At 9 o’clock last night, I sat down with my take-away curry, flipped
back the lid of my MacBook and went to the iPlayer website to catch
the first episode of 21 Up: New Generation, taking care to click the
button that says ‘Yes, I do have a TV licence.’ One small problem: 21
Up wasn’t on. Not until 10.35 p.m., aka time for Newsnight.
Surely, I wondered, my small prawn karahi rapidly decreasing in
temperature as I hunted for something rubbish to watch on 4oD, the
latest instalment of the 21st century remake of Michael Apted’s bold,
immensely flawed sociological experiment, 7 Up, deserves a prime-time
slot?
The reason why it had been denied one became apparent halfway through
the episode. This new Up series has been intelligently and sensitively
directed by Julian Farino. It has respect for its participants, and is
generally free from the leading questions and clunky hypothesising
that marred the original. The children, who were seven at the turn of
the century, and 14 when the world started plunging into
financial crisis, have become conscientious, well-adjusted,
hard-working adults, who should give us great hope for the future.
Unfortunately, a bunch of 21-year-olds talking sensibly about work,
money and relationships doesn’t make for tremendously exciting
viewing.
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