Mumsnet Talk

I love this show.
Anyone else going to be watching tomorrow?

Ooh yes I will. Will sky plus it now. Thanks!

Ooh yes! Seems like so long ago since it started (makes me a bit , I used to watch it with my Mum and she died over 5 years ago) but I'm so excited to see how they've grown!

yes will be watching

i didn't have children when it was last on and now I have two!

Having, so sorry for your loss .

I am stupidly emotional because I'm 32 week pregnant myself now (so obviously missing her more!). It'll be strange to be watching it now I'm expecting it myself - I was only 19 when it started!

Typically it coincides with a good, new supernatural drama on ITV!

DS is an almost peer to the cohort followed in this series, so we find it particularly fascinating from that point of view. For some reason we missed the last update (last year or the year before?) so will seem like a big leap seeing them again after a two or three year gap.

Thanks for starting this thread, or i'd never have known! I missed the last 'series' as it was broadcast in secret! I will be watching.

Yes -it hasn't been on for ages-guess quite a few families dropped out.

They're all about a year older than DS so I've been watching since I was pregnant.

I've really loved following it.

Same here Incognito - they're about 6 months older than my ds so it's been great getting a look into the future all these years.

Cannot wait to see what they're like as teenagers!

Oh my goodness, they're teenagers! Are we all ready?!

Love it!

Ive cried in the first five minutes at seeing how they've grown!!! Makes me realise dd who's 4 is gonna shoot up.

I love this programme.

I feel slightly anxious watching this - I've got an 11 yo and a sense if time flying .

Yes, will be great to see how they have all changed.

I love this. I've enjoyed watching the series long before I ever thought I'd actually be a parent. It's like watching distant relatives grow up.

I love this series.

Sobbing already at the size of the little triplet.

Can't believe she was born at 22 weeks! I'm 32 weeks now and telling my bump not to escape yet! I cried too three

I've only been sat down 5 minutes and I'm choked up already.

I love Helena. She has such a fantastic mind.

I love this programme, I love catching up with them all.

I'd forgotten this was on - thank you for starting the thread

they're older than I was when it started! Must iPlayer this later

What a lovely boy Parys is

It's such a fascinating show!

Makes you wonder if we create some if our problems. Parys as a toddler knew he couldn't run off. I spent half my life chasing ds round shops.

I remember when Parys was about 8 and how difficult he was. He's grown into such a lovely boy. As for Helena it is amazing that someone who was supposed to end up so brain damaged is clearly so clever.

Loving it! Parys mum is amazing! And I forgot about the triplets- made me cry!!!

Rhianna's dad has grown up

Yes for a 22 seeker with such awful prospects Helena is simply amazing.

Parys is such a lovely boy. She's done a fantastic job

Wonder if any of the parents are MNers!

Statistically I reckon at least one must be.

Parys is lovely

We couldn't apply for this as your due date had to be before 31st of January and then dd arrived on the 25th of January. Would have loved to see her grow through this.

love this programme, ben watching it since it began.

amazing

They remind me of my grandparents - so lucky to still have them

Am welling up at the lovely grandparents.

I've always liked Rhianna!

Sobbing now

The grandparents story has me bawling. What's truly amazing lady grandma is.

aw, blue + red colour coding for the twins.

Love the violin duet!

Crying all the way through this

Sobbing at the grandparents

Poor Taliesin

I taught identical twins who did that!

I'm wondering why they're only showing the very middle class children. Does anyone remember the little lad whose mother found things very difficult? She kind of lurched from relationship to the next and struggled with everything.

Poor old Taliesin

Bloody hell, Rhianna is 13 going on 33!

Rhianna was like that when she was about 6

DS was a millennium baby so have watched this through the years. Love it!

Am too sobbing about the grandparents - my mum and dad no longer alive and it's heartbreaking that my kids won't get the chance to have that kind of wonderful relationship.

