70 Up

I watched Part 1 last night and the time just flew. It was so interesting. Some 7 year olds did exactly what they'd said they'd do but others' lives turned out quite differently. I winced at some of the questions asked and was impressed at the honesty they all showed. Some but not all very happy outcomes.

Usedtobeblonde

Slightly underwhelming I feel.
I too would have liked a more in depth interview with the 70 year olds, how they felt life had panned out from the first interviews and also how being on the programme had affected their lives, if at all.

Agreed.

And how do they actually feel, being 70.

I havent watched all the episode yet.
And there is next week's too.

Just watched it. As I only recently rewatched the previous one I felt that I was mostly just watching that again. I was surprised by Suzy in that I don’t remember her from earlier programmes at all. Then initially found her in this programme to be quite unlikeable only to find that she’s turned into someone really nice and caring. I was shocked by how rude some of the questions were in a ‘ shouldn’t you have done better’ sort of way. I think next weeks programme will tie up the loose ends. And I’m glad that Neil is living somewhere nice.

John did not mince his words about how, aged 7, he had been portrayed as a little prig. That may be the reason that his 2 children are never mentioned or seen.
Neil is upsetting. 10 GCE's and 4 A levels yet feels he had little to offer the world. Good to see him find a supportive community at last.
Bruce is the most well rounded, I feel. From the sad little soul saying his heart's desire was to see his Daddy to a lovely man tolerant and supportive of those who have very little. He puts his words into action. He may have left it a bit late but I'm so pleased he had his 2 sons.
Next week will have some harrowing scenes with Nick. Tissues at the ready.

They were only 7 and just parroting what they heard from family, but yes I always thought of them as the 3 posh boys. Which they were of course. Reading the Observer, Telegraph etc. just too funny. Even if they could read well, there would have been little if anything of interest to these small boys.
I await Tuesdays final final with interest and a hanky nearby.

^ There would have been little if anything of interest to these small boys^. Except for Andrew who had shares in the Financial Times and was interested to see how his shares were doing. Priceless. I suppose the East End kids were lucky to get a second hand Beano.

I found the conclusion last night incredibly moving, especially Nick's interview days before he died. It was so hard with some of them to reconcile their 7 year old selves with how their adult selves at different stages of their lives. I'm sure that would be the case for most of us. Neil particularly, such a bright eyed lovely little boy whose life was interspersed with periods of depression and at one time homelessness. I was very glad to see that he now had a permanent roof over his head now having bought a house in France. He also appears to have come to terms with how his life panned out, in the later stages he appeared to have become more anchored in the various communities he'd lived in, never staying too long though. The other thing that came over last night was the love/hate relationship some of the participants had with the director Michael Apted. Also how they were more or less shoved into it in the first place, as one or two pointed out they couldn't really make a judgement of how putting their lives under scrutiny every seven years would affect them long term and quite justifiably some thought that how they were presented was somewhat manipulated and that rarely showed the whole person, just an aspect which wasn't a defining one, more skewed for the tv audience. All in all, I think they were very brave, I can't imagine wanting to take part in what was quite a groundbreaking piece of history on film.

Last night’s finale was quite emotional. Even stronger Jacky teared up. I got upset seeing Nick. Cancer is such a cruel disease. And being a true depressive Neil’s life started so promisingly then spiralled out of control in so many ways.

When one considers the millions of people watching I think the fact that they continued to take part was pretty amazing.

The retired QC (? Charles) had the most insight. He realised early on that the producer had a fixed agenda and wanted to fulfil it by shoehorning them all into his perceived roles for them.

Last night was a better programme as it even showed some unseen clips from previous years and that helped make it more rounded and interesting.

Did anyone watch 70 UP The Victorians which was shown for the first time last night since 1965.The team interviewed people aged about 79 born under Queen Victoria's reign.It was fascinating and reduced me to tears at times.How lucky we are now.

He realised early on that the producer had a fixed agenda and wanted to fulfil it by shoehorning them all into his perceived roles for them.
I think you've hit the nail on the head there, Friedgreentomatoes. This was tv, not a social experiment at all. You need tens of thousands of participants to extract any meaningful results. The NCDS survey has around 180,000 children, now approaching 70 years old, all born in the same week.

