70 Up - tonight at 9pm on ITV
We've followed their lives for six decades - now the stars of 7 Up are bowing out
Image source, ITV Image caption,
70 Up stars fromย left to right: Peter Davies, Symon Basterfield, Paul Kligerman, Tony Walker, Neil Hughes, John Brisby, Andrew Brackfield, Bruce Balden, Jackie Bassett, Suzy Lusk, Sue Davis
By George Wright
Six decades have passed since Jackie Bassett first appeared on TV aged seven, skipping down the road with her little sister.
It was 1964 and she had been selected by teachers at her east London primary school to appear in a documentary called 7 Up.
The show interviewed 14 seven-year-olds from vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. Inspired by the Jesuit saying: "Give me the child until he is seven and I will show you the man", it was intended as a one-off - a snapshot of Britain's class system and how it shapes us from a young age.
"They only picked me because I never stopped talking," Jackie told the BBC, with an infectious giggle that hasn't changed since childhood.
Little did she know then, but Jackie was being filmed for a show that would go on to be the longest-running documentary series ever made. In 2024, it was voted the most influential TV show of the past 50 years.
Now the curtain is falling, with the final instalment - 70 Up - airing on ITV this Tuesday.
"We didn't really know what we were doing, we had no idea what was happening," Jackie said of the day the Granada TV crew turned up at her school.
In the first episode, Jackie appeared alongside her friends, Lynn and Sue, as they were asked questions about boys at school and their hopes for the future. Jackie said she would like to marry a boy "that's not got a lot of money, but has got some money".
The nation was also introduced to the likes of wide-eyed Neil, who explained his plans to become either an astronaut or a coach driver; anxious Paul, who ruminated on the idea of one day marrying a woman who made him eat his greens; and pensive Bruce, who said his "heart's desire is to see my daddy who is 6,000 miles away" in Rhodesia.
In 7 Up, friends Jackie Bassett, Lynn Johnson and Sue Davis were asked questions about boys and their hopes for the future
Comments
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Just watched this, my mother first told me about this when I was a kid. I have memories spanning the whole series, watching this brings back so much normal day to day stuff you forget.
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Wasn't it great looking back?
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I saw bits of this while channel hopping. Must admit I found it a bit disconcerting seeing the aging process happen in just a few seconds. I guess we don't really notice normally as it happens so gradually. I had trouble working out which face belonged to which person at some points!
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I caught the last 10/15 minutes of it last night but I'm hoping to watch it from the beginning on ITV player soon. I had not heard of this show or idea before but what an intriguing concept๐
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I love this series, it's so fascinating to see how they change. I haven't watched this one yet but think I will tonight.
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I recommend watching all the documentaries one day!
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I've never been completely convinced by the original idea behind it. Following 14 people can make for interesting television but it's obviously a far too small and selectively chosen group to really demonstrate how much someone's childhood determines their future. Some of their lives seem to fit the theory and others really don't.
One thing I've always wondered is how much of the story we're seeing is actually the participants lives and how much is the way the filmmakers have chosen to edit and present them? Obviously they can't show everything, but selecting certain things over others must inevitably create a particular impression of each person. ๐ค
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I remember watching 14 or 21 up - in about 1972 at primary school - I would have been under 10 at the time - I understand that it "followed" the same people throughout their life every 7 years !
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for sure its not scientific but that doesnt make it not worth watching
obviously filmakers will hugely influence what we see and create a narative, thats their job, but i think the idea of this show sounds great. not sure on the ethics but i never seen or heard about it before and am going to find it to watch
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can you tell me more about it? is it watchable with only this episode or is it like a series where you have to watch them all? are there actually 60 odd years worth I need to catch up is what im getting at
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I didn't say it makes it not worth watching, not sure where you got that from.
Anyway the editing is something I'm particularly interested in though. Obviously the filmmakers have to create a narrative, but after 70 years it must be quite easy for the way someone's story is edited to influence how viewers perceive them, especially when we're only seeing a tiny fraction of their actual lives. I think that makes the ethics of it quite interesting too.
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knowing your life is being recorded and broadcast probably impacts how you are and what you end up doing too
i really want to watch it
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I watched this the other night. I found it really fascinating to see how everyone changed over time.