I think there'll be a broader range Ariel. It's going to take at least a couple of programmes to get through everyone. What I'm surprised about though is that there's only 2 programmes in this series so far as I can tell. Does this mean we won't get any of the research-based developmental stuff there has been in previous series? I think that's a bit of a shame really.

Taleisin's mum has to be a MNer.

Glad tallieson is happy now

Uh-oh. Hormones!

There was supposed to be an update last year that got cancelled. Not sure why but at the time it was rumoured that some were reluctant to continue taking part.

Aw, glad Taliesin is happy now; wise mum too. And very gracious.

Jeez. 12 years olds are WAY more self-aware than we were!

Obviously all of the parents havent continued, I'd say the ones with not so 'good' outcomes did want the attention

Rhianna will always be more mature than her dad.

This week's programme apparently is about the transition to secondary school. Next week's is about changes to families. So perhaps one of the reasons that these children are on tonight is that there's generally been more stability than for some of the other families, who might be in next weeks?

Matthew's grandparents are incredible.

I was thinking how world savvy and self aware etc they are at 12!

Rie the Mum who had long dark hair and had a boy? The parents split up. They continued for a while but I think she chose to pull out.

Megan has always made me and continues to!

It was a mixed race woman and her child (lone parent). She had been in care when she was a child herself. She was lovely, but chaotic. There was one moving episode when she found her long lost brother and sister. I used to worry about them

William has amazing dimples. Mind you, they're all fab - I love Rhianna and I'm glad Taliesin is happier. Parys seems a lovely lad too.

I'm glad he stood his ground and decided to stop playing, I remember last series he really wasn't enjoying it but was being pushed

She's not happy being a sahm is she!

The ones I'm thinking of we're Carol and her little boy James?

Just saw this on active threads. thanks, LisaD! My DS2 was born just before the millennium and I've always loved watching this. It's bittersweet because DS2 has ASD and has never reached the milestones when these DC have. Now recording the series.

This is so poignant.

He was called James and his mum was called Carol. I think he had an older sister. There was also Toni who had a daughter Charlie at 16. I used to worry about Taliesin, Ethan and Reuben.

I assume her dh's farming life made her wish to have a career difficult. Clearly they have a nice lifestyle and can afford private school fees but she does seem haunted by what she thinks she missed.

Didn't Reuben become a chorister at Westminster Abbey?

She's never really been happy deep down has she.

Carol, that's it! Thanks. I wonder how they're doing.

He's a vet i think.

I always remember the one where Talieson was being bullied and his mum was so desperate that she got a job as a dinner lady so she could keep an eye on him at lunchtime. So upsetting.

I keep crying at the mums and how proud they all are.

Yes I think Reuben did - but didn't his mum keep changing partners?

Ivo and Alex's parents don't seem to have aged at all.

What a negative an individual way of looking at your child's progress. Constant loss...

The coverage is a lot less balanced now. I think a lot of them have dropped out.

Thank you for starting the thread, I've missed tonights, but will watch it on demand and record the rest of the series! Thanks again.

I think they have only done 2 shows. I find all the children and families fascinating!

Oh dear wills mum seems desperately unhappy.

Next one is tomorrow! Don't miss it.

There seemed to be more of the others next week - unsure whether that's all of the original children?

Is it available online? I really want to see it!

yes carol and james wwre the family that i would love an update on
one of the last ones i saw was when she was going to a women's refuge beause of a violent partner and james had to leave his toys behind-it was heartbreaking

my son is a millenium baby and so we always watch this and compare and contrast!

Will looks like my DS2 gorgeous dimples and smile!

Will be

I expect it's on I player.

Are the previous series available online anywhere?

I remember when the children were toddlers, or even babies, and William's mum was describing how she had always struggled with shyness and how much she thought it had held her back. She was very worried he would end up the same. The programme did a test to show if a baby/toddler was shy or not (I think it involved showing them a lion mask or something), and if the child laughed and reached out to it, they were outgoing and if the child cried or looked upset, they were shy. William burst into tears!

