Up (film series)
| Up | |
|---|---|
2019 DVD collection cover | |
| Genre | Longitudinal study Documentary |
| Directed by | Paul Almond (Seven Up!) Michael Apted (1970–2019) |
| Starring | Bruce Balden Jackie Bassett Symon Basterfield Andrew Brackfield John Brisby Peter Davies Susan Davis Charles Furneaux Nicholas (Nick) Hitchon (died 2023) Neil Hughes Lynn Johnson (died 2013) Paul Kligerman Suzanne (Suzy) Lusk Tony Walker |
| Narrated by | Douglas Keay Michael Apted (all subsequent films) |
| Theme music composer | Trevor Duncan |
| Opening theme | "Syncho-Jazz" |
| Ending theme | "Syncho-Jazz" |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of episodes | 9 (in 16 parts) |
| Production | |
| Producer | Claire Lewis |
| Production locations | United Kingdom Bulgaria France Australia United States Spain Portugal |
| Cinematography | George Jesse Turner |
| Editor | Kim Horton |
| Running time | 40–150 mins. per film 1,018 mins. total |
| Original release | |
| Network | ITV (Granada Television) (1964–1991, 2005–2019) BBC One (1998) |
| Release | 5 May 1964 |
| Infobox instructions (only shown in preview) | |
The Up series of documentary films follows the lives of ten boys and four girls in England, beginning in 1964, when they were seven years old. The first film was titled Seven Up!, with later films adjusting the number in the title to match the age of the subjects at the time of filming. The documentary has had nine episodes—one every seven years—thus spanning 56 years. The series has been produced by Granada Television for ITV, which has broadcast all of them except 42 Up (1998), which was broadcast on BBC One. Individual films and the series as a whole have received numerous accolades; in 1984, the then-latest instalment, 28 Up, was chosen for Roger Ebert's list of the ten greatest films of all time. The series was voted the most influential British TV programme of the past 50 years, in a 2024 poll of the Broadcasting Press Guild.