After six decades of monitoring the aging process, an exceptional television series reaches 70 years

Much like the 2014 Hollywood film Boyhood, which was filmed over 11 years, the story begins in 1964, when a group of 14 seven-year-old British children sat in front of a camera to talk about their dreams and their vision of the future.

No one could have anticipated that this short program would evolve into one of the longest and most influential documentary experiments in television history.

The first episode, titled “Up!” brought together children from different social backgrounds and classes, aiming to explore the impact of upbringing, opportunity, and social class on an individual’s life trajectory.

Since then, the cameras have returned to the participants every seven years to document their education, work, marriage, parenthood, loss, and aging, in parallel with the transformations experienced by British society.

The journey now reaches its final stage, as the participants have turned 70. The final chapter is directed by Asif Kapadia, an Oscar winner, succeeding Michael Apted, who had been associated with the project for decades and passed away in 2021.

A recent interview with participant Nick Hitchon, who was suffering from a terminal illness and died hours after the recording, was among the reasons that prompted the production team to complete the final episode.

Series producer Claire Lewis describes the work as a record of ordinary people’s lives, whose stories have become a mirror for viewers. “70 Up” will be broadcast in two parts on ITV and ITVX on September 15 and 22, closing an experiment that spanned more than six decades, beginning with a question about the future and ending with a rare document on aging, life, and social change.