I imagine in that case there may be some protection issues with Carol and James and they can't be on it any more.

I so hope they're alright.

I think you can watch them all online. I feel sad for William's mum.

according to Wikipedia Carol's ex ran off with James, presumably she felt it safer not to be filmed any more I really hope they're ok. She really loved her kids and that was always apparent.

I was wondering about James too, hope he's alright.
I think tomorrow's will cover the one with the Buddhist dad, and the one with the Christian mum who died (she had me blubbing last time)

I can't find them anywhere! I'm usually really good at finding stuff online as well!

there seems to be a lot of families missing, which is a great shame there were 2 charlottes, one whose mum would just ignore her and the baby had no connection to her when they did one of their tests. then there was the jewish family, and the one with surviving triplets. also the mum with 4 boys, was it? and the irish boy who had adhd. of course, poor james and his sister bernie there were 25 families to start with, appears to be around 10 now.

the irsih boy broke my heart
do you remember how his mum would leave him crying in the cot for hours and hours?

Well Alex & Ivo's dad has depressed the shit out if me with all the "childhood is loss" stuff

It's funny, some if the kids I recognised immediately but I didn't recognise Taliesin or William at all.

Looking forward to tomorrow's instalment and desperately wracking my brains for someone I haven't seen yet. What was the name of the little boy whose parents' relationship was breaking down and he was filmed sat in his high chair absolutely frozen. It was the strangest thing because he was so young, too young to be affected by it all some people would say. I've never forgotten it.

Wasn't Reuben the one who won a scholarship to boarding school? Really can't remember the last time we saw Carol & James. Also remember a mum who left her daughter's father and started a job with the police - was it her who pulled out?

There were more children at the end, the bit outside thier front doors, so maybenext one?

gymboywalton That was Ethan wasn't it, Belfast family? His mum had suffered a late miscarriage (or miscarriages?) and was horribly depressed.

I think the triplets are on tomorrow - they were shown a few times throughout the programme but not featured tonight. I think I might have spotted the Irish boy as well and a few others who I expect will be on more tomorrow. I used to really love the developmental research and it made Robert Winston's involvement make more sense. Now he seems to just be a front man and it's more just a human interest thing rather than showing insights into child development.

yes to ethan

And is this the same series that had the family who emigrated or went back to New Zealand and the boy had dwarfism, a lovely family

I'm fascinated by this programme, but would be interested to have seen more updates on more of the families too.

Those lovely grandparents had me in tears as well

I quite sympathised with Alex and Ivo's father - my dd is only 7mo but I really feel time whizzing and, while I'm learning that the love just keeps growing, at the same time it makes me feel a bit sad when I'm packing up her really tiny newborn clothes and stuff. So altough he seemed a bit negative, I kind of get what he was saying.

happystory No, that's Channel 4's Born To Be Different.

Only just caught up. Love this, I love that this is still going and all the kids seem very lovely.
I know tomorrow is going to likely be sad for the girl who's mum died
Paris is a cutie, seems like an amazing kid too.

Marking my place to remind myself to iplayer it.

I remember reading about this when it was first on, but I didn't have a TV. When I started working with children and families I remembered it and tried to do a bit of research. I think it's a shame that the previous episodes aren't somewhere to watch (someone please prove me wrong?)

My eldest was born in 2000 and turns 13 in less than 2 weeks, I got really tearful watching this tonight, mainly realising that my baby is going to be a teenager!
It's great to see the kids on it develop from the start, how lucky the parents are to have such an amazing documentary on their children.

trying to remember other families. there was calvin, whose mum was really sick during her pregnancy. a wee boy who was diabetic. the girl whose mum died the red haired triplets. the really young mum who had a daughter called charlie, I think she was training to become a nurse?

here just for you black

Aw I missed this tonight. I've watched every programme since it came out as ds was born in late 1999 and I found it interesting comparing his development to theirs.

