Charles Furneaux

Filmmaker Michael Apted revisits his group of diverse subjects from 7 Up, when they're 21 years of age.

The subjects of these documentaries are groups of seven year old boys and girls. The idea for the series came from the saying 'Give me a child until he is seven and I will show you the man'. The subjects are revisited every seven years and at each visit are interviewed about their attitudes to life. They discuss their views on love, racial prejudice, money, marriage, school and home. The way their attitudes change - or remain the same - is demonstrated by comparing later interviews with clips from the earlier interviews. The first 'Seven Up' documentary was filmed in the UK. Based on its success the 'Seven Up' formula was then applied to a variety of children from a variety of different countries and charts the intricate processes of growing up.