I have watched every episode from the start in 1964. Over the last week I have re-watched the earlier programmes and finished 70Up last night. The programmes are a remarkable social history in themselves, even before adding in the individual children/adults. So much has been written about the series over the years and especially around the time of 70Up.
What genuinely strikes me is how few posts there are on here about the series. Are people really not interested in social history or is there so much better stuff on TV just now? (Obviously what interests me on TV has no bearing on what interests others, a fact brought vividly home to me recently on GN).

The retired QC was John FGT2.

I watched the first two as an undergraduate. Our tutors encouraged us to keep watching over the years.
I recall later programmes - one called A Child of Our Time, possibly started in the year 2000, but these seemed to have not been followed through .

Being the same age as the participants I have loved watching this incredible documentary. Very emotional last episode.

Did anyone else think Jackie had a look of Victoria Wood in her 30’s? I also thought Suzy at 70 was a dead ringer for Jenny Agutter.

The reason the TV programnes only scrape the surface, and don't get followed through, is due to money.
For example, the survey part of UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) provides millions to analyse the NCDS findings, (UCL carries this out), and participants are assessed by doctors, psychologists etc over a variety of areas over 70 years. It costs a fortune. TV companies have only a limited budget with which to please everyone.

I havent watched it yet.
Glad it seems to have got a better reaction than last week's episode.

Justwidowed

Did anyone watch 70 UP The Victorians which was shown for the first time last night since 1965.The team interviewed people aged about 79 born under Queen Victoria's reign.It was fascinating and reduced me to tears at times.How lucky we are now.

What channel was that on? I’ve always been interested in oral history from the perspective of ordinary people after reading Melvyn Braggs book ‘ Speak for England’.

One of the participants (can't remember which, but not from a privileged background) related a filmed scene with a teacher who was talking with them in an academic way. The teacher told them that this scene would be cut as it did not fit the brief - it was.

Charles Furneaux had the agenda sussed by the third programme and would not take part.

I found some of the questioning unnecessarily intrusive and was pleased to see some of the women kicking back on that.

Michael Apted did however acknowledge that there were flaws in how he approached it all and that his fixed assumptions might have got in the way.

Apted himself on the programmes:

""What can I say? I mean, it's the favorite thing I've ever done, the thing I'm most proud of. It's nerve-wracking, because you think you're always going to blow it and you'll wreck the whole thing. It seems fragile, and I've learned a lot of lessons about it. I've made mistakes on it and had to correct those mistakes. You know, particularly I got into a situation, I think, early on where I became judgmental about people — that if they didn't agree with my standards of success, failure, happiness, whatever, then I would feel they were the lesser for it. And also I try to play God. I try to predict what might happen to people, and sort of set it all up for that. And I did that, and that was an embarrassing mistake. And I think what I've learned all the way through is the less I do, the better."

It is interesting that as he himself aged, Apted reflected on the flaws and what he could have done better.

I think Jackie and John the KC were very vocal about the intrusive questioning by Michael Apted.
John also said he did not like Michael Apted as he wanted to portray him as the posh boy. John went on to help children affected by the Chaucescau regime, he them helped alot of people get their pensions back in his position as KC.I really liked him.
I also admired Jackie as well as she was not prepared to be questioned like that.
I am a year younger than the people who took part in this programme and I remember my Mum letting me watch it when I was six while she done her knitting. It brings back memories and I have enjoyed the programne.

It is interesting that as well as social history it encourages us to ask what constitutes success or happiness. And for me that leads on to asking about our education system and what exactly children are being educated FOR.

I don't think that question is asked often enough and I feel it should be at the forefront of education planning, especially in our rapidly changing world.

MrsQuigley

The retired QC was John FGT2.

Thanks you of course it was!
Lovely man
I just got muddled up. 🤭

My dear old dad used to say “no education is ever wasted”.

I was also reminded of Victoria Wood Bellas some of her spoof sketches were similar in style to the earlier 7Up episodes (remember Chrissie the channel swimmer?)

70 UP The Victorians was on ITV 1 on Tuesday.There is another programme on tonight at 7.30 on ITV 1 called 7 UP The story which gives many more details of the making of the series.