Rhianna came across amazingly well - how articulate and clued up an individual is she ! Helena is delightful. Felt the programme was little less coherent than in the past , perhaps because they have allocated less time so can't explore through the psychology side of it fully. Also now they are already in second year of secondary it feels as if this should have been done at 11 to explore the transition.

DS was a millennium baby too and I love watching this over the years. I am missing the 'science bit' this time round though.

I always liked William's mum,think she's come on a lot and grown herself.She seems a lot more confident although her tears re her career upset me,sooooooo know how she feels.

I've always watched this and love it. I always feel so emotional watching as it is a real slice of human life.

The old couple, Matthew's grandparents, had me crying it was so well done and so touching.

I reckon tonight and next week will be more about the psychology side of things as last night was like a reintroduction to these wonderful kids.

Yes and Williams mum broke my heart, she was so honest about the decisions she's had to made. I think she's a great mum and I hope she can and does go back to her law career.

We were watching as my DTDs were Millenium babies (in fact, born two days after New Year) . It was very interesting, but my DDs did...comment a lot. Basically, she'd comment in everything, when someone mentioned going into town, she went 'it looks like a village, mum!' because going into town is New York for us and her. And when she saw a girl sitting on the fence after writing, she sighed, and said, 'if the free riding lessons had gone n, I could be doing that, sitting on a fence, talking.'

It's really interesting, and most are very world aware and mature, and seem like great children/teenagers.

I was glued to this last night and even managed to get DH to watch it with me, it is not his sort of programme. I wrote to the BBC and complained 2 years ago when there were rumours it had been cancelled. I agree it is a huge lost opportunity to not continue with the research aspect. These 2 programmes are a great update but have not exactly advanced the science in anyway.

If I could persuade the BBC to fund it properly I would!

I do think we will see most if not all of the other children tonight, certainly Ethan , Rebecca, the triplets, Charlotte, Tyrese and Eve - we saw glimpses of all of them last night. I did not catch a glimpse of Reuben or James, I do hope they are also featured. Like the participants in 7-up I feel a huge sense of connection to these children - weird!

I really enjoyed this last night. Watched with my Millennium DD - who said 'wow, Parys is HOT'. I think that kind of summed up the teenager she is about to become......

Watching on iplsyer at the moment. Dd1 was a millenium baby, dd2 is starting secondary this year and I'm having dc4 next week. Plus my Grandad died a few weeks ago so it seems to be a constant cry feat for me

Yes, our Millenium 'baby' watched, fascinated. He couldn't believe how much more grown up the girls are than the boys. They all seem like lovely, intelligent, insightful children.

Which one do you think was Ethan on the doorstep - the very tall, grown-up looking one?

One of the triplets looks just like her Mum!

must be horrible to be one of these children and have all these people that have opinions on your and your family etc

i dont think the programme is a good idea at all

bit exploitative

I've always watched this as they're all just slightly older than dd2.... I still find it interesting, but this just seemed more of a catch-up than anything else - I used to like it when they gave the children tests and stuff! I remember the next morning after the 'red dot on the forehead in the mirror' episode doing the same to dd to find out whether she had a sense of self yet! It would be useful to know more about pre-teens in a more scientific/psychological context, rather than just the (admittedly compelling!) stuff about how these individuals are getting along.

I couldn't help thinking that making statements like 'the other children didn't understand Taliesen because he didn't operate on their very basic level' might not be helpful... Parys looks about 15, and very very cool! Rhianna scared me in a way: so much contrived hardness about her that makes me sad when I see it in my own 2. We didn't seem to see a lot of Helena, just a few glimpses - maybe she'll be in more focus next week? And I want to see Eve, whose mother died and the school made her choose her Feeling from the Feelings board, only you weren't allowed 'Sad', you had to choose 'I Don't Know' .

Blacktaildog I don't think this programme is one bit exploitative. It's made in conjunction with Open University and I'm sure the programme makers follow very strict ethical guidelines. Which is why there are never repeats of this show and why you (probably) can't get it on boxset.

