1 00:00:04,441 --> 00:00:07,681 - In 1964 Granada television brought together 2 00:00:07,681 --> 00:00:11,881 a group of seven-year-olds from all over the country 3 00:00:11,881 --> 00:00:13,481 and from all walks of life. 4 00:00:13,481 --> 00:00:15,921 - I'm going to work in Woolworths. 5 00:00:15,921 --> 00:00:18,121 - I read the Financial Times. 6 00:00:19,081 --> 00:00:22,401 - They talked about their dreams, their ambitions 7 00:00:22,401 --> 00:00:24,681 and their fears for the future. 8 00:00:24,681 --> 00:00:29,121 - Everything throughout the year it all landed on my head. 9 00:00:30,801 --> 00:00:32,561 - For nearly half a century, 10 00:00:32,561 --> 00:00:35,561 in a unique ground-breaking series of films, 11 00:00:35,561 --> 00:00:38,361 we have followed their lives every seven years. 12 00:00:40,641 --> 00:00:42,641 They are now 46. 13 00:00:48,121 --> 00:00:49,881 Lynn, Sue and Jackie grew up 14 00:00:49,881 --> 00:00:52,961 in London's East End and were friends at school. 15 00:00:56,561 --> 00:00:58,321 - With this school we do metalwork 16 00:00:58,321 --> 00:01:01,601 and woodwork and the boys do cookery. 17 00:01:01,601 --> 00:01:04,521 All you girls want to do is walk out, get married, 18 00:01:04,521 --> 00:01:07,121 have babies, and push a pram down the street 19 00:01:07,121 --> 00:01:09,441 with a fag hanging out the side of your mouth. 20 00:01:10,881 --> 00:01:13,841 - I think that we all could have gone in any way 21 00:01:13,841 --> 00:01:17,201 that we wanted to at the time within our capabilities. 22 00:01:17,201 --> 00:01:19,161 - But we only had a limited choice anyway, 23 00:01:19,161 --> 00:01:21,761 I mean truth be told we didn't have a choice 24 00:01:21,761 --> 00:01:23,641 of private education because they 25 00:01:23,641 --> 00:01:25,361 couldn't have afforded it anyway. 26 00:01:25,361 --> 00:01:29,521 - Our lives are changing far too much all of us. 27 00:01:29,521 --> 00:01:32,761 - Well to be honest when you look at the seven-year-old us 28 00:01:32,761 --> 00:01:35,001 it's difficult to believe it is us. 29 00:01:35,001 --> 00:01:38,761 - I've got to say it girls I wanted to work in Woolworths. 30 00:01:38,761 --> 00:01:41,761 - I'm glad you said that 'cause everyone thinks it was me. 31 00:01:43,001 --> 00:01:45,721 - I would like to get married when I grow up. 32 00:01:47,081 --> 00:01:49,281 Well I don't know what sort of boy 33 00:01:49,281 --> 00:01:56,641 but I think one that's not got a lot of money 34 00:01:56,761 --> 00:02:01,001 but has got some money, not a lot. 35 00:02:01,001 --> 00:02:03,281 - Have you got any boyfriends? 36 00:02:07,281 --> 00:02:08,641 - That's personal isn't it? 37 00:02:10,201 --> 00:02:12,601 - By the time she was 21 Jackie 38 00:02:12,601 --> 00:02:15,561 had married Mick and moved to the outskirts of London. 39 00:02:17,881 --> 00:02:20,001 She and Mick had decided early on 40 00:02:20,001 --> 00:02:21,841 that they didn't want to have children. 41 00:02:23,041 --> 00:02:24,681 - Basically I would have said it's 42 00:02:24,681 --> 00:02:25,841 because I'm far too selfish. 43 00:02:27,801 --> 00:02:30,161 - By 35, she was divorced. 44 00:02:32,161 --> 00:02:36,161 - We decided ourselves, I mean just between the two of us, 45 00:02:36,161 --> 00:02:38,081 we knew it wasn't going any further. 46 00:02:39,721 --> 00:02:41,881 We both knew I think that at the end of the day 47 00:02:41,881 --> 00:02:44,121 we would be happier leading our own lives. 48 00:02:47,241 --> 00:02:51,801 And this one on, here you go, oh yeah. 49 00:02:51,801 --> 00:02:55,641 I had a brief but very sweet relationship, 50 00:02:55,641 --> 00:02:57,241 the result of which was Charlie. 51 00:02:59,801 --> 00:03:02,201 I don't really want Charlie to be an only. 52 00:03:02,201 --> 00:03:04,441 I'd love him to have brothers and sisters 53 00:03:04,441 --> 00:03:08,441 but not necessarily loads of them, one would do actually! 