Gahh, Did You Know 70 Up Is Coming Out?

Have you seen the Up series? The groundbreaking British documentary series, directed by Michael Apted, has followed the lives of 10 boys and four girls from different socio-economic backgrounds, starting when they were age seven. Each film begins with the slightly ominous saying “Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man.”

The series comprises nine films so far, released every seven years. The first one shows bright-eyed, wriggly seven-year-olds; the second, lanky teens; by the third, a few had become smoking, jaded 21-year-olds; and so on.

Suzy at ages 7 and 21.

“I left school when I was 16 and went to Paris,” says Suzanne Dewey at age 21. “And I’m very very cynical about [marriage]”).

Over the years, you watch the group grow up, go to college, get married, start careers, have kids, take vacations, move countries, get divorced, lose loved ones; a few participants have died. Above is the trailer for 63 Up.

Last night, I saw that the final film — 70 Up — will be released tomorrow. (Since Michael Apted died in 2021, this installment was directed by Asif Kapadia.) Watching the series can be really emotional — you see sweet little boys grow up to suffer from mental illness; or giggly girls end up in stifling marriages. But you also see them come out the other side, and if there is a connecting thread among the group, it’s that everyone comes more fully into themselves with age. Most seemed much happier at 56 and 63 than any of the years before, and I found that so bolstering.

Will you be watching? I’m so excited to see the new one this week.

P.S. A great new TV show, and do TV jobs seem real? We asked a doctor, chef, priest, and therapist.