News about Michael Apted

Members of the Broadcasting Press Guild have voted the Up series as the most influential program of the last 50 years. The program, which premiered on ITV in 1964, followed 14 seven-year-old children from the 'extremes' of society to represent Britain's diverse socioeconomic backgrounds, directed by Paul Almond. Michael Apted, a researcher on the first episode, took over and directed all of the subsequent episodes, including the ones that were released in 2021, seven years ago - two years before his death in 2021.

They were children from radically different backgrounds who captivated the nation as their lives were chronicled over decades. In what began with Seven Up! In 1964, viewers saw how the Jesuit maxim 'give me the child until he is seven, and I will give you the man' came out in reality. Now, following Nick Hitchon's death (left), who watched life as the son of a farmer in the Yorkshire Dales before ascending to become a respected scientist, MailOnline examines what happened to the 13 participants. Neil Hughes (second from left) began life as a chess-playing Liverpool schoolboy with aspirations to study at Oxford but his life took a dramatic turn. He suffered with homelessness for a time and then became a lay preacher. Jackie Bassett, the mother of three children and grandmother of five, now lives in Motherwell after relocating to Scotland nearly 30 years ago, married at 19 and worked in various occupations. Jackie now suffers from rheumatoid arthritis, which means she is unable to work. Suzy comes from a wealthy family and was first noticed at a London day school without the use of an umbrella. In 7 Plus Seven and 21 Up, she has always expressed moderate disdain for the initiative, branding it "pointless and silly," though she has promised not to participate in again after 49 Up, but did participate in 56 Up out of 'obligation.' When it came to 63 up in 2019, she kept her word when it came to 63.

Nick Hitchon originally appeared in Seven Up! In 1964 (top right), the first iteration of the program (top right). The series chronicled the lives of a group of seven-year-old children who had varying backgrounds and grew up in various regions of the country, including wealthy and poor, rural and urban. Hitchon, a farmer's son who grew up in the Yorkshire Dales, went on to become a nuclear fusion scientist and served as a professor at the University of Wisconsin until his retirement in June. In Seven Up! He was first seen walking along a road near his home in Littondale, and when asked later whether he had a girlfriend, he replied "I don't want to answer that." I don't answer those kinds of questions.' However, he also told viewers, "I'd like to find out all about the moon and all that stuff." He died in July after suffering a throat cancer diagnosis that he had revealed in 63 Up, which aired in 2019. Hitchon, who was in first place in 1977 but inset in 2000, said he would not live beyond 2020.