54 00:03:09,441 --> 00:03:10,841 Right Charlie there's yours. 55 00:03:13,681 --> 00:03:15,761 And please eat it all up. 56 00:03:17,281 --> 00:03:18,641 And James. 57 00:03:18,641 --> 00:03:20,281 - Thanks mum. 58 00:03:20,281 --> 00:03:23,241 - Good boy, and last but not least. 59 00:03:26,481 --> 00:03:28,441 Are you going to eat that one for me? 60 00:03:28,441 --> 00:03:29,841 - After her relationship 61 00:03:29,841 --> 00:03:33,321 with Charlie's father ended, she met Ian and they moved 62 00:03:33,321 --> 00:03:35,801 to Scotland and had two sons 63 00:03:36,641 --> 00:03:37,761 - James. 64 00:03:37,761 --> 00:03:40,401 - By 42, they had split up. 65 00:03:40,401 --> 00:03:41,241 - Lee. 66 00:03:47,321 --> 00:03:49,841 - At 49, despite the split, 67 00:03:49,841 --> 00:03:52,441 the family were living in the same area of Scotland. 68 00:03:55,521 --> 00:03:58,001 Seven years later, they are still there. 69 00:04:00,641 --> 00:04:02,881 So tell me who lives where? 70 00:04:04,241 --> 00:04:07,081 - Lee will be here until October. 71 00:04:08,001 --> 00:04:10,921 James is here until he moves in with his girlfriend 72 00:04:10,921 --> 00:04:12,641 which I'm hoping won't be too long. 73 00:04:13,521 --> 00:04:16,081 Charlie has actually already moved out because 74 00:04:16,081 --> 00:04:19,721 of his dad, or their dad I should say, 75 00:04:21,721 --> 00:04:24,321 because Ian's been diagnosed with cancer 76 00:04:25,721 --> 00:04:29,121 and its stage four so it's quite advanced. 77 00:04:32,721 --> 00:04:33,801 Oh yeah, he likes a thrill. 78 00:04:33,801 --> 00:04:35,441 You know what he's like. 79 00:04:35,441 --> 00:04:38,121 - The strange part about this is his 80 00:04:38,121 --> 00:04:40,761 mother's also got cancer as well. 81 00:04:40,761 --> 00:04:41,961 - Your grandmother? 82 00:04:41,961 --> 00:04:44,201 - Their grandmother. 83 00:04:44,201 --> 00:04:45,441 Hey come on swans! 84 00:04:46,361 --> 00:04:47,281 She's brilliant. 85 00:04:48,881 --> 00:04:50,201 If I could have chosen a mother-in-law 86 00:04:50,201 --> 00:04:52,601 she was the one that I would have chosen. 87 00:04:52,601 --> 00:04:54,881 She's great for me, she's absolutely brilliant 88 00:04:54,881 --> 00:04:58,121 with the children and she's just always 89 00:04:58,121 --> 00:05:00,321 there when I need her to be. 90 00:05:00,321 --> 00:05:01,161 She's terminal. 91 00:05:02,641 --> 00:05:04,001 - How long's she got? 92 00:05:05,201 --> 00:05:06,041 - Don't know. 93 00:05:07,161 --> 00:05:08,721 Not too bad. 94 00:05:08,721 --> 00:05:10,481 They don't know how long. 95 00:05:10,481 --> 00:05:13,681 I think they're talking months rather than years 96 00:05:17,041 --> 00:05:19,001 and to have mother and son suffering 97 00:05:19,001 --> 00:05:21,761 the same sort of thing is very difficult. 98 00:05:23,041 --> 00:05:25,041 - She doesn't want us to sit around and feel sorry 99 00:05:25,041 --> 00:05:28,081 and be sad she wants us to get on and live our lives 100 00:05:28,081 --> 00:05:31,561 and it's not stopped her from trying to live her life. 101 00:05:31,561 --> 00:05:33,321 - It seems to have been 102 00:05:33,321 --> 00:05:34,641 one thing after another really. 103 00:05:34,641 --> 00:05:38,321 My step mum died, my brother-in-law died, 104 00:05:38,321 --> 00:05:42,361 my sister's died, she wasn't 40. 105 00:05:42,361 --> 00:05:45,801 She'd actually gone downstairs and made herself a cup of tea 106 00:05:45,801 --> 00:05:47,961 and collapsed on the way back up to her bedroom 107 00:05:47,961 --> 00:05:49,961 and that was a major brain haemorrhage. 108 00:05:51,281 --> 00:05:54,561 - So boys, how is your mother handling all this? 109 00:05:56,321 --> 00:05:57,801 - In her stride. 110 00:05:57,801 --> 00:06:00,641 - Nothing seems to be getting to her, it's just-- 111 00:06:00,641 --> 00:06:03,081 - She's always been a strong woman. 