A landmark documentary project that has tracked the lives of several individuals since childhood is approaching its final chapter.
The Up Series, which began in 1964 with a Granada Television production for the World in Action current affairs programme, will conclude with 70 Up, scheduled for broadcast on ITV1 across two evenings on September 15 and 22.
The original Seven Up!
documentary featured 14 seven-year-old children from diverse backgrounds and regions across Britain.
Commissioned as a one-off exploration of young lives and attitudes, the programme aimed to provide an insight into social structures during the mid-1960s.
Following its transmission, the concept evolved into an unprecedented longitudinal study, with participants revisited at seven-year intervals in what became known as the Up Series.
The project garnered numerous awards and inspired similar programmes, while also receiving cultural recognition including a parody episode in a long-running animated series.
Among the original participants was Nick Hitchon, whose journey through the decades-long project concluded with his final appearance in 63 Up, released in 2019.
During that broadcast, Nick disclosed that he was battling cancer and in poor health.
The programme’s original director, Mike Apted, who had helmed every instalment except one, passed away in 2021, prompting uncertainty about whether the series would continue.
Nick held firm views that the project should not end prematurely.
He urged the production team to capture an interview while he remained able to participate.
In 2023, Claire Lewis, who had been involved with the series for many years, travelled to Nick’s residence in the United States to conduct the filmed interview.
Nick passed away shortly afterward.
The circumstances of Nick’s selection for the original 1964 documentary involved a researcher dispatched from Granada’s Manchester headquarters to identify a child from a farming community.
After searching rural Lancashire without success, the researcher received guidance from a schools inspector directing him to the former Arncliffe Church of England Primary School.
The head teacher there identified Nick, who was six years old at the time, as a suitable candidate willing to speak on camera.
Despite being younger than the seven-year-old requirement, Nick’s articulacy made him an appropriate choice, and he would remain slightly underage throughout subsequent editions of the series.
In his initial appearance, six-year-old Nick discussed his fascination with the Moon and declined to discuss female peers.
Certain scenes depicting his journey to school, including footage near Kilnsey Crag, were staged for atmospheric effect, though his actual route differed from what appeared on screen.
Apted, initially a researcher on the 1964 production, later progressed to directing and received instruction from a senior Granada figure to monitor the original participants’ progress.
This led to 7 Plus Seven, which revisited the subjects at age 14, and established the pattern of returning every seven years.
The series began with an explicit socio-political objective, exploring whether British individuals remained confined to their birth circumstances.
Over time, the focus shifted toward documenting individual narratives as the participants’ lives increasingly diverged from expected trajectories.
This deviation from initial expectations proved particularly evident in Nick’s case.
Rather than continuing in agriculture, he attended Ermysted’s Grammar School in Skipton, where his enthusiasm for physics developed significantly.
He subsequently studied at Merton College, Oxford, and in the early 1980s relocated to the University of Wisconsin in the United States to pursue research into nuclear fusion technology.
Production teams crossed the Atlantic to document his progress, occasionally bringing him back to the Yorkshire Dales, frequently capturing footage along country lanes and past familiar landmarks.
Nick remained a consistent presence throughout every episode of the series, unlike some other participants who withdrew at various stages.
The new director appointed for the concluding instalment is documentary filmmaker Asif Kapadia, who has meticulously reviewed archived material from previous episodes.
The 70 Up production is expected to include footage that has never previously been televised.
The Up Series has had a profound impact on those who participated, fundamentally shaping their experiences over more than six decades.
Whether the participants will view the conclusion with a sense of loss or as a natural progression remains to be seen.
It is anticipated that the final programme will provide meaningful resolution for those whose lives have been intertwined with this remarkable documentary endeavour.
Previous episodes of the Up Series remain available for streaming via ITVX in the United Kingdom.