But I'd agree with you @Ross1975, I did wonder how much of it was shaped by the director and the ethics of it all is quite interesting.
I thought the interviewer was a bit tactless at some points! Very hard-hitting questions. Maybe that's a good thing in some ways, or perhaps it's just the old fashioned way of doing things, I don't know. But I found it a bit shocking how he asked a man who looked like he'd been struggling "Do you think you've failed" or something similar. You could just see his face drop with immense sadness. I think one of them even said that he'd distanced himself from the production because he felt they were portraying him in one particular way.
I found the whole thing quite bittersweet. But that's life, I suppose!
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Hi and welcome to the forum Hicks ๐คฉ
Yes, watch from the beginning; Seven Up! was made in 1964 in black and white and was riveting television! I watched it in 1970 when it was repeated ahead of the next documentary, 7 Plus Seven (probably on a black and white TV). Here's something from Wikipedia:
The subjects are first seen on a group visit to London Zoo in 1964, where the narrator - Michael Apted - announces "We brought these 20 children together for the very first time." The series then follows fourteen of the children.
The participants were chosen in an attempt to represent different social classes in Britain in the 1960s. Apted states in the 42 commentary track that he was asked to find children at the extremes. Because the show was not originally intended to become a repeating series, no long-term contract was signed with the participants. According to Apted, participants in the subsequent programmes since Seven Up! have been paid a sum for their appearance in each instalment, as well as equal parts of any prize the film may win. Each subject is filmed in about two days and the interview itself takes more than six hours.
Apted later said that it was a poor decision to include only four female participants.
63 Up was his last film.
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The series has also been satirised. The Simpsons' 2007 episode "Springfield Up" is narrated by an Apted-like filmmaker who depicts the past and current lives of a group of Springfield residents he has revisited every eight years. The "37 Up" segment of Tracey Ullman: A Class Act, first aired in 1992, parodies the series. Harry Enfield parodied the series in a spoof titled "2 Up" with his characters Tim Nice-but-Dim and Wayne Slob.
๐
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The more I think about the central premise the more I find it rather questionable. Following 14 people for 70 years and then using their experiences to illustrate how childhood shapes the rest of our lives seems an incredibly narrow basis for making such a sweeping argument. Interesting television, certainly, but I'm not convinced that the conclusions drawn from it are necessarily as meaningful as the programme sometimes makes them seem.
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I remember some of those parodies, especially the Simpsons one! Did you ever watch the BBC's 'A Child of Our Time' with Robert Winston?
I'm sure it was inspired by this one. It didn't run for quite as long as the 'Up' series but it followed similar lines of about how our childhood and experiences shape our personalities. But if I remember correctly, there were a few more psychological tests and things rather than only interviews. Also really interesting!
You can watch all the previous series of it on ITVX @Hicks, if you wanted to catch up. The most recent one did feature clips of previous years too if you didn't want to commit to watching it all! There's a new episode coming on the 22nd I believe.
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Morning Rosie!
I only remember Harry Enfield's spoof from that list but A Child of Our Time, yes, I watched most of it.
Every Up film in the series returns to the original black and white programme and subsequent interviews as the participants grow up. Should be watched in its entirety. The kids are cute and the world looked so different back then. There are some very sad stories and people come in and out of the series. Of course, by the final episode there is more to review and less to learn about each individual.
You have to wonder what dumb sexist comment was asked of the three remaining women that wasn't asked of the men ๐
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I'd definitely like to go back and watch them all at some point @WhatThe, it's fascinating.
From the clips in the latest episode, I loved hearing from them as children and what they thought of the world at that point in time. That clip of young Paul saying he didn't want a wife in case she fed him vegetables - so sweet ๐
It's such a snapshot of each era too and what life was like at the time. You're right about the sexist comments, though! And so few women featured, it's very unequal.
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We returned to England in 1970 so British television was a novelty for us! There were only three channels mostly showing the news or cartoons - we hadn't discovered Top of the Pops - it was Christmastime, 17th December and an unforgettable double bill.
Of course, in those days, women got married (or didn't) and had babies so they weren't expected to contribute much of interest oops!
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