Each scene that is shown is done with careful consideration and with respect for the participants and their families.

Would you want to grow up, having all these people with opinions on you,your family the way you were raised?

Yes Whiteandyellowiris I think it's a wonderful almost photo diary for the kids to look back on when they are older.

Also this programme's made within the context of social studies and psychology.
It shows the highs and lows of living and family life. Also it takes a snap shot of Britain at the turn of the 21st century.

I got so upset last night, watching it. My DD is also a millenium baby, and it has made face up to the fact she is no longer my baby They all seemed so grown up, and she is too, and it makes me sad. Doesnt help I listened to the song "slipping through my fingers" from Mamma Mia as well! <blubbering mess>

Yes fair enough a private video album, but such a public one?

Well they would have been told in advance what the series entailed. And some od the families have dropped out so presumably there is a get out clause?

The kids that participate don't seem to be unhappy about being filmed. Like Ariel says they're have been people who dropped out.

they children may well feel pissed off about it when they are older

I would have thought it might become more of an issue as the children get older though because they will be more easily recognised when out and about....

But they are older now. And they will have asked them whether they wanted to be in it again. Presumably some of the children said no, which is why they are no longer in the series.

It's a sensitively handled and very non judgemental programme. They bend over backwards not to skew the edit I think. In previous series, where's Carol's life and her son James's was like a slow motion car crash, there was never, ever a hint of bias or judginess or opinion.

lol
non judgemtal programme, hmm watched by non judgemental people too eh?

also 11 year old children cannot be expected to decide if this is in their long term interest

Very interesting. I was really struck by how young a lot of the children seemed. I don't have a child that age so maybe it's just that they're different in their home environment but the Y7 and Y8s that I teach seem so much older somehow. Matthew, Taliesin, William and Megan in particular seemed very much like little children (maybe 9/10) to me.

Other stuff I thought:
Matthew (and his older brother) have the most beautiful eyes I've ever seen. What a gorgeous shade of blue.
Helena was quite irritating
Rhianna and her parents horrified me. Her mum was incredibly condescneding and cruel to her dad and she just seemed hard and far too adult. Very sad.
William's mum can say she's achieved everything she wanted to as much as she likes but she came across as full of regret and very unhappy.
It had a very white middle class bias.

its intersting comparing it to 7UP, the last one of those was so interesting from the point of view of how the kids/ adults felt being involved in t over the years.

The episode which really stuck in my mind was the one with Tyreese, who was at that time 4 yrs old. His mum spent ages reinforcing a positive sense of identity, taking him to Harlem to tour the past homes of famous Black men and making sure he had a positive sense of who he was.

They did as experiment at his nursery, showing children (one-by-one) pictures of children the same age, different ethnicities. They asked each child who was the clever one, who was the one you'd like to sit beside, who would be the one most likely to get into trouble etc.

The white children picked the white children in the pictures for the good stuff, understandable as they identified with it, but the black children also picked the white children for all the positive things. One asian boy was asked why he had picked a particular boy as being clever, and he said, 'It's cos he's got a white face', and another child, a little black girl, picked another black girl with very similar plaits as the naughtiest child. this continued in a similar vein.

All except Tyreese, who picked the picture of the black boy as the cleverest, the one you'd want to sit beside. He was great! I'd love to know how he is now; hope he's still on it.

Just watched it on i-player with ds12 who was born March 2000 - some of it really hit home - he is nearly an adult, and he would rather be with his friends than us but then I'm proud we have got him to this stage. Just about to watch part 2!

Anyone watching tonight?

Just seen the dad crying over the stillborn twin <sob>

Oh yes - I remember this so vividly - Alexander being stillborn

Very sad

Me. Dd is only slightly younger than the kids so I've always found it fascinating but its so sad for the majority.

