There is the "next one along" on Thursday at 9.00. Dont know if anyone else like myself have been following these right through. They are very very interesting watching.

I have seen this before too MR. I will be watching :thumbsup:

Oooh yes, thanks for the reminder MR. I've seen most of them.

My favourite little boy who was so cute and wanted to be an astronaught ended up having mental health problems - very sad that.

Yes it was sad he was the sparky little Liverpudlian boy that became a drop out. Wonder what he is doing now. I also remember the little black boy in the mostly white society of the 60s who married his childhood sweetheart. Hope he is still as happy.

I heard from somewhere that the one with mental health problems made a recovery and ended up doing something interesting and being ok. Can't be sure, but I hope its true!

Here you go, found it.........

If you've followed the series, you undoubtedly have worried about Neil, the endearing child who wanted to be an astronaut and who in adolescence was plagued with terrible feelings of inadequacy that made him borderline dysfunctional. In 35 Up, Neil was living reclusively in the Shetland islands. He suspected that by the next film he would be homeless in London. Neil is back in the city, but what he's doing is so surprising (and yet so right in terms of the person we've come to know) that you'll have to see it to get the full impact.

Woo, can't wait to find out!

Thanks - I have watched most of these - I find them fascinating - especially as they are the same age as me!

I am another who has watched these as I have grown up - is Neil the teeny tot - who said 'when I grow up I want to see the moon and the stars an' all that'??

Do you know I thought he went on [35 up] to be a professor in a Californian University teaching astronomy?? Was that not him?? And he married an American lady.

I would adore to have been part of something like this - and I wonder what my schoolmates would be doing now??

Oh I love this. have watched them all and even have the book :blush:

Is it this Thursday (ie tomorrow)?

Flip, the professor was the little lad from the farm in Yorkshire. It was all very 'Whistle Down the Wind'ish where he lived.

I liked the jockey/taxi driver/actor one.

Oh I love this. have watched them all and even have the book :blush:

Is it this Thursday (ie tomorrow)?

Flip, the professor was the little lad from the farm in Yorkshire. It was all very 'Whistle Down the Wind'ish where he lived.

I liked the jockey/taxi driver/actor one.

It is today Fee :thumbsup:


The jockey lad was my favourite too.

I havent seen any of these .... but i have read about some of the participants in a magazine - so i feel i 'know' them a little.

I think ill end up recording it as im out tonight.

Woah - this was superb - I just adored Tony - the wee scamp at 7, who went onto to become an amatuer jockey, left school at 15, then went on to learn The Knowledge and became a London Cabbie. He married his childhood sweetheart - they are still together, with 3 grown up children and a number of grandchildren. They have a second home in Spain [I think] and seem blissfully happy.

Bruce, the ever so beautiful boy who I was convinced would end up a priest - is now married to Penny and have two lovely little boys [god she was a scary mary though??]

And many others - this is just such a great prgramme. It has followed us all through the ages - I don't know of any other like it??

I really enjoyed this last night and I'm really looking forward to next weeks installment, when we will get to see what happened to the rest of them including the little lad that wanted to be an astronaut.

What I found amazing with this is that the women at 49 all look fabulous! During the years some of them looked horrendous but they are now all glamourous grannies!!

Flip, was Bruce the guy who went to boarding school and his dearest wish was to see his father (did you heart not melt when he said this - see a priviledged background does not bring you everything), if so then I was delighted that he had two little boys as in the last series he had just met his wife and I thought at the age they were they wouldn't have kids, I was so happy for them!

Tony was my favourite too, he was just a cheeky chappie and his family were just normal but lovely people!

I liked Tony and his wife and was glad they managed to sort out their problems from 7 years ago. But I think my favourite was Bruce. He and his wife are obviously so well suited; they kind of complete each other, without wanting to sound cheesy.

I felt sorry for the guy who moved to Australia. Obviously, his troubled childhood led him to be a very insecure chap. He seemed to have pain in his eyes through every series. He seems more content with himself now, since he's been through counselling.

The single mum with the 3 boys who moved to Scotland was a stroppy mare wasn't she! :boxing:

And the woman who now lives with her (younger) partner who has been told he looks like Paul Weller. Paul Whitehouse, more like!

great series this. I missed the last bit, and the titles were coming up when I got back to the room. Did anyone else notice that there was a dedication of the programme to someone who'd died recently, but I missed the name. I thought it might have been the programme maker?

The single mum with the 3 boys who moved to Scotland was a stroppy mare wasn't she! :!

I didnt like her at all, thought she was quite boring and she seemed to get more camera time than the others - Why? I couldnt see what her problem was, I think she was being stroppy for stroppy''s sake and just showing off to the camera - dont do the series luv if you feel unhappy with it. I also thought she looked more like 60 than 49 and hadnt aged as well as her friend. I presume the third member of the trio is to be shown next week.

I love these "Up" programmes.

They started before I was born, but I vaguely remember seeing "14 Up" - my Mum liked to watch them and at the time I thought they were dead boring.. I missed "21 Up" and "28 Up"- which is where Neil first became a tramp a I think, but I have watched them religiously from "35 Up" onwards.

A number of the original kids made an impact on me - Neil obviously and the mixed race kid who married a white girl. I'm dying to know how they are getting on coas neither of them were featured in the first 49 Up programme. Next Thursday we'll get the update.

But...there are lots of things that this programme revelas about the stereotypes of 1964. Out of 12 kids, only 4 were female (they are always featured together in the earlier programmes). And there was only 1 child of mixed race. If the programme were made today, the divisions of both would be much higher!

