The world you’ll often hear mentioned around discussions of ITV’s Up franchise is “experiment”. In broadcasting terms, it was certainly that – a project of unprecedented scope and patience, exploring the lives of 14 people from disparate class backgrounds at seven-year intervals, from childhood up until the age of 70. For the bulk of its run, the “experiment” was steered by documentarian Michael Apted, a researcher on the original Seven Up! who directed every entry from 7 Plus Seven (1970) through to 63 Up (2019). Since Apted’s death in 2021, directorial duties have passed to Asif Kapadia, the Oscar-winning director of profile documentaries Amy and Senna.
70 Up, the final entry in the series, finds the surviving participants mostly retired, in a mode of hyperopic reminiscence. Split over two feature-length episodes, it almost has the feel of a clip show; most of the documentary’s runtime is taken up with old archival footage, stitched together artfully by Kapadia and editors Andrew Hulme and Patrick Saxer. It’s a technique that amply conveys the impressive feat of a lifetime being documented – but also leaves 70 Up feeling somewhat inessential, like a catch up with an old friend with no real life updates to share. One participant, former nuclear scientist Nick Hitchon, died in 2023, but filmed an interview for the new programme shortly before his death. This interview, in which he speaks lucidly about his own ill health, is the best and most poignant part of the new special.
