• by Adam Buckman , Featured Columnist, May 5, 2026

The final installment of one of the greatest TV series ever made is finished and ready to premiere later this year.

It will be the 10th episode of a series that began in 1964 with “Seven Up!,” a chronicle of the lives of 14 seven-year-old British children -- four girls and 10 boys -- most of whom agreed to return every seven years for subsequent episodes.

The story broke last month in British news media that the series is returning with “70 Up,” which will premiere in the U.K. on ITV on a date yet to be determined, according to an announcement from ITV.

“70 Up” will feature 12 of the remaining participants at age 70. Of the 14 original children, two have died -- librarian Lynn Johnson in 2013 and college professor Nick Hitchon in 2023. 

In a twist that may surprise long-time fans of the series, one of the reported returnees to “70 Up” is journalist and documentary filmmaker Charles Furneaux, who has not participated in the show since “21 Up” in 1977. 

When he declined to appear seven years later in “28 Up,” he had a dramatic falling out with the series’ director, Michael Apted, and then distanced himself from the project, until now.

Although the first episode, “Seven Up!,” was directed by Paul Almond, Apted directed all of the series’ subsequent episodes through “63 Up” in 2019. 

Apted’s death in 2021 at age 79 raised concerns that the series would die with him. But another director, Asif Kapadia, 54, was tapped to complete the series by directing this year’s finale episode.

The “Up” series, as it is sometimes called today, was and still is a landmark in television. 

Over the years, audiences have been privy to the life journeys of these ordinary people as they navigated childhood and adulthood, celebrations and tragedies, challenges and victories, careers, marriages, divorces and children. 

The series is powerful and poignant. For anyone who has experienced the series from the beginning, the finale figures to be a very emotional viewing experience.

Suggestion for those who have not yet watched the “Up” series: Find it and binge-watch it -- if you can find it. A Google query about where the series can be seen right how was inconclusive.

It was suggested that the series is available on Netflix, Amazon Prime and BritBox. 

A search on Netflix produced no results. A search on Prime Video produced uncertain results -- some episodes but not others. 

In 2021, I binge-watched the whole series through “63 Up” on BritBox. But a question emailed to BritBox on Monday to see if the series was still available went unanswered.

It was also not possible to determine if, when or where “70 Up” would premiere in the U.S. The TV Blog sent an email to PBS asking if they were planning to pick up the show, but did not receive an answer by deadline on Monday. I will keep you posted.

Meanwhile, in addition to Charles Furneaux, the returning participants are: Solicitor Andrew Brackfield, barrister John Brisby, bereavement counselor Suzy Lusk, Scotland resident Jackie Bassett, university administrator Sue Davis, London cabbie Tony Walker, Australia resident Paul Kligerman, grandfather Symon Basterfield, lawyer and band member Peter Davies, preacher and local politician Neil Hughes, and schoolteacher Bruce Balden.

Photo credit: The participants in “70 Up,” courtesy ITV.