Me. Dd is only slightly younger than the kids so I've always found it fascinating but its so sad for the majority.

Me. Separation is a difficult one for me to watch though!

Got tea and settling in for this, but currently 10 mins behide

the pain of losing a child never goes away
something alot of people don't get

insensitive afetr hes poured his heartout saying how mcuh of a failure he feels to then immediatley show allthese couples with happy marriages saying why a happy marraige is important to children

Watching with dd again. Nice to see the triplets again.

Loving the triplets!

Love the mum of the triplets. Seems like she has her head really screwed on, which much me tough as a mum to 6! Lovely sense of humour.

She's very laid back -gotta be, I guess

much me tough??
must be tough

The triplets mum is great. The girls, dad, the siblings and grandma all seem great too!

Interesting that none of the children are coping with the divorces

Is that true though Highlander? They are all sad about it, which must be normal. But that's not the same as not coping. The effect on Tyrese's behaviour, if his sister is right, I would say is a sign of not coping. Not so sure about the others. They seemed very mature about it to me.

Charlotte said she loved having older step-siblings for example. And Nathan got on well with his step dad.

Is this the mum who was depressed and left her little boy crying in the cot a lot?

Watching Ethan's mum talk about how she felt when he was diagnosed is bringing back memories for me of how emotional the process is.

She's gone now, the Irish mum. Was it Nathan the boy, liked his x box?

Charlie looks so like her mum!

I'm glad to see Charlie. Was that the one who's mum went to train as a nurse?

No it was Ethan and his mum is the one who had severe PND.

So impressed at Toni.

Well done to Toni, she's done brilliantly.

So far we haven't had any updates on Charlotte, James and Rubin.

I'm crying now.

Me too.

Eve poor girl

She seems such a lovely, mature girl.

Eve is wonderful but am crying

She's grown up way too fast .

Oh God, poor poor girl

goodness watching eve makes me want to rush upstairs and hug all my children. what a lovely girl, such a beautiful voice.

Yes, she's remarkably mature and eloquent. Her dad must be bursting with pride.

Blubbing like a baby now. Eve is so grown up.

Her dad is sooo lovely.

What a lovely young girl.

This family break my heart, they are truly amazing

What a lovely family.

I remember her being incredibly mature and bright even as a very young girl. Amazing strength.

What a special family crying here!

Eve is amazing.

They always seem to end with Eve. I can remember a couple of years ago they did, I was blabbing then as it was when we found out her mum had died.

Blubbing not blabbing.

Wow. Eve is quite a girl

I hope the programme makers have given Eve a load of footage from over the years with her Mum.

Another one sobbing about Eve. Makes me want to hang on to every minute.

Eve's dads done a great job. Her mum must have been some woman

Wow Eve she had me blubbing.

She's more mature than me.

Wow she's amazed me.

I wish there were more than two programmes in this series. It is such a big change going from being a child to a teenager I feel that they only skimmed the surface. I wonder why the others didn't participate? I assume there may be child protection issues with James but not with Charlotte and Rubin.

I think a lot of how Eve is is down to her mum.

She is really talented, her playing is wonderful

I always had a soft spot for her and her mum when she was little. Such a sharp-witted little girl.

Charlotte (the second Charlotte that is) dropped out. It was mentioned during an episode once.

James and Rubin seem to have just disappeared with no mention, which is sad. It would be nice to have them acknowledged as having dropped out.

Gosh, what a talented young lady Eve is. She is an absolute credit to her dad (and her mum).

Fascinating, again. I wish there were more programmes, too, and more about the psychology/biology of adolescence.

Is it on again tomorrow?
Feels like we were just catching up not properly looking at them iyswim?

Eve is amazing - she's so wise, wiser than me I think!

Oh my word, how proud would Eve's mum be of her, what a lovely lovely girl, dad is doing such a good job, what a great family.

Eve is a lovely young lady, so talented and her dad has done so well, and I'm certain her mum would be so proud.

