirit
members of the Welsh Guards
Jimmy Salmon
message from HRH Prince Andrew
Lucy Titherington - fiancé
Pauline - mother
Loft - stepfather
Jeremy - uncle
Andrew Davies
Ady Williams
Clive Morgan
Phil Hicks
Gary Falcon
Brian Shanklin
Hugh Kirby
Maj Charles Griffiths
Carl Dicks
Nigel Saunders
John Mellon
Pete Hallam
Nora - grandmother
Air Commandant Dame Felicity Peake
Helen - sister
Richard - nephew
Rebecca - niece
Noel McConkey
Brig Johnny Rickett
Steve Bishop
Byron Cordey
Peter Pithles
Ron Davis
Brian Elliot
Kenneth Webes
Welsh Guards Corps of Drums
residents of Nelson, Mid Glamorgan
Jackie Stewart

production team...

Researcher: Elizabeth Ross
Writer: Norman Giller
Directors: Brian Klein, John Birkin
Associate Producer: John Graham
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

Military Life

saluting the armed forces

Behind the Scenes

the programme's best kept secrets

The Secret Agent Who Made The Big Red Books

interview with the book binders

Biggest night of all for the big red book

Press coverage for The Night of 1000 Lives

Jackie Stewart

Screenshots of Simon Weston This Is Your Life

Simon Weston recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his book, Going Back: Return to the Falklands...

Around this time my professional life, such as it was, took another turn. Out of the blue, the BBC in Cardiff asked me to present a radio show entitled Summer Gems, which featured well-known Welshmen. I had to choose ten records and say what they meant to me.

I must have done something right, because two months later the BBC approached me again. Would I like to host my own show? Well who wouldn't? Soon, every Saturday, I had fifty minutes of music and a chat with a celebrity going out over South Wales and part of the Midlands. I enjoyed the work and loved having the chance to talk to people like Lenny Henry, Gary Glitter and Elkie Brooks about what interested them, and me, and (with luck) the listeners. The radio show was also the only bit of real routine I had in my life - something I was beginning to miss.

The only problem was, it meant driving 500 miles a week between Liverpool and Cardiff. It was expensive, and a strain, especially with the marriage getting closer.

This wasn't the only strain. I still haven't really forgiven Malcolm for what happened. My old and trusted friend, Malcolm Brinkworth, who had been largely responsible for the three documentaries, informed me that he was making a film about charities and wanted to include the Weston Spirit. Would I take a bunch of kids through an assault course up at Pirbright?

Well, I would do almost anything for Weston Spirit and for Malcolm, so of course I agreed, never suspecting a thing. I cheered the kids over walls, along horizontal ladders and through rubber tyres, while the cameras rolled. Then, with the performance over, I was relaxing with the kids when I saw a strangely familiar figure approaching me.

It was Michael Aspel, and one of Malcolm's crew was a Thames TV cameraman, and This, out of the blue, Was My Life.

I was totally gobsmacked.

'You bastard!' I shouted at Malcolm. Trusted friend, indeed! He knew I hated surprises! 'You bastard, you lied to me!' Then I turned to Michael. I must have looked outraged, because he told me later he thought I was going to put one on his chin.

As it happened, despite my apprehension, everything was fine. We would have spoken to King Hussein directly from Jordan, if the satellite link hadn't broken down. And when Lucy came on, it was more than fine. This was the first time we really made a public statement of the engagement.

Simon Weston recalls his experience of This Is Your Life in his book, Moving On...

Sometimes, being honoured can give you a terrible fright. I remember when I was set up for This Is Your Life. Malcolm had asked me to take a bunch of young people from Weston Spirit down to the Welsh Guards' assault course at Pirbright, supposedly to film a TV charity programme. Geoff, unusually, had arranged to be there too and had taken me out for lunch on the way down, saying he wanted to come and see me at work so that he could talk to others about what I do. I still didn't suspect anything until Michael Aspel appeared from behind a wall clutching his red book and I went into shock. 'This is a joke,' I kept repeating to the camera, flapping my lips like a fish unable to breathe. They had to take me for a walk along the Thames so I could calm down, and then we all went on to the television studios to record the show because it gets done in the same day. Michael Aspel said to me afterwards, "You had that look on your face; I thought you were going to thump me."

Series 30 subjects