Seven Up!: Encyclopedia II - Seven Up! - Participants

Seven Up! - Participants

The fourteen subjects are Bruce Balden, Jackie Bassett, Simon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Peter Davies, Susan Davis, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Suzanne Lusk, and Tony Walker.

The participants were chosen in an attempt to represent different social classes in Britain in the 1960's. At the time the show was not intended to become a repeating series, and no contract was signed with the participants. All interviews since have been voluntary, the participants are paid, and only their first names are used in the program. They have the option to withdraw their footage if they don't like the manner in which they are presented. The interviews are unrehearsed and occur in strict 7-year intervals. In the instances where the participants are interviewed as a group, they are positioned in the same arrangement each time. Especially in the later films, the interviews are spanned over two days. Apted tries to get as much material as the participants will allow, and admits the interviews are very long.

It should be noted that in the original program the narrator mentions 21 children taking part and that that many can be counted at both the zoo and the party that they take part in. The only one named other than the fourteen acknowledged participants is a girl named Michelle who is from the same East End school as Tony and is interviewed as his girlfriend. The other six may have been interviews that were not used or brothers or sisters of the main group.

Seven Up! - John Charles and Andrew

The original group includes three quite stereotypical upper class boys. At the age of 7, they claim to have stocks, and know which prep schools they will attend.

John, who was vocal on politics by 14, became a lawyer. John chose not to appear on the show after "21 Up", feeling that the questions he was being asked were mocking his upper class life. He did return for "35 Up" however, with intentions to publicize his Oxfam relief efforts for Bulgaria, and again for "49 Up". He would only appear in "35 Up" under the conditions that another member of the Up Series crew would interview him instead of Apted.

Andrew also went to prestigous schools, got married, became wealthy and raised a family.

Charles did not make it into the prestigous University, and later described it as a "conveyer belt". He chose not to continue his participation in the series after "21 Up" and during an on-stage interview at London's National Film Theatre in December 2005, Michael Apted revealed that Charles had attempted to sue Apted when he refused to remove Charles' likeness from the archive sequences in 49 Up. Charles has worked in journalism in varying capacities over the years, including producer for the BBC, and the making of documentary films, including Touching the Void (2003). Micheal Apted, the creator of this program also went to Cambridge and law school before getting into film.

Seven Up! - Suzy

Upper class Suzy at age 7 expects to become a homemaker and, after a rough adolescence that is only alluded to, she appears tense and belligerent in "21 Up". In a surprising twist, by 28, she finds satisfaction and happiness in family life, which continues through the rest of her life.

Seven Up! - Jackie Lynn and Sue

The three working class girls Jackie, Lynn and Sue, who expect a life as housewives age 7, end up securing differing careers and family lives from what they expected. Lynn gets married at 19 and becomes a children's librarian. Jackie and Sue each go through different jobs, get divorced, and raise kids as a single parent. Jackie, Lynn and Sue prefer to be interviewed individually, but Apted insists on getting them together for a group interview for at least a short time.

Seven Up! - Tony

Tony the Cockney 'Cheeky Kid' first hopes to become a jockey, then a racing tout and, finally secures a comfortable life as a taxi driver. His later dream of becoming an actor meets with slight success as he gained cameos on Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years and EastEnders. He has been one of the most enthusiastic supporters of the project and he and his wife, Deb, have been very honest about both the hardship and success in their lives.

Seven Up! - Paul

Paul has lived in Australia since his father moved them there before he turned 14. In "7 Up" and "7 plus 7", Paul appears very unsure of himself, but by 21, he has more presence, long hair, and a girlfriend (whom he later married). He, his wife Susan and their children live happily in suburban Austrailia. Paul only agreed to take part in "49 Up" if Michael Apted arranged for him and his wife to revisit England as part of the filming of their segment. This sequence included the only contrived sequence in the programmes, when Paul was reunited with Simon.

Seven Up! - Nick

Nick, a Yorkshire lad, became a physicist and eventually settled at the University of Wisconsin in Madison. At 21 he was labelled as the most sucessful of the participants. In "42 Up", Nick admits that it is not likely that his work as a scientist will have the impact on the public that he hoped. Nick was married and divorced. Michael Apted freely admits in his commentary on the DVD for "42 Up" that he erred in the filming of "28 Up" in thinking that Nick's marriage to Jackie would not last. Consequently, he unfairly anticipated this in his questions to them, and in the films' presentation. This upset Jackie and the result was that he lost later interviews with her and their son, Adam.

Seven Up! - Simon

The only black participant is Simon, who was chosen from the same charity home as Paul. They revisit the abandoned buildings of their school in "21 Up". Simon did not appear in "35 Up". At 35, he would not respond to Apted's phone calls, but returned for the next film seven years later. Simon appears quite sad in both "7 Up" and "7 plus 7 Up", but later appears quite happy in two marriages and many children.

Seven Up! - Neil

By the time of "28 Up" one of the brightest grammar school boys, Neil, was experiencing ongoing struggles with his life and was homeless. Neil has remained on social security his entier life. By the time of "42 Up" he had found some stability in his life with the help of Bruce and was involved in politics.

Seven Up! - Peter

Peter was a classmate of Neil's in Liverpool as a youth, by 21 he was in college, and by 28 he was an underpaid and uninspired school teacher. Peter dropped out after "28 Up" after stinging press criticism of political comments he made in his interview. Although it is not presented in the films, Peter dramatically changed his life after 28, he stopped teaching, got remarried, and became a lawyer. Michael Apted remains in contact with Peter, and hopes he may return to the project.

Seven Up! - Bruce

Bruce was presented as an idealist in "7 Up" and "7 plus 7 Up", who was concerned with poverty and racial discrimination. Bruce became a math major in University and used his education to teach children in both England and Bangladesh.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Participants", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki