| Up | |
|---|---|
&sq=&lang=&file=File:The_Up_series_DVD.jpg) DVD cover | |
| Genre | Longitudinal study Documentary |
| Directed by | Paul Almond (Seven Up!) Michael Apted (all subsequent films) |
| Starring | Bruce Balden Jackie Bassett Symon Basterfield Andrew Brackfield John Brisby Peter Davies Susan Davis Charles Furneaux Nicholas (Nick) Hitchon (died 2023) Neil Hughes Lynn Johnson (died 2013) Paul Kligerman Suzanne (Suzy) Lusk Tony Walker |
| Narrated by | Douglas Keay Michael Apted (all subsequent films) |
| Theme music composer | Trevor Duncan |
| Opening theme | Syncho-Jazz |
| Ending theme | Syncho-Jazz |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 9 (in 16 parts)[1] |
| Production | |
| Producer | Claire Lewis |
| Production locations | United Kingdom Bulgaria France Australia United States Spain Portugal |
| Cinematography | George Jesse Turner |
| Editor | Kim Horton |
| Running time | 40–150 mins. per film 1,018 mins. total |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV (Granada Television) (1964–1991, 2005–2019) BBC One (1998) |
| Release | 5 May 1964 – 6 June 2019 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Up series of documentary films follows the lives of ten boys and four girls in England, beginning in 1964, when they were seven years old. The first film was titled Seven Up!, with later films adjusting the number in the title to match the age of the subjects at the time of filming. The documentary has had nine episodes—one every seven years—thus spanning 56 years. The series has been produced by Granada Television for ITV, which has broadcast all of them except 42 Up (1998), which was broadcast on BBC One. Individual films and the series as a whole have received numerous accolades;[clarification needed] in 1991, the then-latest installment, 28 Up, was chosen for Roger Ebert's list of the ten greatest films of all time.[2]
The children were selected for the original programme to represent the range of socio-economic backgrounds in Britain at that time, on the assumption that each child's social class would determine their future.[3] The first instalment was made as a one-off edition of Granada Television's series, World in Action, directed by Canadian Paul Almond, with involvement by "a fresh-faced young researcher, a middle-class Cambridge graduate", Michael Apted, whose role in the initial programme included "trawling the nation's schools for 14 suitable subjects".[4] About the first programme, Apted has said:
It was Paul's film ... but he was more interested in making a beautiful film about being seven, whereas I wanted to make a nasty piece of work about these kids who have it all, and these other kids who have nothing.[4]
After Almond's direction of the original programme, director Michael Apted continued the series with new instalments every seven years, filming material from those of the fourteen who chose to participate.[4] The aim of the continuing series is stated at the beginning of 7 Up as: "Why did we bring these together? Because we wanted a glimpse of England in the year 2000. The union leader and the business executive of the year 2000 are now seven years old."[5] The most recent instalment, the ninth, titled 63 Up, premiered in the UK on ITV in 2019.[6][7] A special episode featuring celebrity fans of the series, 7 Up & Me, also aired on ITV in 2019.[8] Apted is reported to have said, "I hope to do 84 Up when I'll be 99";[9] however, he died in 2021.[10] There has been no confirmation that the series is concluded in the aftermath of Apted's death, but there is also no known plan to film a 70 Up entry for 2026 with a new director.
- ^ 28 Up, 42 Up and 49 Up premiered in 2 parts each, and 56 Up and 63 Up in 3 parts each, making a total of 16 parts.
- ^ Ebert, Roger. "Ten Greatest Films of All Time". Roger Ebert's Journal.
- ^ Adams, Tim (9 June 2019). "If the magisterial 63 Up teaches us anything, it's that we are sustained by love". The Observer. The Guardian. Retrieved 30 August 2023.
- ^ a b c Radio Times Staff (14 May 2012). "56 Up: Michael Apted on the Documentary Series that's Spanned Five Decades". RadioTimes. Retrieved 2 December 2019.
It all began in 1964 with Seven Up!, a one-off edition of Granada Television's World in Action, which was directed by a Canadian, Paul Almond, but shaped by a fresh-faced young researcher, a middle-class Cambridge graduate called Michael Apted. / "It was Paul's film", says Apted now, "but he was more interested in making a beautiful film about being seven, whereas I wanted to make a nasty piece of work about these kids who have it all, and these other kids who have nothing". / A pause. [Michael Apted continues.] "But maybe I'm deluding myself. They might think, 'Oh good, someone new. We're fed up with grumpy old Michael.'" / Certainly, the relationship has had its ups and downs. Several of the original 14 have withdrawn from one or more of the films and one, Charles Furneaux, opted out completely after 21 Up. "He's now a documentary film-maker himself [he was executive producer of Touching the Void], which I find particularly hard to swallow", says Apted. / "He actually tried to get himself removed from the earlier films, too, but he's integral to the famous 'posh boys three' shot [the prep school boys interviewed together in Seven Up!] and Granada told him to take a flying jump.
- ^ Barr, Donald A. (2015). Introduction to Biosocial Medicine. Johns Hopkins University Press. p. 89. ISBN 9781421418605.
- ^ Centre, ITV Press (22 May 2019). "Confirmed: 63 Up starts Tuesday 4 June at 9pm on ITV".
ITV's landmark documentary Up series began in 1964, following a group of people drawn from startlingly different backgrounds who have allowed television cameras to drop into their lives at seven-year intervals ever since.
[better source needed] - ^ Mangan, Lucy (4 June 2019). "63 Up review – documentary marvel makes all other reality TV look trivial". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 18 August 2020.
- ^ "7 Up & Me Episode 1". Press Centre. Retrieved 4 June 2019.
- ^ "The "Up Series" at 56". On the Media. Retrieved 16 December 2019.
- ^ Dagan, Carmel (8 January 2021). "Michael Apted, Director of 'Coal Miner's Daughter' and 'Up' Series of Documentaries, Dies at 79". Variety. Retrieved 8 January 2021.