CACrown ArchivesThe cinema collection
Menu
Research dossier · Arts & Letters

The Unforgettable

television series

Manuscripts, fine bindings, an engraving plate and preserved performance ephemera
Arts and lettersInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 2, 2026
Entity authorityQ7771458
Source-derived summary

The Unforgettable was a British television obituary-based documentary programme which aired on ITV from 21 January 2000 to 30 May 2012. It gave a biographical view into the lives of some of Britain's best-remembered entertainers and actors.

Each episode focused on the parallel private and professional life-stories of each person, which included interviews with friends, family and co-stars. The series also used previously unaired home recordings and personal photographs.

Series overview

Regular series

2015 special

Episodes

To date, five series have been produced, the first three from 21 January 2000 to 21 May 2002. Following an eight-year hiatus, the series returned on 8 August 2010.

The first two series were made by Watchmaker Productions. Series 3 was made by Chrysalis Entertainment, whilst series 4 and 5 are made by North One Television, which are all now part of All3Media.

In total, 38 regular episodes were produced.

The last obituary-based documentary in the series was broadcast on 30 May 2012.

Editorial summary

“The Unforgettable” enters the record as television series. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Unforgettable, television and series can confirm, complicate or overturn.

Editorial reviewA productive route into publication, performance and collection histories when the underlying object or edition remains clearly identified. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2000, 2012, 2015, 2002—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 2000-01-21. Its strongest next move is a source search built around Unforgettable, television and series.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

“The Unforgettable” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, Unforgettable, television and series provides the most credible route into that argument.

Evidence profile

Reception evidence should be dated and situated: later canonical status may differ sharply from the work’s initial circulation. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 2, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7771458. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000, 2012, 2015 and 2002.

Critical limits

Titles can refer to several editions, objects or performances, making precise identification essential before interpretation. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Separate the work, its editions or performances, and its later reception. Catalogue records, publication histories and object files often preserve different parts of that story.

Best used for
  • Identifying works and editions
  • Tracing reception history
  • Finding collection records
Verify next

The original object or edition, catalogue raisonné, performance record, rights file and holding institution.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “The Unforgettable”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow The Unforgettable primary sources, The Unforgettable archive and Unforgettable research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “The Unforgettable”?
  2. How did later circulation or interpretation alter the work’s reception?
  3. Where is authorship, date or provenance documented?
Subject index

Search terms from this dossier

Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from The Unforgettable” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.