This Is Your Life

This Is Your Life was a long-running television programme which originated in the United States of America in 1952. A version began on the BBC in 1955 and its format of a celebrity being gently tricked into having their life story told in front of an appreciative audience and also being reunited with surprise guests became popular with viewers.

When the residents of Coronation Street planned a Christmas party in December 1963, Myra Booth came up with the suggestion of having their own This Is Your Life presentation on one of the residents. The event was planned by Dennis Tanner, Len Fairclough and Albert Tatlock and the people involved in springing the surprise were sworn to secrecy as to who the victim was. As the gathered audience watched in the Mission Hall, Dennis, as host of the evening and complete with his own "big red book" of the story of his subject, walked through the audience, teasing various members that they could be his target, before settling on an amazed Annie Walker. She made her way to the stage where her "years of public service" as the landlady of the Rovers Return Inn were relayed to the audience, most of who knew the story anyway. She heard a recording of greeting from Arthur Forsythe-Jones who she had met the year before in Babbacombe and who had stayed at the Rovers for a couple in weeks in the previous June, had a surprise appearance from fellow member of the operatic society Edgar Nuttall with who she sang a duet, disagreed openly with Ena Sharples over the exact date she and Jack took over the tenancy of the Rovers and was delighted to be "reunited" with her children, Billy and Joan. One of the final guests was Esther Hayes who used the occasion to tell the assembled throng that she was moving away from the area to live in Glasgow.

The only sore point for Annie was a painful reminder that she played the part of Lady Godiva in a Weatherfield pageant in the 1930s. To reinforce her embarrassment, a picture of Annie in the pageant (tastefully photographed from behind) appeared on the projection screen and another surprise guest was a Mr. Stubbins who had led the donkey that Annie had sat on all those years ago. The pursed-lipped look on her face at this stage of the proceedings suitably conveyed her emotions.

All ended successfully though when the audience joined in a chorus of For She's A Jolly Good Fellow.

Real Life
In reality, the BBC version of the programme ended in 1964 but the format was resurrected by Thames Television in 1969. As another ITV company, they were keen to feature as many Coronation Street stars as possible and this trend continued even when the programme returned to the BBC in 1994. Below are listed the members of the Coronation Street regular cast who were subjects of the programme, together with a second list of people who made guest appearances on the Street or who had connections with it but whose fame overall led to them being featured in their own right over the years. Dates after the names relate to the date of transmission of the relevant edition of This Is Your Life.

Regular cast

 * Patricia Phoenix - 15th November 1972
 * Jack Howarth - 20th November 1974
 * Betty Driver - 11th February 1976
 * Julie Goodyear - 22nd October 1980
 * Peter Adamson - 23rd December 1981
 * Johnny Briggs - 26th January 1983
 * Kathy Staff - 21st March 1984
 * William Roache - 16th October 1985
 * Bill Waddington - 15th October 1986
 * Gorden Kaye - 5th November 1986
 * Roy Barraclough - 21st October 1987
 * Elizabeth Dawn - 10th January 1990
 * Thelma Barlow - 13th November 1991
 * William Tarmey - 4th November 1992
 * Jill Summers - 2nd February 1993
 * Bill Kenwright - 23rd February 1994
 * Sue Nicholls - 29th November 1996
 * Bryan Mosley - 3rd November 1997
 * Anne Kirkbride - 28th December 1998
 * Denise Welch - 15th November 1999
 * Sue Jenkins - 7th February 2001
 * Geoffrey Hughes - 14th February 2001

Others

 * Stratford Johns - 3rd October 1963
 * Harry Driver - 3rd December 1969
 * Honor Blackman - 17th December 1969 and 17th February 1993
 * Peter Noone - 31st March 1971
 * Doris Hare - 29th December 1971
 * Pauline Collins - 5th April 1972
 * Warren Mitchell - 6th December 1972
 * Jack Smethurst - 24th January 1973
 * Sam Kydd - 20th February 1974
 * Mollie Sugden - 9th April 1975
 * Arnold Ridley - 10th March 1976
 * Leonard Sachs - 9th March 1977
 * Richard Beckinsale - 23rd November 1977
 * Andrew Sachs - 2nd January 1980
 * Bill Owen - 7th January 1981
 * Bernard Cribbins - 25th February 1981
 * Paul Shane - 16th December 1981
 * Stan Stennett - 5th January 1983
 * Norman Wisdom - 11th February 1987
 * Roy Hudd - 4th January 1989
 * Trevor McDonald - 24th January 1990
 * Stan Richards - 10th April 1991
 * Bernard Manning - 27th November 1991
 * Nigel Havers - 8th January 1992
 * Frazer Hines - 14th October 1992
 * Gretchen Franklin - 25th January 1995
 * Sue Johnstone - 7th December 1998
 * Kay Mellor - 27th March 2000
 * Paula Tilbrook - 4th January 2001
 * Simon Rowse - 21st March 2001
 * John McArdle - 30th January 2003