This is Your Life: Story, Cast and Series Facts

Story and premise

This is Your Life was created by Ralph Edwards, an American radio and television host. The show originated on radio, debuting in 1948, successfully transferring to NBC television in October 1952.

The British version of the show was launched in 1955 by BBC television, and was initially broadcast monthly, then fortnightly, before becoming a regular weekly fixture in the TV schedules by its third series.

The BBC produced the show's first nine series before axing the programme in 1964.

The London based Thames Television revived the show in 1969 and broadcast weekly editions over the ITV network, producing an average of 26 shows a year. ITV continued broadcasting the show right through to 1994 despite a change of presenter when Michael Aspel took over after the death of original host Eamonn Andrews in 1987.

This is Your Life returned to the BBC in 1994, but was still produced independently by Thames Television, and was axed again in 2003.

In the show the host surprises a special guest, before taking them through their life with the assistance of the 'big red book'.

Series details

• Title: This is Your Life
• Format: Reality
• Language: English
• Genres: Family
• Premiere date: 1955-07-29
• Final broadcast date listed: 2007-06-22
• Status in TVmaze: Ended
• Network listed by TVmaze: ITV1
• Network country: United Kingdom
• Typical episode runtime: 30 minutes
• TVMaze ID: 8734
• TVDB ID: 70627

Cast and credited roles

• Eamonn Andrews — Presenter
• Michael Aspel — Presenter
• Trevor McDonald — Presenter

Seasons in the TVmaze catalogue

• Season 1: premiered 1955-07-29; final listed air date 1956-05-20.
• Season 2: premiered 1956-10-01; final listed air date 1957-06-24.
• Season 3: premiered 1957-09-30; final listed air date 1958-05-05.
• Season 4: premiered 1958-09-29; final listed air date 1959-05-11; episode order: 33.
• Season 5: premiered 1959-08-31; final listed air date 1960-03-28; episode order: 31.
• Season 6: premiered 1960-09-19; final listed air date 1961-05-08; episode order: 34.
• Season 7: premiered 1961-10-02; final listed air date 1962-05-07.
• Season 8: premiered 1962-10-02; final listed air date 1963-05-14.
• Season 9: premiered 1963-10-03; final listed air date 1964-04-30.
• Season 10: premiered 1969-11-19; final listed air date 1970-05-27; episode order: 26.
• Season 11: premiered 1970-11-18; final listed air date 1971-05-12.
• Season 12: premiered 1971-11-17; final listed air date 1972-05-10.
• Season 13: premiered 1972-11-15; final listed air date 1973-05-09.
• Season 14: premiered 1973-11-21; final listed air date 1974-05-15.
• Season 18: premiered 1977-11-23; final listed air date 1978-05-31.
• Season 20: premiered 1979-12-25; final listed air date 1979-12-25.
• Season 37: premiered 1996-09-20; final listed air date 1997-03-24; episode order: 26.
• Season 40: premiered 1999-11-01; final listed air date 2000-05-29.
• Season 43: premiered 2003-01-02; final listed air date 2003-08-08.
• Season 44: premiered 2007-06-22; final listed air date 2007-06-22.

Source and licence

Adapted from This is Your Life on TVmaze. The synopsis is reproduced as plain text; catalogue facts, cast and season records are selected and reformatted. This adapted text is available under CC BY-SA 4.0, following the TVmaze API licence. Network and web-channel credits identify the service listed in this source; they do not establish current streaming availability.