Seven Up!
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Begun in 1963 and released in 1964, Seven Up! is a documentary film series directed by Michael Apted that follows the lives of 14 British people of different races, genders, and socio-economic backgrounds. Every seven years, the documentarians attempt to reconnect with the subjects and catch up on their lives in the intervening time since the last documentary. The series is premised on the theory that given a child of age seven one can predict how the rest of their life will unfold (based on the quote by Francis Xavier).
The original programme was commissioned by Granada Television as part of the World in Action series. The 1998 programme was commissioned by BBC One. Apted's thesis that class is so strong in the UK that a persons life path is set at birth has held up as the series has progressed. The original group includes three Prep School Boys (the 'upper class twits' John, Charles and Peter) who know at age 7 which Oxbridge College they would attend and which Law Chambers or Banking Firm they would work for, Upper class Suzy at age 7 expects to become a homemaker and 35 years later that is how we find her. However the three working class girls Jackie, Lynn and Sue who expect a life of drudgery as housewifes age 7 end up securing careers. Tony the Cockney 'Cheeky Kid' achieves his dream of being a Jockey and secures a comfortable life as a taxi driver.
Over the course of the project the programme has had a direct effect of the lives of the participants. By the time of "28 Up" one of the bright grammar school boys Neil Hughes whose life was seemingly laid out for him in 1964 had experienced a breakdown and was homeless. Another one of the series subjects Bruce Balden (another one of the bright grammar school kids) found out and offered him a home that by the time of "42 Up" has given Neil the base to get work and a home of his own. Unsurprisingly since '28 Up' none of the 'upper class twits' will appear in the programme and one of them has become a BBC Producer.
Attempts have been made to repeat the series with subjects in the United States, the Soviet Union, and South Africa. In a list of the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes drawn up by the British Film Institute in 2000, voted for by industry professionals, 28 Up was placed 26th.
List of films in the British series
- Seven Up! (1964, Michael Apted)
- Seven Plus Seven, (1970, Michael Apted)
- 21 Up (1977, Michael Apted)
- 28 Up (1985, Michael Apted)
- 35 Up (1991, Michael Apted)
- 42 Up (1998, Michael Apted)
A new version was started in 2000: 7-Up 2000 (2000, Julian Farino)
Other similar documentaries
- Age 7 in the USSR (1990, Sergei Miroshnichenko)
- 14 Up Born in the USSR (1998, Sergei Miroshnichenko)
- Smokes and Lollies (1975, Gillian Armstrong)
- 14's Good, 18's Better (1980, Gillian Armstrong)
- More Smokes, Less Lollies (1981, Gillian Armstrong)
- Not Fourteen Again (1996, Gillian Armstrong)
External links
Entry on IMDB (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058578/)