After an unprecedented seventy-year run, ITV's experimental documentary series '7 Up' is drawing to a close. The programme, which has been regularly hailed as the greatest documentary series ever made, began in 1956, just a decade after television sets became commonplace in British living rooms.
A Groundbreaking Television Project
The original concept was revolutionary: document the lives of a group of seven-year-old children and revisit them every seven years in a new series. This longitudinal study has created what many consider to be a truly distinctive landmark piece of filmmaking that has become woven into the cultural fabric of Britain.
The Human Journey Documented
Viewers have witnessed the subjects grow from children into adults, experiencing all of life's major milestones including marriage, divorce, career changes, and bereavement. The series has provided an unparalleled window into the human condition, showing how childhood hopes and dreams evolve through adulthood into retirement.
The final installment, titled '70 Up', will see the remaining participants reflect on their triumphs, trials, and tribulations as pensioners and retirees. This closing chapter will feature long-time subjects Sue Davis, Bruce Balden, and Tony Walker, though the series has been marked by loss over the decades.
A Changing of the Guard
Original participant Lynn Johnson passed away in 2013, while Nick Hitchton died between the last series '69 Up' in 2019 and the current production. This is also the first series to be made without director Michael Apted, who helmed the project for decades before his death in 2021.
Taking over directorial duties is acclaimed filmmaker Asif Kapadia, known for his award-winning documentaries about racing driver Ayrton Senna and singer Amy Winehouse. Kapadia has described the opportunity as "an incredible honour and privilege."
A Director's Lifelong Connection
"In 2014, I named the Up Series as my favourite documentary of all time," Kapadia revealed. "Who knew that two decades later I would have the incredible honour and privilege to be asked to direct 70 Up, the legendary documentary series. I love the show! I have watched it all my life, first as a child with my parents and siblings, growing up in East London and then as an adult."
Kapadia has called '70 Up' a dream project and "the ultimate portrait of human life." He acknowledged the significant challenge faced by his editing team of Andrew Hulme and Patrick Saxer in cutting hours of archive material shot over multiple decades while also examining the nature of documentary filmmaking itself.
A Cultural Institution
Jo Clinton-Davis, Controller of Factual at ITV, has hailed the 7 Up story as "much more than a TV documentary." She described it as "a document of our times" that captures universal life themes through the evolving stories of its cast.
"It is the series that made me want to get into television," Clinton-Davis confessed. "It is the series that I am beyond proud of having been involved in since 56 Up." She noted that the final series serves as a tribute to Apted's original vision and enduring legacy.
The conclusion of this seventy-year television experiment marks the end of an era in British broadcasting, closing one of the most ambitious and influential documentary projects ever undertaken in television history.
