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Michael Apted, the TV director of many documentaries including the Seven-Up series has died at the age of 79 - not a multiple of seven. His main niche was as a result of being famous for starting the documentary series where 14 youngsters were monitored every seven years from the age of seven and saw them become adults as they got older. No doubt that Apted's death would mean that the series, (in which the final update was in 2019), would sadly come to an end. Apted did say that he would continue with the project for as long as he was still alive - he was only 15 years older than his subjects were. Sadly, at least one of the subjects in the series has since passed away anyway, while a couple of other original 1963 participants declined to be interviewed for future editions.
"Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man", to quote Aristotle, which inspired the series in 1963, in which some would regard as a spin-off of the current affairs series World in Action which also began around the same time. Cue a group of schoolchildren playing in a playground during monochrome film footage which became colour film seven years later and teenage versions of their predecessors took part for the TV cameras. Thankfully, despite the name of the original documentary having the same name as a lime and lemon soft drink, Apted had no problem using it for his work. A new Seven-Up series was started in 2000 as an inspiration of the original series, and so therefore an update would have been due in 2021.
Most of the Seven-Up documentaries were shown on ITV within the World in Action strand, although the 42-Up series in 1998, (the year that World in Action was axed incidentally in favour for lightweight current affairs series Tonight with Trevor McDonald - a huge change in direction for the changing ITV and what it was to become today), was actually shown on the BBC, still made by Granada. In hindsight, one would consider the series as a huge part of British television history, and in many respects, groundbreaking - comparisons have been made with Professor Robert Winston's Child of Our Time for example which started in 2000.
I often used to confuse his name with Michael Aspel - did anyone else do that? Nevertheless, it does feel like the end of the era and that the "Up" series will probably come to an end now. I thank him for his long service to television documentary making.
"Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man", to quote Aristotle, which inspired the series in 1963, in which some would regard as a spin-off of the current affairs series World in Action which also began around the same time. Cue a group of schoolchildren playing in a playground during monochrome film footage which became colour film seven years later and teenage versions of their predecessors took part for the TV cameras. Thankfully, despite the name of the original documentary having the same name as a lime and lemon soft drink, Apted had no problem using it for his work. A new Seven-Up series was started in 2000 as an inspiration of the original series, and so therefore an update would have been due in 2021.
Most of the Seven-Up documentaries were shown on ITV within the World in Action strand, although the 42-Up series in 1998, (the year that World in Action was axed incidentally in favour for lightweight current affairs series Tonight with Trevor McDonald - a huge change in direction for the changing ITV and what it was to become today), was actually shown on the BBC, still made by Granada. In hindsight, one would consider the series as a huge part of British television history, and in many respects, groundbreaking - comparisons have been made with Professor Robert Winston's Child of Our Time for example which started in 2000.
I often used to confuse his name with Michael Aspel - did anyone else do that? Nevertheless, it does feel like the end of the era and that the "Up" series will probably come to an end now. I thank him for his long service to television documentary making.
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