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63 UP (7 Up series)

268 replies

Leyani · 29/04/2019 21:30

Does anyone know when this will be aired? Last year it said expected first week of May but can’t find it. Paranoid I’ll miss it, I love that series

And does anyone know what happened to Child of Our Time and Born to be special (not sure that was the name)? Are they still going?

Thanks!

OP posts:
Myimaginarycathasfleas · 06/06/2019 00:42

I've followed this avidly from the second series (too young to take an interest in the first though of course I caught up). I'm about the same age and it's a fascinating piece of social history as well as an update on people we've come to "know" and care about. Jackie was quite right, there was a lot more focus on marriage and babies in the girls' interviews. Expectations were so much less for the girls. There were fewer girls than boys in the programme, presumably because it was assumed the girls would all do the same thing whereas the boys might offer more variety.

What's lovely is that they all seem to have arrived at a settled point in their lives, whatever issues they've had to deal with on the way. That pretty much reflects how I and my friends feel. It's a very hopeful message.

I don't know whether they will be able to carry this on for many more years but I hope so. The trials of old age, especially when we have seen where they started as children, will make compelling viewing.

Qweenbee · 06/06/2019 06:40

I found Susie fascinating when I was a child, again when watching it in Social Studies.
I felt she rebelled and rejected all her parents values, but true to form by the time she was in her 30's she'd followed the course of life that had been set out for her at age 7. This same pattern I've seen reflected in friends lives. I missed 56 up. I'd have liked to have caught up with her now.

Qweenbee · 06/06/2019 06:42

I also wonder how the "fame" has affected the way their lives have turned out. It must have done to some extent. Either positively or negatively.

EleanorReally · 06/06/2019 06:48

Interesting, the fact that the tabloid caused Peter to opt out for 28 years.
The cheeky chappie taxi driver Tony gained fame,
as they all did.
but now they seem to speak eloquently about how the programme has affected them - there is no denying the influence the programme has had

Roussette · 06/06/2019 07:07

It has made me consider getting a family friend to interview DD on film. She's 10 now and it would be great to look back on when she's older
@AnneEyhtMeyer
Please do, I urge you to! There was a company called 'School Days' and they interviewed my 2 DDs both individually and together over 3 years. It started when the youngest was 4 or 5 and honestly it is my most treasured possession! But it really has to be someone your child doesn't know that well because otherwise it isn't natural. The guy that interviewed mine was just brilliant with children and coaxed all sort of things out of them over the course of 3 half hour interviews over 3 years..

The eldest is now 30 and I can honestly say the facets to their characters have not changed one bit. They were so funny with the faces they pulled, how they interacted when they were interviewed together, what they said they wanted to do when they grew up, what they liked, what Mummy and Daddy was like. They are not at home anymore (miss them!) and if I want a good sob (in a happy way), I put it on and watch it.

Sorry, didn't mean to divert the conversation, can't wait for tonight's episode.

northernstars · 06/06/2019 12:02

@Quintella I thought the same about the accents. I've lost my broad Lancashire accent with not living there since I was 18. I'd love to have known how I sounded at 7.

Housewife2010 · 06/06/2019 12:18

Both Andrew and Bruce married women who were from less privileged backgrounds than their own, so that may have softened their original upper class accents.

WhentheDealGoesDown · 06/06/2019 12:54

Sue is on a Loose Women, it will be catch up or ITV plus one

derxa · 06/06/2019 13:11

Sue was great on Loose Woman. So natural compared to members of the panel Wink

Housewife2010 · 06/06/2019 13:19

She was great. She's very natural, open and fun.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 06/06/2019 13:24

It's heartening how NICE they all are. And in some cases how public spirited and generous. If Lynne didn't receive an award for her contribution to library services, and especially her work with disadvantaged children, she should have. Maybe there's still time for a posthumous one?

LoafEater · 06/06/2019 15:33

I am enjoying this so much. I've always watched it, but it seems more poignant now as maybe I am older too? It appears they are leaving Neil until the very last slot, as he is the one everyone worried about the most?

You are right imaginary cat , they are such genuinely nice people, but I think most people are. We all just want to be loved, raise our families, try and enjoy our labours and have a laugh along the way don't we? I would be very happy to have anyone of them as a friend., although I think a night out with Sue and Tony would maybe be the most fun!

BeautifulWintersMorning · 06/06/2019 16:02

Bruce's 'my heart's desire is to see my daddy' voice was pure 1950s RP, an accent which has all but disappeared
Yes, and you don't really hear Sue, Lynn and Jackie's 7 year old East End accent any more. If you watch 70s episodes of Grange Hill they speak like that but I don't hear East End kids speak like that any more.

Housewife2010 · 06/06/2019 16:32

I thought the late 20s / 30 something Bruce had a look of Aled Jones about him.

Clawdy · 06/06/2019 17:45

Bruce's childhood was heartbreaking. And he talked about being beaten at school and never really knowing why, that quiet gentle little boy. Never a mention of his mother, either.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 06/06/2019 18:15

Bruce was a sweet soul wasn't he? A Quaker by the sound of it. So glad he found a loving wife and had children. In one programme he seemed resigned at quite an early age to remaining single.

Housewife2010 · 06/06/2019 18:31

I was so pleased that he had a wife and children. It was heartbreaking that such a beautiful, loving, serious little boy got beaten at school.

Ratatouille76 · 06/06/2019 20:23

I thought that too, no mention of his Mum.

viques · 06/06/2019 20:26

I wonder if the nasty little boy * who bossed the others around, beat them and kicked them ever watched the programme and recognised himself, how awful to have your children say "look daddy, here's the film of you kicking a small defenceless child again."

*who was possibly not nasty, just another small frightened boy in a situation he could not control, given too much authority over others and merely responding to the violence of the environment. The real culprits were the owners and teachers of that dreadful place.

viques · 06/06/2019 20:27

He mentioned a stepfather so presumably mum was around and he went there in the holidays.

GoFiguire · 06/06/2019 20:29

^^. Um. No.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 06/06/2019 20:36

I got the impression that he had a normal relationship with his mother and stepfather (albeit as a boarder), but that his father was in Rhodesia so he didn't see him at all.

SouthWestmom · 06/06/2019 22:00

Not sure I feel terribly sorry for Neil.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 06/06/2019 22:02

I was just thinking, he is still blaming everybody else for his life. I suspect his mental health problems were as much physiological as psychological. No-one to blame.

Myimaginarycathasfleas · 06/06/2019 22:05

Neil's story is a very bleak one. Today he'd be diagnosed and supported (hopefully). Clearly his parents didn't know what to do with him. He's very combative too. I feel sorry for him but would find him draining. No mention of his friendship with Bruce this time - I wonder if they are still in touch?