Also, the programme originally divided the children into Upper Class and Working Class kids. Toffs and Cockney Sparra's! It seems that in 1964, there was no concept of "Middle Class". But nowday's Cockney Sparra's own their own homes. Tony, the cute, East End aspirational jockey, owns his own home in Spain. His parents in 1964 would never have DREAMED of such fortune. Did the Thatcher years give birth to such aspirations???

I love this programme because it forces you to comapre social class. It is surely no co-incidence that the kids of the working class families lost their parents at a young age (before or in their 30's), whereas the toffs of 1964 have parents that are still alive in 2005 or have only recently died.

Fascinating programme. Can't wait until 56 Up. More will have droped out by then though. Shame too. But really, it must be hard on them.

The World In Action Team have surpassed themselves. They have made a programme in whcih a whole generation will be fascinated. And subsequent generations...

My brother is, funnily enough, 7 years younger than me. He is equally compelled by these programmes. I don't know if the 7th year generation younger than him is also fascinated.

But it makes no difference. the World In Action 7Up programmes are a historical document in themselves.

Wonderful programmes.

Second one on at nine tonight

i din't find it so interesting this week as I ldid ast weeks programme.

It was nice to see that Simon is happy (mixed race, children's home boy) and settled. He always seemed like such a nice, easygoing person. And Neil seems to have settled down into his life. His still eccentric, but for a few years he seemed almost tragic. Now he seems to have turned himself round and found a focus, which is lovely.

I was surprised by how much I've grown to like the public school chap who became a lawyer (not the Barrister - the other one). I used to find him quite obnoxious, but now he seems very affable and pleasant.

Roll on 56 Up. Wonder how many of them will still be doing it then? Susie has already suggested that she might drop out after this one.

Interesting how all of them have indicated that they've found making the programme very difficult emotionally. A number of them have dropped out already, and the only one's who have implied that its good is the Barrister (because it might raise money for his charities) and the professor, originally from Yorkshire and now living in The States. Even Simon said that he enjoyed watching the programme, but had grown to hate taking part in it himself.

I had completely forgotten that Bruce [last weeks chubby cheeked, red face cricketer] had been a friend and landlord to the then aimless and wandering Neil.

It was a joy to see Neil, somewhat settled in his Cumbrian council flat, working and enjoying life [as much as he could] as a Lib Dem councillor - riding his bike through the fields and being a free spirit.

My only sadness for him was that he had never met a companion that he obviously seeks.

[QUOTE=karenh]i din't find it so interesting this week as I ldid ast weeks programme.

QUOTE]

Me too Karen. I was sorry the black guy didnt stay with the mother of his 5 children (Yvonnne) cos it stuck in my mind that when he was 28 he said she was the love of his life and didnt know what he would do without her. I wasnt keen on his second wife. I liked the ex solicitor and they seemed a really happy grounded family and it must be toe curling to watch himself as an obnoxious little brat at 7. I still though Neil was sad, and apart from the bad teeth didnt think he was a bad looking man when he was younger. You still cant believe that that perky little 7 year old was him! Liked the American college lecurter but has anyone noticed how much their accents have changed since the 1964 episode?

ok fellow detectives.

Anyone know what happened to either of the two who dropped out? Namely Charles Furneaux and John Brisby ?

http://www.4stonebuildings.com/members/4.html

Is this the same John Brisby you think?

Charles Furneaux was the one with long hair (at 21), sitting to the right of the thre upper class kids. There is a Charles Furneaux who is a documentary producer, but can't find any bio information on him to see if he would be the right age.

But am I confused on John Brisby? Its says he stopped making the programme at 28, but if you look at John Brisby, he is active in some Bulgarian education programs, and his wife Claire Brisby is keen on Bulgarian art - isn't that the one we saw last night who married into the Bulgarian family?

ok, starting to understand. Symon Basterfield was the one who stopped doing the programme at 35 I think, and John Brisby was indeed the one with the Bulgarian connection who stopped at 21, but then came back later at 35. So just confused as usual.

It is the same Charles Furneaux.

I enjoyed both episodes, although I am thoroughly fed up with Neil now.

What I particularly liked about this time round is how they all seem 'happy in their skin'; and much more relaxed in front of the cameras.

I wonder how taking part has influenced their lives though?

If I knew I'd have been asked to take part in something like that every seven years, I'm sure it would have influenced some of my decisions! I would probably had more direction, and been less inclined to just let events unfold.

Thats the question I end up asking myself Fee! If I knew I was on telly every 7 years, how would it affect my decisions knowing it all goes public?

Would I have taken that pole-dancing job for example! (just kidding)

Yes Neil was a dissapointment in a way. Good to see he seems to be living some sort of life at least, but it was hardly uplifiting seeing him was it. I hope he does get the calling like he mentioned and we see him re-born or something.

If I knew I'd have been asked to take part in something like that every seven years, I'm sure it would have influenced some of my decisions! I would probably had more direction, and been less inclined to just let events unfold.

Yeah I thought that too. Although, in reality, that would proably be hard to actually do.

Part of me would have loved to taken part in something like that, but none of them seem particuarly happy doing it. More than one of them questioned what the programme aimed to achieve, and to be honest, apart from providing a comparison to todays 7, 14, 28 and 35 year olds, it doesn't seem to achieve much at all. Although, it does strike me that it is an interesting insight into how much the Thatcher years provided opportunities for the working class kids that they would have been unlikely to have with their background in previous generations (many of them own their homes - and one of them een has a house in Spain).

I quite like the Barristers comparison with a Reality Programme - it really is more of a sophisticated voyeuristic programme than an insight into class demographics. That said, I still love the programme.

But what a diary to have of your life! Most of us rely on pictures and stories from our parents. These people actually have footage of their opinions on social matters!