Here Comes 56 Up

The celebrated Up documentary series that has chronicled 14 Britons every seven years since age 7 is back underway with 56 Up. I repeat: 56 Up. Feel old yet? Though maybe not as old as director Michael Apted: "As long as I'm above ground, I'll carry on,' says 71-year-old Apted when we meet on the 20th floor of ITV's London HQ. 'Maybe if I wasn't above ground, someone else would take it over. Having come so far it seems a pity to just unilaterally stop it unless there is good reason. I've only ever said we'd stop if too many of them pulled out, or people didn't want to watch it any more. But neither of those things has happened.' Producer Claire Lewis, who joined at 28 Up, wonders what will happen when the participants start to die. 'When we lose somebody it'll make the others think very hard about doing it again. I don't know what effect that would have on us and on them. It's very hard watching yourself grow old on screen.'" [The Guardian via The Awl]