70 Up - tonight at 9pm on ITV

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Comments

  • WhatThe
    WhatThe Community Member, Scope Member Posts: 6,313 Championing
    edited September 20

    I'm stuck in 1970 now!

    I saw both documentaries aged 8 when I would sketch myself as a ballerina, gymnast, model and princess - I got those ideas from my annuals! The following year, I was dangerously unwell and my mother believed I suffered brain damage but I'll never know. I had no direction after school. For a school reunion at 50, I was too self-conscious and ashamed of my life to attend.

    I think Neil Hughes was incredibly brave to keep facing the cameras - he missed one or two interviews but never shied away from talking about his mental health. It made stark viewing. Aged 7, he wanted to be an astronaut; his parents were teachers; he planned to study at Oxford. We saw him homeless and struggling throughout the series.

    Before 42 Up, he was given a helping hand by Bruce Balden, got his degree and found a safe community to live in but he'll never be a well man.

    Nick Hitchon - farmer's son turned nuclear scientist - recorded a video for 70 Up three days before he died in 2023.

  • Hicks
    Hicks Community Member Posts: 21 Connected