Which one was Rueben again? I think we saw more this time around then we did before.

I imagine Eve to become an eminent doctor or big in the music world. She's so caring and in tune with everything. A credit to her parents.

Charlie's mum is also amazing, to put herself though uni as a single mum of three kids. Feels a little sad her daughter isn't in the same house right now.

Rubin was the one who became a chorister.

Eve is an amzing person, really amazing.

I find it shocking that her mum died of renal cancer; obesity is a big risk factor for this and yet the girls are awfully obse

There is a time for comment and a time when those observations would go better unsaid.

Oh, yes, I remember Rubin now. Who else have we missed? I would have liked to see them adjusting to high school more as its such a big thing preteen.

Eve's story had me welling up. I'd forgotten that her mother had died. Poor lass. I imagine the footage from the show is incredibly valuable to her and her sister, as well as her Dad. When she talked about coming home from school and asking if she could take a card to her Mummy...

I totally sobbed watching Eve. She is an amazing and talented person.

Highlander I must admit I thought the same as you.

poor dad was doing a wonderful job bringing them up.

I have been particularly interested in seeing this, as one of the mums on it was my neighbour over the road when I was a child. It's always nice to see how they are getting on.

Ruben's mum came on a thread after the last update and told me off. I had been wittering on about pushy parents and boarding schools and being all judge and she quite rightly told me to wind my neck in as she and her family are real people and I didn't know what was really going on. She was very pissed off with Robert Winston if I remember rightly. It was a bit of a wake up call to me that people do read threads about themselves. Especially perhaps twelve year olds who can work Google.

Trice, does that thread still exist?

I couldn't find it in a quick search. I would guess it has been deleted as it talked about real children by their names. We all apologised to the mum though, she was perfectly right to be pissed off.

Bless Eve, very brave to talk so about such sensitive issues, and felt really sad for Charlie although gp's seemed lovely.

did we see Calvin's mum but not him ?

We saw Calvin, but barely. He got all of one sentence on screen.

Just watched this on iPlayer....and blubber through the last 10 mins.....poor Eve and how cruel life is. I just felt so sad seeing her Mum so so emotional and excited at the scan .....such a short time to enjoy her much wanted children. Feel she was robbed of the life she should have had with her girls

I was sobbing by the end, bloody cancer so wrong that they lost their mum so young. In a way I felt almost more sorry for the younger daughter as she must have been very little when her mum died so may not remember her at all

Think Eve seemed lovely and a credit to her mum and dad.

They didn't talk much about Paris and his mum today, was that in the previous episode? Always thought she was quite inspirational.

Just caught up with this on iplayer. Have been watching from the beginning and then was lucky enough to teach one the of the children when they were 7/8. He is doing really well, by the look of it. I love watching these children growing up.

She was on it loads the day before.

Although it was fascinating catching up I feel the whole slant and tone of the show has become more exploitative and melodramatic.

To be honest, I thought there would be more information about the physical and emotional side to puberty. More scientific, I guess. My DN is about six months behind the children and is abit of a stroppy madam at the moment. My sister and I both thought they would show abit more of what's going during these huge changes but, it wasn't like that at all. Just a jolly good catch up on the families.

Totally agree artic roll

I think part of the problem is that they had a lot of children to cram into two hour-long programmes and it's more than a year since we, the viewers, last saw the children, so it was important to reintroduce them properly in their teendom.

When the programme first started I'm pretty sure the updates were in a four/five part series format, so there was a lot more time to explore the physical/psychological pathways of early childhood.

Although the child development stuff was fascinating I really don't think they can continue with the scientific angle now. It would be difficult, if not impossible, to go into the physical/emotional aspects of puberty without a) sounding all GCSE Biology and b) embarrassing the HELL out of the kids. What would they cover? Which girls had started their periods and which boys had pubes?

Well, the triplets mum was very clear which one had started her periods

I thought they'd all start about the same time...

Why? I don't think they were identical.

