History Series / UP

* ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion: The original documentary's hypothesis, based on the quote at the top of this page, was that the UK's class structure is so strong a person's life path would be set at birth: at seven years old, the children's lives would already be representative of what they would grow up into. The assumption is that those born into the 'higher' classes of society will do better for themselves than those from the 'lower', who will struggle to progress up the social ladder. (The producer of the original programme had at one point thought to line 20 children up on the street, have three of them step forward and narrate ''"of these twenty children, only three will be successful"''... an idea which was not used, [[ValuesDissonance perhaps mercifully in hindsight]].) The idea of class immobility held up in most, but not all, cases as the series has progressed: the children from the working classes have by and large remained in those circles, though Tony seems to have become more middle class.

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) eight television documentaries following 14 English people's lives from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series in 1964, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. Film director Michael Apted (''GorillasInTheMist, Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough, Film/TheVoyageOfTheDawnTreader'') was involved with the original programme as a young researcher and chose the child participants, and has made every subsequent instalment over the decades since.

* AustralianAccent: Paul, after his father takes him to Oz in his youth.

* DisappearedDad: Symon had one, leading to him determined to be present in his own kids' lives even after his first wife divorced him.

* BritishEducationSystem: Forms a major part of it, as the creator, Michael Apted, initially wanted to show the unfair privileges private education granted.

* BritishAccents: Pronounced, to the point that the [=DVDs=] really should have subtitles.

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) eight television documentaries following 14 English people's lives from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series in 1964, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. Film director Michael Apted (''GorillasInTheMist, Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough, VoyageOfTheDawnTreader'') was involved with the original programme as a young researcher and chose the child participants, and has made every subsequent instalment over the decades since.

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven television documentaries following 14 English people's lives from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series in 1964, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. Film director Michael Apted (''GorillasInTheMist, Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough, VoyageOfTheDawnTreader'') was involved with the original programme as a young researcher and chose the child participants, and has made every subsequent instalment over the decades since.

* TheWoobie: Paul's wife claims this is what attracted him to her

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Peter vanishes after ''28 Up''. He had criticised MargaretThatcher's government and a tabloid newspaper campaign led to him losing his teaching job.
** Charles dropped out after ''21 Up'', and attempted to sue Apted for using some of the footage of him in later films.

** Neil and Peter have Scouse accents reminiscent of TheBeatles.

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* ATouchOfClassEthnicityAndReligion: The original documentary's hypothesis, based on the quote at the top of this page, was that the UK's class structure is so strong a person's life path would be set at birth: at seven years old, the children's lives would already be representative of what they would grow up into. The assumption is that those born into the 'higher' classes of society will do better for themselves than those from the 'lower', who will struggle to progress up the social ladder. (The producer of the original programme had at one point thought to line 20 children up on the street, have three of them step forward and narrate ''"of these twenty children, only three will be successful"''... an idea which was not used, [[ValuesDissonance perhaps mercifully in hindsight]].) The idea of class immobility held up in most, but not all, cases as the series has progressed: the children from the working classes have by and large remained in those circles, though Tony seems to have become more middle class.

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven television documentaries following 14 English people's lives from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series in 1964, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. Film director Michael Apted[[hottip:*: (''GorillasInTheMist, Film/TheWorldIsNotEnough, VoyageOfTheDawnTreader'')]] was involved with the original programme as a young researcher and chose the child participants, and has made every subsequent instalment over the decades since.

* ''56 Up'' (to come in 2012)

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven television documentaries following 14 English people's lives from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series in 1964, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. Film director Michael Apted[[hottip:*: (GorillasInTheMist, TheWorldIsNotEnough, VoyageOfTheDawnTreader)]] was involved with the original programme as a young researcher and chose the child participants, and has made every subsequent instalment over the decades since.

!!!"Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man"

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven documentaries following 14 English people from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that.

* TokenMinority: Symon is the only non-white (although, in fairness, 1 in 14 is far higher than the actual proportion of non-whites in 1960s England)

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven documentaries following 14 English people from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[{{ITV}} Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. The films so far are:

The people featured are:

Tropes associated with the ''Up'' Series:

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven documentaries following 14 English people from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the [[ITV Granada]] Television ''World In Action'' series, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. The films so far are:

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven documentaries following 14 English people from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the Granada Television ''World In Action'' series, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. The films so far are:

* BritishBrevity: Probably the best example: eight episodes in 42 years...

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven documentaries following 14 English people from the age of 7 upward. Beginning as an episode of the Granada Television ''WorldInAction'' series, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. The films so far are:

* BoisterousBruiser: Tony and Simon, aged 7 at least.

* ParentalAbandonment: At 7, Simon and Paul were in a children's home; Simon's mother was clinically depressed; Paul's father's reasons are not given.

The ''Up'' Series comprises (at present) seven documentaries following 14 English people from the age of seven upwards. Beginning as an episode of the Granada Television ''WorldInAction'' series, "Seven Up!" aimed to show the different attitudes and prospects of children from different social classes. It proved so popular that the children were revisited seven years later, and every seven years after that. The films so far are:

* AustralianAccent: Paul, after his father takes him to Oz in his youth

* TheBusCameBack: John didn't appear in ''28 Up'' but returned for later editions to publicise his Bulgarian charities. Simon missed ''35 Up'' as he [[spoiler:was going through a messy divorce]]; he returned for the later versions.
* BritishAccents: pronounced, to the point that the [=DVDs=] really should have subtitles.
** Neil and Peter have Scouse accents reminiscent of TheBeatles
** The public school kids speak classic Received Pronunciation ("Stop it at ''once''!")

* ChuckCunninghamSyndrome: Peter vanishes after ''28 Up'': he had criticised MargaretThatcher's government and a tabloid newspaper campaign led to him losing his teaching job.

* [[BritainIsOnlyLondon England Is Only London]]: Ten of the fourteen were Londoners or boarding in London when the show was made.

* YourCheatingHeart: Tony admitted he was feeling tempted to cheat on his wife at 35, and by 42 he had actually done it. The marriage survived, and both he and his wife are remarkably willing to talk about it to the cameras.

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