Do you remember the 7 up programmes?

I loved The Family at the time about the Wilkins family.
Does anyone know if that is available anywhere to watch again. It would be fascinating. I have no idea how many episodes there were.

Maybe those who want to coukd come together to talk about how they felt snoit making the the programme, how they were chosen and what they thought about Michael Apted.
It woukd be a nice ending, it having started at 7 and ending at 70. A whole lifetime.
It has been an interesting and long running piece of research.

I saw the first one when I was doing my PGCE in the late 70's and have seen most of them. Absolutely fascinating!

semperfidelis

Michael Aspel is not dead, just very old!

Michael Apted made the UP series!

( Your name is my old school’s motto!)

Michael Aspel is not dead, just very old!

Sorry Daddima, it was 7Up where I posted a link to the actual series, my mistake.

You're right, Child of Our Time is not available on BBC iPlayer which is a shame. I would have watched it again. Maybe they will put it on in the future.
www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0072bk8

There are five little videos of it on You Tube:
www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL337BBB21D4AB0F3B

Interesting that Robert Winston straight out states that too much TV for children has been linked with violence and behavioural problems. I've been saying that for years but so many people deny it.

I think I’ve watched them all the way through , and always admired all the participants in their generous handling of a decision made for them at 7 years old . Their judgements about when and how to participate every 7 years was interesting in itself . Some of them had occasional quite critical reactions to the intrusion although this in some cases mellowed or changed over time . I became very fond of them all , and thankful that they gave us a window on the world of a generation slightly younger than mine. It was Michael Apted’s project and maybe any plan for its future is now bequeathed to the families themselves .

Chestnut

Chestnut

There was another similar series with Robert Winston called Child of Our Time which covered them from birth in 2000 until the age of 20 to see how they developed as they grew into adulthood. There won't be any more. The 25 children were chosen to represent a wide range of backgrounds. That was also very interesting especially in 2017 when he was analysing the brain patterns of 16 year olds. It's fascinating how they change and develop at that age.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_of_Our_Time

I already posted the link to Child of Our Time with Robert Winston.

I’m only getting the Wikipedia page on that link, and external links there all go to iPlayer’s ‘not available’ , nothing leading to the actual programmes.

I used to work with one of the 7up girls and remember the crew filming when they were 21. How time flies....

I really enjoyed seeing them all grow up. A really interesting series. I always felt sad for Neil.
Does anyone remember the BBC 'fly on the wall' programmes about the Wilkins family? I used to love watching them.
It was called 'The Family' and made in 1974.

I think it was an amazing series and a great experiment I really must watch it again as I was only young when I watched it originally

as many have said, i am the same age as the participants so have always followed the programmes with great interest. I often wonder if them being on the programme influenced some of their choices in life. I am sad to read that Nick has died. I remember them showing tributes when Lynn died

Neil was my favourite too, and his story had a happy ending. He inherited a large sum of money and was able to go and live in France. He seemed much more settled in the last programme.

Chestnut

There was another similar series with Robert Winston called Child of Our Time which covered them from birth in 2000 until the age of 20 to see how they developed as they grew into adulthood. There won't be any more. The 25 children were chosen to represent a wide range of backgrounds. That was also very interesting especially in 2017 when he was analysing the brain patterns of 16 year olds. It's fascinating how they change and develop at that age.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child_of_Our_Time

I already posted the link to Child of Our Time with Robert Winston.

BlueBelle

I thought I d seen it all but I wasn’t even in Uk in ‘64 so can’t have done as I wasn’t in a country with a British TV I do remember the little chap who wanted to be a jockey I also watched the Ray Winston one
Isn’t that strange I could have sworn I d seen it all 🤷🏼‍♂️

I don’t remember the Robert ( not Ray!)Winston one, and can only find a spin off on You Tube. It’s not available on iPlayer either. Any ideas where I might find it?

I am of the same age, as I am sure many here are.

I stopped watching it a long time ago as I found it profoundly depressing and in the end, all rather pointless.

I think it showed the power of telelvision then, and maybe an expectation that it was all going to be of some significance and importance, when it really wasn't.

The class divide is even greater now, and that is really depressing.

I remember thinking how dreadfully snobbish and entitled some of them were but as time went on they seemed to mellow. I think the world is a bit different now ,though.

silverlining48

Neil was actually my favourite of the children, it was very sad to see the change wrought by his mental health deteriorating when he seemed such a happy child.
He has remained in the programme and ended up in local politics up in a Scottish island I think.
Everyone in my course liked Tony who wanted to be a jockey, and so he was.

Nick was my favourite, I feel really sad that he died and never hot to the moon.

Tony was/is great, isn't he!

Bluebelle I think we all think we have seen it all but I know I only started watching 7 Up in the 80 s on a sociology degree forty years ago but becayse they play flashbacks of the children it’s easy to feel you have seen it all.

I thought I d seen it all but I wasn’t even in Uk in ‘64 so can’t have done as I wasn’t in a country with a British TV I do remember the little chap who wanted to be a jockey I also watched the Ray Winston one
Isn’t that strange I could have sworn I d seen it all 🤷🏼‍♂️

silverlining48

Neil was actually my favourite of the children, it was very sad to see the change wrought by his mental health deteriorating when he seemed such a happy child.
He has remained in the programme and ended up in local politics up in a Scottish island I think.
Everyone in my course liked Tony who wanted to be a jockey, and so he was.

I think we all fell in love with Neil didn’t we.

Neil was actually my favourite of the children, it was very sad to see the change wrought by his mental health deteriorating when he seemed such a happy child.
He has remained in the programme and ended up in local politics up in a Scottish island I think.
Everyone in my course liked Tony who wanted to be a jockey, and so he was.

If anyone needs a refresher course it's all here:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Up_(film_series)

Interesting that the old Jesuit saying give me a child until he's seven and I will give you the man is only true to a degree. It's the old nature v nurture argument. Take Neil who was bright and cheery at 7 but by 14 was nervous and stressed. He never regained his cheerfulness and led a transient life. Why did he change so drastically we may never know, but 'the man' was certainly not the same as the child of 7.

The child may be taught and moulded by the age of 7 but life experiences and the chemical changes which take place in the brain during the teenage years can override that completely in some cases. Then of course there are genes, which can affect us in so many unknown ways.

I do remember it very well. Of course the problem for them was that they were selected at seven years old when they couldn't really make an informed choice as to what they were consenting to. I don't doubt that some found, as the years rolled by, an intrusion into their lives. Would any one of us want the eyes of the nation assessing how our lives were panning out over years with all our baggage and hiccups laid bare, I wouldn't! It wasn't surprising that at least one of the three boys refused to participate after age 21. It was sad to see the bright eyed, Neil I think he was called, morph from a little boy full of promise to a troubled youth into a man living in itinerant circumstances and mental health issues, what happened there? The transition from childhood sometimes via truculent youth through to adulthood in some instances delivering on their hopes and dreams but not always.

It's sad to know at least two of them are now dead, the Yorkshire boy who became a scientist and one of the trio of London girls.