112 00:06:03,081 --> 00:06:05,121 she will be upset but she won't let us see it. 113 00:06:05,121 --> 00:06:07,801 She always puts on a brave face in front of us 114 00:06:07,801 --> 00:06:09,081 but when she's alone or with her friends 115 00:06:09,081 --> 00:06:12,161 that's when she gets the sadness out. 116 00:06:12,161 --> 00:06:13,161 - This is a period 117 00:06:13,161 --> 00:06:16,081 when the four of you feel close? 118 00:06:17,241 --> 00:06:20,041 - We've got to be there for each other in things like this. 119 00:06:20,041 --> 00:06:22,601 - Actually, I would say in the last six months 120 00:06:22,601 --> 00:06:26,481 they've all suddenly seemed to have gotten a new maturity. 121 00:06:27,801 --> 00:06:30,281 My mum cause she's got five girls, 122 00:06:30,281 --> 00:06:33,481 she had seven years bad luck, 123 00:06:33,481 --> 00:06:35,441 that's why she's got five girls. 124 00:06:36,641 --> 00:06:38,441 - Two club sandwiches on brown bread, 125 00:06:38,441 --> 00:06:40,161 one Hilton burger with cheese. 126 00:06:43,081 --> 00:06:44,401 - Charlie is a sous-chef 127 00:06:44,401 --> 00:06:47,761 in a nearby hotel, and James works part time 128 00:06:47,761 --> 00:06:52,081 as a security guard in a local super market 129 00:06:52,081 --> 00:06:55,241 - Check two aisles up from your current location. 130 00:06:55,241 --> 00:06:59,481 I'm expecting a baby in December, I'm still young obviously 131 00:06:59,481 --> 00:07:03,721 so it was a bit of a shock but I am excited about it. 132 00:07:03,721 --> 00:07:04,721 - How old are you now? 133 00:07:04,721 --> 00:07:05,881 - 19 coming on 20 134 00:07:05,881 --> 00:07:08,841 - Okay and can I ask are you excited to becoming a gran? 135 00:07:11,001 --> 00:07:11,841 - I don't know about that. 136 00:07:11,841 --> 00:07:12,801 - She doesn't like being called granny! 137 00:07:12,801 --> 00:07:15,441 - No, I will be gran, not granny. 138 00:07:15,441 --> 00:07:16,801 Thank you! 139 00:07:18,121 --> 00:07:21,361 Not nappy fill now please madam, oh look at the face. 140 00:07:22,361 --> 00:07:25,921 Well since you were here recently we've had a new addition 141 00:07:25,921 --> 00:07:28,481 to the family her name is Mya. 142 00:07:30,201 --> 00:07:32,841 Mya was born on the 21st of November 143 00:07:33,681 --> 00:07:37,841 and unfortunately on the 18th November her granddad, 144 00:07:37,841 --> 00:07:40,721 Ian,the boys dad, was severely injured 145 00:07:40,721 --> 00:07:42,761 in a road traffic accident. 146 00:07:42,761 --> 00:07:46,081 He subsequent died of those injuries. 147 00:07:48,161 --> 00:07:50,161 Unfortunately, he never regained consciousness 148 00:07:50,161 --> 00:07:53,961 so he never even met her but he took a photo 149 00:07:53,961 --> 00:07:57,121 of her in his coffin and I dare say he's looking down 150 00:07:57,121 --> 00:07:59,721 and saying "ha I got away with it. 151 00:07:59,721 --> 00:08:01,441 I've not got all those nights." 152 00:08:04,081 --> 00:08:07,241 - I'm due to go in the army on the 17th of October 153 00:08:07,241 --> 00:08:09,001 where I'll learn to become a medic. 154 00:08:10,521 --> 00:08:12,241 - I mean I can't stop him now he's 18. 155 00:08:12,241 --> 00:08:13,081 He can do what he likes. 156 00:08:13,081 --> 00:08:15,401 He can sign on without my approval. 157 00:08:15,401 --> 00:08:17,761 But it's a chance he takes and he knows that 158 00:08:17,761 --> 00:08:20,841 there's a possibility that he won't come home. 159 00:08:20,841 --> 00:08:21,681 - At the end of the day you're a soldier 160 00:08:21,681 --> 00:08:23,721 and going out to war is part of being a soldier 161 00:08:23,721 --> 00:08:24,921 and that's what you got to do. 162 00:08:24,921 --> 00:08:28,081 - I want you to do it but it's not gonna stop me 163 00:08:28,081 --> 00:08:31,041 worrying you know that, you know that. 164 00:08:34,401 --> 00:08:36,681 I took a year off when I had Charlie 165 00:08:36,681 --> 00:08:39,201 and the state kept me for that year 166 00:08:39,201 --> 00:08:42,161 but I went back to work and although to be honest 167 00:08:43,321 --> 00:08:44,241 by the time I pay everything out 168 00:08:44,241 --> 00:08:46,881 I'm not actually that better off but I feel better. 