From Wikipedia

Seven Up Series

Episode Five - Part One Of Two

Seven Up - Thirty Five

The fourteen subjects are Bruce Balden, Jackie Bassett, Symon Basterfield, Andrew Brackfield, John Brisby, Peter Davies, Susan Davis, Charles Furneaux, Nicholas Hitchon, Neil Hughes, Lynn Johnson, Paul Kligerman, Suzanne Lusk and Tony Walker.

The participants were chosen in an attempt to represent different social classes in Britain in the 1960s. Apted admits in the commentary track of the 42 Up DVD that he was asked to find children at the extremes. Because the show was not originally intended to become a repeating series, no long-term contract was signed with the participants. The interviews since Seven Up! have been voluntary, although the participants have been paid an unknown sum for their appearance in each film, as well as equal parts of any prize the film may win, says Apted. Each subject is filmed in about two days, and the interview itself takes more than six hours.

John, Charles and Andrew

These three boys were chosen from the same pre-preparatory school in the wealthy London suburb of Kensington. They are introduced to us in Seven Up! singing "Waltzing Matilda" in Latin. At the age of seven, when asked what newspaper he read, if any, Andrew stated that he read The Financial Times (although he later revealed he was in fact just repeating what his father had told him when asked the same question), and all three could say which prep schools, public schools and universities they planned to attend (Oxford/Cambridge in all cases); two even named the specific Oxbridge college they intended to join.

John, who was vocal on politics by 14, attended Oxford and became a barrister. He married the daughter of an ambassador to Bulgaria and devotes himself to charities related to Bulgaria, and hopes to reclaim family land there that had been nationalized.

Andrew's academic career culminated in his matriculation at Trinity Hall, Cambridge. Andrew subsequently became a solicitor, married, and raised a family. He is the only one out of the three to have been in all the Up films.

Charles did not make it into Oxford, although at 21 he said he was glad to have avoided the "prep school-Marlborough-Oxbridge conveyor belt" by going to Durham University instead, attending Oxford as a post-graduate student. Charles has worked in journalism in varying capacities over the years, including as a producer for the BBC, and in the making of documentary films, including Touching the Void. Despite the fact that the Up films form arguably one of the most important series of documentary films ever made, he has chosen not to appear in the series after 21 Up, other than with a single photograph in each new film. During an on-stage interview at London's National Film Theatre in December 2005, Apted revealed that Charles had attempted to sue him when he refused to remove Charles's likeness from the archive sequences in 49 Up.

Suzy

Suzy comes from a wealthy background, and was first filmed at a boarding school. Her parents divorced around the time of 7 Plus Seven. Her husband Rupert Dewey is a successful solicitor in Bath, England and they have three children; two boys and a girl.

Jackie, Lynn and Sue

These three girls were chosen from the same primary school in a working class neighbourhood of London. Jackie and Sue eventually went to a comprehensive school, while Lynn went to a grammar school. Jackie and Lynn got married at 19, Sue at 24. Lynn became a children's (and later, school) librarian at 21 and has remained in that career since then. Jackie and Sue each went through several different jobs, got divorced, and raised children as single parents.

Tony

Tony was chosen from a primary school in the East End of London. He wanted to be a jockey at 7, and was at a stables training for it at 14. By 21 his chance had come and gone, after riding in three races before giving it up. He then "did 'The Knowledge'" and made a comfortable life for himself and his family as a London taxi driver. His later dream of becoming an actor has met with modest success; he has had small parts as an extra (almost always playing a cabbie) in several TV programmes since 1986, including Winston Churchill: The Wilderness Years, The Bill, and twice in EastEnders, most recently in 2003. In 35 Up Tony admitted that being in a monogamous relationship was becoming a strain, and by 42 Up he had actually committed adultery, though he and his wife have got past it and are still together. By 42 Up, he had moved to Essex and by 49 Up,owned three homes, including a holiday home in Spain.

Paul

Paul was at a charity-based boarding school at 7, his parents having divorced and he having been left with his father. Soon after Seven Up! his father and stepmother moved the family to Australia, where he has remained in the Melbourne area ever since. By 21, he had more presence, long hair, and a girlfriend whom he later married and remains with today. After leaving school he was employed as a bricklayer and later set up his own business. In 49 Up he is working for a sign-making company. In both 21 Up and 49 Up, Paul was reunited with Symon, who had attended the same boarding school; portions of their time together are included in both films.

Symon

The only participant with an ethnic minority background is mixed race Symon, who was chosen from the same charity home as Paul. He was an illegitimate child, who apparently never got to know his black father, and had left the charity home to live with his white mother by the time of the 7 Plus Seven filming; her depression is alluded to as the cause for him being in the home. As the filming for 35 Up was taking place, he was going through a divorce from his first wife and mother of his five children, and he elected not to take part in in that film. Symon returned for 42 Up and 49 Up, remarried with one son and one stepdaughter.