History Series / UP

* DefrostingIceQueen: The upper class Suzy is quite stoic and somber even in the original film, but becomes more relaxed as she enters into middle age.

* OneSteveLimit: Averted by Susan "Sue" Davis and Suzanne "Suzy" Lusk, and again by Sue ''Davis'' and Peter ''Davies''.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: A rather tragic example with Neil, who, at age 7, was the picture of a CheerfulChild. By ''21 Up'' he had become a disillusioned young adult who had dropped out of college to live as a squatter. He continued to spiral in and out of self-destructive depression for many years before finally finding some fulfillment in local politics by ''49 Up''.

* HesAllGrownUp: Most notable with Nick, who goes from a quiet and shy shepherd at 7 to an upbeat and gregarious nuclear physicist and college professor as an adult.

* HesAllGrownUp: Most notable with Nick, who goes from a quiet and shy shepherd at 7 to an upbeat and gregarious college professor as an adult.

* HesAllGrownUp: Most notable with Nick, who goes from a quiet and shy shepherd at 14 to an upbeat and gregarious college professor as an adult.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: A rather tragic example with Neil, who, at age 7, was the picture of a CheerfulChild. By ''21 Up'' he had become a disillusioned young adult who had dropped out of college to live as a squatter. He continued to spiral in and out of self-destructive depression for many years before finally finding some fulfillment in local politics by ''42 Up''.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: A rather tragic example with Neil, who, at age 7, was the picture of a CheerfulChild. By ''21 Up'' he had become a disillusioned young adult who had dropped out of college to live as a squatter. He continued to spiral in and out of self-destructive depression for many years before finally finding some fulfillment in local politics in ''42 Up''.

* UsefulNotes/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.

* WildCard: Neil counts as this to a degree. While for the most part all of the children followed through with Apted's expectation within the boundaries of their social class throughout their lives, he ended up going completely OffTheRails and turning his back on his middle-class suburban upbringing to live as a squatter. As a result, he tends to be found in entirely new and unexpected circumstances each time the documentary returns to check up on him.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: A rather tragic example with Neil, who, at age 7, was the picture of a CheerfulChild. By ''21 Up'' he had become a disillusioned young adult who had dropped out of college to live as a squatter. He continued to remain depressed and spiraling for many years before finally finding some fulfillment in local politics in ''42 Up''.

* UsedToBeASweetKid: A rather tragic example with Neil, who, at age 7, was the picture of a CheerfulChild. By ''21 Up'' he had become a disillusioned young adult who had dropped out of college to live as a squatter. His continued to remain depressed and spiraling for many years before finally finding some fulfillment in local politics in ''42 Up''.

* TheGoodOldBritishComp: Jackie and Susan attend one

* LongRunner

* WalkingTheEarth: Neil, to an extent, in ''28 Up''

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 [[Creator/{{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 (''Film/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.

* TheNewTens: ''56 Up''

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

* [[BritainIsOnlyLondon England Is Only London]]: Ten of the 14 were Londoners or boarding in London when the show was made.

** Charles dropped out after ''21 Up'' and never returned. He attempted to sue Apted for using some of the footage of him in later films.

* {{Oxbridge}}: John, Andrew and Nick all go to Oxford. Charles didn't make it, and said he was glad in a sense to have avoided the "prep school-Marlborough-Oxbridge conveyor belt". Neil didn't make it either, leading to a HeroicBSOD.

* BusCrash: Apted would often talk about how he hoped to die before any of the participants, so the series wouldn't have to deal with their deaths. Sadly it didn't happen, as Lynn died a year after ''56Up''.

* Three girls from working-class London: Jackie Bassett, Lynn Johnson and Susan (Sue) Davis

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 (''Film/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.

!!!''"Give me a child until he is seven and I will give you the man."'' [[subscript:Jesuit maxim]]

* PornStache: Paul

* BritishAccents: Pronounced.
** Neil and Peter have Scouse accents reminiscent of Music/TheBeatles.
** The public school kids speak classic Received Pronunciation ("Stop it at ''once''!").
** Yorkshire: Nick, of course. Elements of which is still detectable in later life in America.
** East London: Jackie, Lynn, Susan and Tony
* UsefulNotes/BritishEducationSystem: Forms a major part of it, as the creator, Michael Apted, initially wanted to show the unfair privileges private education granted.
** TheGoodOldBritishComp: Jackie and Susan attend one
** {{Oxbridge}}: John, Andrew and Nick all go to Oxford. Charles didn't make it, and said he was glad in a sense to have avoided the "prep school-Marlborough-Oxbridge conveyor belt". Neil didn't make it either, leading to a HeroicBSOD.