And so, tomorrow, ITV will be screening part one of 49-Up, Michael Apted’s documentary update following a group of Britons whose stories have been chronicled from the age of seven – the old motif of ‘give me the child at 7 and I’ll show you the man’†.
It seems weird to think that it is now fourteen years since I first discovered this occasional series of 7-Up, 14-Up, 21-Up and 28-Up in Sociology class at a time when they were making and screening (the then most recent follow up), 35-Up. Can it really be 14 years since I did my A-Levels?! Can it be 7 years already since I last caught up the story in 42-Up? Seven years ago, I was in the midst of my three-long years of temping and still awaiting my first ‘proper’ full-time job. Seven years ago I was still living in house shares before it became houseshare from hell. Seven years ago I had just broken up with my first (and only, to date) girlfriend.
And 14 years ago? Fourteen years ago I was still at Kirkley High School (as were half of The Darkness). Fourteen years ago, university, let alone university twice was still far on the horizon.
And 21? Twenty-one years ago I was starting out on my career, and my dream to be a writer…
But will Neil turn up, I wonder…