Said to be one of the most revealing snapshots of British life today, 56 Up is a breath of fresh air in amongst a stream of redundant reality TV.
Filmed every seven years, this documentary charts the life of 14 individuals taken from various social backgrounds around Britain. Initially seen as something of a social experiment (almost 50 years ago), 56 Up aims to show you what life’s all about. In the first episode of this three-parter we get to meet three of the participants, Sue, Neil and Paul.
Starting off the show in a rather upbeat fashion was Sue. Engaged and rather happy, Sue found her calling, after years of uncertainty, as a course administrator at QMUL’s Law department. Fearless and bubbly, her story was incredibly uplifting, as she proves that, with determination and hard work. anything is possible.
We then moved on to the shy Paul. Out of the three people we saw in the first instalment, he seemed to show the least progression; he was still that nervous little boy interviewed as a seven year-old, and it made rather sad viewing. Now living in Australia, he is married and grandfather to several children.
The final and most interesting story of all was Neil’s. As a young boy he had hopes of going to Oxford University, but all dreams of an elite education were sullied due to various health issues. After a long period of being homeless and roaming the unforgiving terrain of the Scottish highlands, he finally sorted his life out and became a Lib Dem councillor.
I fully appreciated 56 Up. Pure and unpretentious, the show was brilliantly constructed, and while it was shockingly depressing at times, it showed a realistic representation of 60’s British life, and unpredictable nature of life’s course. Original in its premise, we might never again have a show capable of charting normal lives across a period of such drastic social change.