ITV confirms two extra documentaries to mark the emotional end of 70 Up
ITV is making sure the final chapter of 70 Up is one to remember, with two extra documentaries joining the landmark series for its farewell.
The broadcaster has revealed a pair of companion programmes that will sit alongside the final 70 Up instalment.
One looks back at how the original 7 Up first came to life. The other compares the lives of two generations who both reached 70 in very different times.
The two standalone programmes will accompany the final 70 Up episode. Together, they make up the “emotive final chapter” of a television journey that started with 14 children aged seven in 1965.
The original contributors will all bid farewell to the series for the last time. They include cabbie Tony, musician Peter and university administrator Sue.
ITV announces 7 Up: The Story
The first companion programme is 7 Up: The Story. It takes viewers back to the very beginning of the documentary and how the famous series first came together.
The programme explains how the original Up series was created in the mid 60s while exploring what British society looked like at the time.
It also revisits the pleasures and pressures of life in 1964, along with the issues people faced when the first programme was broadcast.
As the main documentary brings the participants’ story to a close, 7 Up: The Story looks back at where that remarkable journey first began.
70 Up: The Victorians
The second companion programme is 70 Up: The Victorians.
MultiStory Media’s archive team (part of ITV Studios) uncovered interviews with people born during the Victorian era while working on the final Up series.
Those interviewees had reached the age of 70 around the time the original project began. Their reflections will now appear alongside present day participants, including Andrew, Jackie and Bruce, in the final chapter.
The documentary explores the lives, concerns, hopes and ambitions of people who shared the same age but lived in completely different eras.
Some contributors spoke about the changes they believed were still to come. Those interviews have now been re edited and remastered for 70 Up: The Victorians.
When is 70 Up on?
The final 70 Up will be shown across two emotional 90 minute programmes. They will air this autumn, although ITV has not yet confirmed the exact broadcast date.
The two companion documentaries will also air alongside 70 Up. Both 7 Up: The Story and 70 Up: The Victorians will each run for 30 minutes.
It promises to be a fitting farewell to one of television’s most remarkable documentary series, with the final chapter celebrating where it all began while bringing the journey to a close.
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