The groundbreaking Up documentary series has been voted the programme that changed television the most over the past 50 years in a poll of the country’s leading TV writers.
The series, which follows a group of children from different social backgrounds and documents their progress every seven years, topped a list of the the most influential shows from the last five decades compiled by the Broadcasting Press Guild (BPG).
The panel recognised the programme, which first aired in 1964, for the anthropological nature of its study and the lasting effect it has had on TV documentary making since.
The premise for the series came from the saying “give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man” and chronicled the lives of 14 children as they grew up.
The children’s progress reflects the social and economic changes in British society, with some participants, such as Nick Hitchon, the son of a Yorkshire farmer who became a respected scientist, achieving their dreams.
Others confounded viewers’ expectations. Neil Hughes was a bright chess-playing boy at seven who wanted to go to Oxford University, but when the show’s producer, Michael Apted, returned seven years later, he had become a shadow of his former self after being bullied. He became homeless and drifted between jobs before moving into local politics and becoming a lay preacher.
The Up series was one of the first to make television stars of ordinary members of the public and was so popular that it has aired on both the BBC and ITV and ran until 2019.
Elsewhere in the list, David Attenborough’s influence on television is reflected by two of his shows featuring in the top 10: the 1979 natural history series Life on Earth in second place and the 2006 series Planet Earth in sixth place, which set a new bar in nature film-making.
Drama from the last 50 years was also well represented. It was the genre with the highest number of programmes in the top 50 with 18, including Michaela Coel’s I May Destroy You. Lisa McGee’s groundbreaking Channel 4 comedy Derry Girls also earned a place on the list.
The BPG compiled its Top 50 Landmark Programmes of the Last 50 Years chart to mark its 50th anniversary. Its chair, Manori Ravindran, said the list was a reminder of how rich, varied and important the UK’s creative sector was.
“In our 50 years, members of the Broadcasting Press Guild have been the tastemakers of the British TV industry,” she said.
“As such, it felt appropriate to celebrate this milestone birthday with a top 50 list reflecting the programmes we believe have created landmark TV moments or have been truly significant to the industry over that time.
“It wasn’t an easy process, and we welcome healthy debate about our selections, but we believe this list encapsulates the richness of the creative sector and its inimitable contribution to our culture and society.”
