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The most ambitious documentary series in television history concludes this week.
asserted
series → see → history
7Up, tracing the lives of 14 British people across the class spectrum, from childhood to pension, is a unique and deeply moving record.
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7Up → trace → pension
Tens of millions of viewers over seven decades have followed the journeys of Tony, Jackie, Symon, Neil and their friends, all thrown together aged seven for a Granada TV show.
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all → follow → show
What almost no one realised, as the show became a national obsession, was that it had a twin, a second documentary that mirrored its findings... but with a group of subjects whose average age was 79.
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age → realise → subjects
This other programme is being aired tonight for the first time since 1964 – restored, re-edited and retitled 70Up: The Victorians.
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programme → air → 1964
Its premise is close to that of 7Up, which introduced the country to a selection of children: some from private schools, some from middle-class homes, some from the East End of London.
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which → introduce → London
The pensioners also came from across the social classes.
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pensioners → come → classes
And because they are at the end of their lives, not the start, they have a wealth of wonderful anecdotes, extraordinary experiences and fascinating opinions to impart.
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they → have → anecdotes
But apart from their age – the oldest was born in 1870 – there’s one notable difference.
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oldest → bear → 1870
The reason was twofold: millions of British men were killed or suffered life-limiting injuries during the two world wars.
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millions → kill → wars
Also, the average life expectancy for a British male born in 1890 was just 45 years, compared to 49 for a female, according to the Office for National Statistics.
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expectancy → bear → Statistics
Women, in other words, had a better chance of living longer.
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Women → have → chance
The painter Clara Hahn, like most of the participants, she appears to have been discovered by producers at an old folks’ home
A lady dressed like a character out of a Dickens novel says the pleasures of old age are helping others
The average Victorian family, we are told, had at least six children – with one in seven babies dying before reaching his or her first birthday.
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babies → appear → birthday
‘I am the youngest of 15,’ revealed one lady, with a girlish giggle.
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lady → reveal → giggle
‘So we had a lovely time.’
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we → have → time
Strange as it seems to modern viewers, almost none of the interviewees were named – nor would they have expected to be.
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they → seem → interviewees
In 1964, the celebrity era in Britain had yet to begin, and the idea that in the future ‘everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes’ (as Andy Warhol said in 1968) didn’t yet exist.
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Warhol → have → 1968
We can only hope viewers might spot relatives this evening and, perhaps with the help of old family photos, be able to supply a few names.
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viewers → hope → names
One who is named, probably because she was already known in the art world, was the painter Clara Hahn – though like most of the participants, she appears to have been discovered by producers at an old folks’ home.
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she → name → home
Wrapped in a crocheted blanket, with a silk cravat and a transparent net over her fine white hair, she declared, ‘Well, I’m not elderly.
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I → wrap → hair
I’m old, I’m very old indeed.
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I → ’m → ?
I’m 94.’
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I → ’m → ?
One Cockney lady announced: ‘I’m quite happy, I don’t worry about nothing.’
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I → announce → nothing
Dressed in magnificent Victorian finery – a black hat smothered in artificial flowers, and a silk dress with a lace collar fastened by a brooch of shining black jet, she said: ‘I don’t want to die.
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I → dress → jet
I want to live to 100.’
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I → want → 100
The 1960s voiceover tells us: ‘The first and fundamental thing about the elderly is that, although they are of today, today’s world is often a stranger to them.’
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world → tell → them
All the myriad changes that overtook Britain in the 20th century are what make their reminiscences so remarkable.
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reminiscences → overtake → century
When they were young, the workhouse was an ever-present threat for people, especially the labouring classes, who fell into debt.
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who → labour → debt
‘In olden times, going back to my mother’s days,’ said one woman with a shudder, ‘on ten shillings a week, nothing else, it meant the workhouse for them if they couldn’t pay their way.
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they → go → way
That’s how it was.
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it → ’ → ?
I personally can dispel that fear.
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I → dispel → fear
But our parents had that dread.’
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parents → have → dread
The interviewees make almost no mention of the world wars.
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interviewees → make → wars
Instead, they are baffled by the sheer speed of change.
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they → baffle → change
Proudly wearing her wartime Civil Defence beret, this woman lamented the loss of Empire: ‘All these wretched countries that have taken off and gone away'
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that → wear → Empire
When they were born, the speed limit for motor vehicles was 4mph.
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limit → bear → vehicles
Until 1896, the law required all cars to be preceded by a man with a red flag.
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law → require → flag
By the time this film was made, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin had gone into space and President John F Kennedy had pledged the US would put astronauts on the Moon.
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US → make → Moon
Not that these technological and social advances impressed the Victorian generation very much.
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advances → impress → generation
‘You can look back and think what silly folks there are coming up today,’ scoffed one.
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one → look → ?
…and 29 more, not listed.
The Aporia