Yes, and I'm sure Mabel was thrilled her mum has told the nation.

I just did!

Just watched them both on iplayer.

Oh my goodness-Eve.

So mature, so wise.

And the GPs of Matthew(?)-the GM has Parkinsons. How lovely her & the GF were together.

They aren't. She lives in a nursing home not with him.

Well yes, I know-I meant the clips of them, obviously.

Were they old clips, I wondered?

That confused me too.

Think the reason it seemed deflating was that we are so used to the more superficial reality shows now that expectations of this as a social observation were higher. There were glimpses of what the programme might have been. - William's decision to give up competitive tennis and the impact on his mum, the death of Eve's mum, impact of separation and divorce, Parys dealing with disability etc but less based on the previous psychological observations and whether they had fulfilled the predictions. Were the roles among the triplets the same as when they were younger, how had the dynamics evolved or not. How had their earlier ambitions been shaped by events and maturing. Were the early achievers still achieving . The scope of these programmes seemed lacking and somehow incoherent.

I would have loved to have found out more about all of those (and many other issues!) too.

I have enjoyed these programs and seeing the child of our time grow up. For me it was frustrating this time as they seemed to spend so much time with the adults and grandparents and we saw far less of the children - it is the children/teens I wanted to hear from and hear their views on the world whatever those views are.

It seemed especially strange now as these youngsters are much more able to talk for themselves as never before, I could understand this when they were 5 years old but now they are 13 I want to hear from them and what we did hear was lovely.

yes keep the grandparents in but edit it down to a minimum.

I've just caught up with the first two episodes today! Had no idea it was on, until I had a squint at the Telly Addicts topic area the other day! How many episodes run in the series?

I wonder though whether the generational focus was purposeful, especially as some of the grandparents are quite elderly and might not be around for the duration of the 21 year project

true gazzal but neither programme claimed to set out to analyse the benefits of having gps involved or not. A look at the lp/nuclear/extended family set ups might have been insightful.

Yes, you are right...I reckon this twosome of episodes was done on the cheap....

That's a pain, was looking forward to more episodes! Was slightly disappointed that there's only two episodes and felt that all the information was compressed into two 1 hour episodes just did not do the 20 year project much justice. What a shame...

My friend who's mum has Parkinson's was gobsmacked how quickly granny seemed to go into a home

They didn't say how bad her symptoms were though, did they?

diddl, the GPs of Matthew now sadly live separately, the GF in their home, the GM in a nursing home, so her care needs can be met. They still see each other a lot.

Thought the Grandfather looked crestfallen....

The programme was also very heavily weighted in favour of some families/children over others.

I agree it's disappointing that there are only two programmes this time. DS was born in late 2000 so by the time this is shown is not far off the age of the kids. Whilst I still like watching it, I do not find it as interesting as I used to be fascinating. I guess it is harder to go into depth on puberty though without the kids refusing to do it.

I did find the overwhelming theme was the parents coming to terms that this is the beginning of the end of childhood and they are sad at having to start the process of letting go. I completely empathise with this, it is a big issue for lots of us.

The programme has always shown more of Parys and Eve. I don't know how it works tbh. I love both of them anyway. After that, it's the vets son and the lad from Northern Ireland. I suppose not everyone has a story to tell. I don't know how it will an out in years to come.

It went on and on about how their childhood was over. So depressing

I think these days when dcs become teenagers their childhood is over. Teenagers today are so much more grown up and worldly wise than when I was a teenager 30 years ago. The internet, social media and mobile phones have a lot to do with that. When I was growing up we only had tv, radio and a landline phone that wasn't cordless. Far easier for my parents to control what I did, where I went and whom I was friends with.

I agree bisjo teenagers these days are so sophisticated compared to my friends and I at the same age (long time ago now!)

I remember my friend's son being taken to Prague for his 18th birthday by his then 17yr old g/f!!

When we were 18, we were just thrilled about being allowed to go to the pub!!!