This Is Your Life: Martyn Lewis

Martyn LEWIS (1945-)

THIS IS YOUR LIFE - Martyn Lewis, journalist and newsreader, was surprised by Eamonn Andrews while filming for ITN on London's Embankment.

Martyn, who was born in Swansea but grew up in Portrush in Northern Ireland, studied at Trinity College, Dublin, before working as a freelance reporter for BBC Northern Ireland in 1967. The following year, he joined HTV in Cardiff as a reporter, and then in 1970, he joined ITN in London.

Martyn established ITN's Northern Bureau in Manchester, which he led until 1978, when he became the company's foreign correspondent and began reading the news for the News at 5.45 and News at Ten bulletins. In the 1980s, he created the 'And finally...' segment, which featured positive stories at the end of each edition of News at Ten.

"Is this a wind-up? I don't believe it! Does my wife know about this - because I'll kill her when I get home!"

programme details...

Edition No: 698
Subject No: 693
Broadcast date: Wed 12 Mar 1986
Broadcast time: 7.00-7.30pm
Recorded: Tue 25 Feb 1986
Venue: Royalty Theatre
Series: 26
Edition: 20
Code name: Wales

on the guest list...

Liz - wife
Sylvie - daughter
Katie - daughter
Pamela Armstrong
Sandy Gall
Leonard Parkin
Carol Barnes
Glyn Mathias
David Nicholas
Alastair Burnet
Charles Morgan
Joan - mother
Julian Browne
Vivienne Mosley - cousin
Michael Bogdanov
Douglas Henderson
Heather Henderson
Jill Hallow
Redmond Morris
Malarkey Lawless
Antony O'Brien
Stephen Remington
Wynford Vaughan-Thomas
Tina Reynolds
Marvin Farkas
Duchess of Norfolk
Bruce Pyke
Jill - sister
Dan - brother-in-law

production team...

Researchers: Sue Green, Miriam O'Callaghan, Tom Wettengel
Writer: Roy Bottomley
Directors: Terry Yarwood, Michael D Kent
Associate Producer: Brian Klein
Producer: Malcolm Morris

names above in bold indicate subjects of This Is Your Life

related pages...

News At Ten

reporting the news

The Night of 1000 Lives

a celebration of a thousand editions

Screenshots of Martyn Lewis This Is Your Life

Scriptwriter Roy Bottomley recalls this edition of This Is Your Life in his book, This Is Your Life: The Story of Television's Famous Big Red Book...

Martyn Lewis was filming outside Buckingham Palace – an introduction to a collection of his reports on Prince Charles in America – when Eamonn Andrews pounced on 25 February 1986.

Sandy Gall, Leonard Parkin, Pamela Armstrong, Carol Barnes, Glyn Mathias and Sir Alastair Burnet were at the studios. So, too, was Martyn's wife Liz, a former HTV announcer.

Martyn had seen his share of the action covering the Turkish-Greek conflict in Cyprus in 1974, and events in Iran in 1979, following the overthrow of the Shah. His turn to be arrested – an occupational hazard of the war correspondent – came in Malaysia where he was covering the plight of the 'boat people'.

We heard that Martyn got his job at HTV as a result of a remarkable letter to the Director of Programmes, legendary BBC war correspondent Wynford Vaughan-Thomas. This reminded Wynford that in 1908 his (Wynford's) father had led a choir in Swansea in which Martyn's grandfather sang.

'It was on these grounds he felt I should audition him,' said Wynford.

Martyn got his audition – and the job.

Series 26 subjects