In a landmark TV experiment that stretched across six decades, cameras followed the progress of 14 school kids from across Britain’s class system from the age of seven.
Avid viewed of the 7 Up series have seen the children’s ambitions start at jockey and end at cabbie, win places at Oxford and drop out of uni, and one even became homeless.
This week three episodes of programme on ITV, based on the Jesuit motto: “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man”, bring us up to date on their progress now they’re heading towards retirement.
It’s reality TV without the spin, and where none of the characters want to win fame.
Here’s a rundown on the colourful lives of the characters we’ve grown up watching….
Andrew
At the age of seven, public schoolboy Andrew Brackfield announced he liked to read the Financial Times to see how his shares were doing.
He later admitted he only said this because his father prompted him.
Andrew predicted he would study at Oxford, and did just that.
He married, had children and the last we saw of him, he was pretty happy with how his life had gone.
He looks back over his life and career and asks what it all means towards retirement.
Is he still contented with how things have gone?
Symon
Brought up in a Barnardo’s children’s home, Symon Basterfield dreamed of becoming an actor.
He was married with five kids at 28 but by 35 was divorcing.
He got hitched to Vienetta by 42 and they had a son. He was also fostering children.
His job as a forklift truck driver left him feeling he hadn’t fulfilled his potential.
Is his happy family life enough?
Peter
Peter Davies went to the same middle class school in Liverpool as Neil and shared his ambition to be an astronaut.
In 28 Up, while working as a teacher, he criticised Margaret Thatcher and was on the receiving end of a backlash from right-wing supporters, which made him opt out of the series.
He divorced, remarried, became a solicitor and a father and moved back to Liverpool.
He returned to the series in 56 Up to promote his band, but is he set to return in 63 Up?
Sue
Marriage was important to shy East End comprehensive pupil Sue Davis when she was 14, but by 42 Up she was a single mum.
She shared details of the start of a new relationship with Glenn and by 56 Up, they had been engaged for 14 years.
Sue is running the law department at the University of London. She was thrilled when Pierce Brosnan, a fan of the documentary, recognised her.
She also has an amateur dramatics hobby and realises that she might face the loss of her parents.
But did she marry?
Charles
Kensington prep school boy Charles Furneaux hasn’t taken part in the show since 21 Up.
He said he was proud not to have been part of the “prep school – Marlborough– Oxbridge conveyor belt” by going to Durham University instead, but he later studied at Oxford.
He is a TV producer but takes no part in this series.
In 2013, series director Michael Apted hinted at a falling out with Charles, admitting there was “probably quite a depth of ill feeling”.
Nicholas
Farmer’s boy Nick Hitchon proclaimed he wanted to learn about the moon aged seven.
By 21 he had met Jackie, and by 35 they had married and were living in America where he was a university professor.
The couple had a son by the time 42 Up was made. But by 49, he was divorced and had a new wife, Cryss.
In 56 Up, Nick visited the Yorkshire Dales and became emotional when visiting his family’s graves. By 63, will he have returned home?
Paul
Brought up in care, seven-year-old Paul Kligerman wanted to become a police officer but worried it would be too hard.
By 28, he and his wife Sue had two children and were living in Australia.
During 49 Up, Paul and Sue spoke lovingly about their two grandchildren and their pride at daughter Katy, who was the first member of their family to go to university.
At 56 Up, Paul was working in a retirement village. Is he still in Australia, and happy?
Lynn
As a girl Lynn Johnson, from London’s East End, thought she’d work at Woolworths but went on to establish a career as a children’s librarian.
We watched her battling a life-threatening brain condition and, in 56 Up, she lost the job she’d loyally held for 30 years. In 49 Up, we saw her delight in becoming a grandmother.
Sadly, Lynn was the first of the 7 Up kids to die as she passed away in 2013. In this series we’ll see a very moving tribute from her family.
John
Privately educated John Brassy predicted his career in law at the age of seven.
By 35 he was a barrister and married to the daughter of a former ambassador to Bulgaria.
By 56, John revealed he was orphaned at nine, brought up by a working mother and attended Oxford on a scholarship.
He worked hard at raising money for Friends of Bulgaria.
He regretted the fact two of his friends were government ministers and had always wanted to be to politics.
Did he manage?
Neil
In 1964 he was an impish, mop-topped Liverpool boy who announced he wanted to be an astronaut – and if that didn’t work out, a coach driver.
By 21 Neil Hughes had dropped out of university and was living in a squat, by 28 he was homeless in the Highlands and in a poor mental state.
Fellow 7 Upper Bruce tried to help.
He pieced his life together and in 42 Up was a Lib-Dem councillor in Hackney, London. Living in Cumbria and still a councillor, what else happened?
Tony
Extrovert cheerful chappie Tony Walker, of Loughton, Essex, wanted to be a jockey.
At 14 he raced against Lester Piggott. But after gaining weight his career ended after two races.
He became a London cabbie, and landed roles as an acting extra.
After admitting cheating on his wife Debbie in 42 Up, amid the pain of losing a child and his parents, he managed to keep his marriage together.
In 49 Up they had a home in Spain and in 56 Up they wanted to open a sports bar. Did they?
Bruce
Public schoolboy Bruce Balden wanted to be a missionary in Africa so he could “teach people who are not civilised to be, more or less, good”.
He graduated from Oxford and taught in Bangladesh.
But in 35 Up he said he wished he was married, and by 42 Up he was.
He and his wife Penny hoped to start a family and in 49 Up, while he was teaching maths in London, we met their two sons.
Bruce had taken time out over the years to help his old school friend Neil. Is he still happy?
Suzy
Aged seven, Suzanne Lusk was at boarding school and lived on her father’s 4,000 acre Scottish estate.
But soon afterwards her parents divorced and she lost confidence. She dropped out of school at 16.
By 21 she was living in Paris but by 28, she was married with two sons and later had a daughter.
By 49 and 56, she was reluctant to film and declines to appear.
Jackie
One of three giggly East End comprehensive girls, she moved to Glasgow and had three sons. By 42 she was living alone after splitting with her partner Ian, father of her two youngest sons.
At 49 she still lived near Ian and he was a big part of her sons’ lives. But in 56 Up, she revealed he had been killed in a car crash.
Still in Scotland, Jackie Bassett has had family losses but reflects on the circle of life now she is a grandmother.
This series sees Jackie feeling more comfortable with filming than she’s ever been.
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