169 00:08:48,921 --> 00:08:51,481 James, you watch your catching up to him. 170 00:08:51,481 --> 00:08:52,601 Go on Lee. 171 00:08:52,601 --> 00:08:55,401 I was working up here until very recently 172 00:08:55,401 --> 00:08:59,521 but they've discovered that I've got rheumatoid arthritis 173 00:08:59,521 --> 00:09:02,481 so at the moment that's put work on hold. 174 00:09:05,041 --> 00:09:06,641 Missy, come on then! 175 00:09:06,641 --> 00:09:11,161 For every one good day I have I can have two bad, 176 00:09:11,161 --> 00:09:14,001 which means I can't get out of bed very well. 177 00:09:14,001 --> 00:09:16,081 It takes me two, three hours to get ready. 178 00:09:18,241 --> 00:09:20,561 The poor, if you don't help them 179 00:09:20,561 --> 00:09:23,161 they'll sort of die soon wouldn't they? 180 00:09:23,161 --> 00:09:24,081 - Jackie has been living 181 00:09:24,081 --> 00:09:27,721 on disability benefits for over 14 years. 182 00:09:27,721 --> 00:09:31,401 - I don't cope financially, without my mother-in-law 183 00:09:31,401 --> 00:09:34,121 stepping in to fill the gap I wouldn't be coping. 184 00:09:35,321 --> 00:09:37,161 It's really hard to explain to anyone 185 00:09:37,161 --> 00:09:42,081 who's not had to do it, you get to a point where either 186 00:09:42,081 --> 00:09:43,761 that bill doesn't get paid or your children 187 00:09:43,761 --> 00:09:46,561 don't eat, so obviously your children eat. 188 00:09:46,561 --> 00:09:48,641 You can go to the charity shop and get them. 189 00:09:48,641 --> 00:09:49,841 I'll never notice-- 190 00:09:49,841 --> 00:09:50,681 - So looking at the world 191 00:09:50,681 --> 00:09:53,921 of cut backs how is this affecting you? 192 00:09:53,921 --> 00:09:56,481 - I along with probably millions of other people 193 00:09:56,481 --> 00:10:00,761 in this country have had my benefits reviewed 194 00:10:01,841 --> 00:10:06,161 and they sent me for a medical and have come back 195 00:10:06,161 --> 00:10:11,161 and told me I'm fit to work which is a bit of a shock, 196 00:10:13,241 --> 00:10:16,681 what job can I do, I can't use my hands, 197 00:10:16,681 --> 00:10:19,721 I can't sit for long, I can't stand 198 00:10:19,721 --> 00:10:21,921 for long, I can't walk very far. 199 00:10:23,321 --> 00:10:28,321 I don't know how they expect anybody to employ me 200 00:10:29,161 --> 00:10:32,241 because I couldn't guarantee being there five days a week. 201 00:10:35,081 --> 00:10:38,081 I mean I'm lucky in as much as I've got three sons 202 00:10:38,081 --> 00:10:42,041 all working, whilst James here's got Mya 203 00:10:42,041 --> 00:10:46,121 and a family of his own, Charlie and Lee don't 204 00:10:46,121 --> 00:10:48,281 so they help me out and they have to. 205 00:10:51,881 --> 00:10:55,961 By all means cut the benefits but you've got people 206 00:10:55,961 --> 00:10:59,241 out there that are healthy and are milking the system 207 00:11:00,641 --> 00:11:03,921 and they're not touching them, they're getting away with it. 208 00:11:03,921 --> 00:11:08,001 If David Cameron can find me a job then I'll go to work, 209 00:11:08,001 --> 00:11:10,001 if he can find an employer, you tell him 210 00:11:10,001 --> 00:11:12,521 to come and get me a job and I'll do it. 211 00:11:13,921 --> 00:11:18,001 Well I know he is hers and he loves her. 212 00:11:18,001 --> 00:11:19,361 - I don't I love him. 213 00:11:21,001 --> 00:11:24,881 - I'd like to have a happy family', 214 00:11:24,881 --> 00:11:26,881 I mean I know that it's not possible to be happy 215 00:11:26,881 --> 00:11:31,121 all the time but as much of the time that it was possible. 216 00:11:31,121 --> 00:11:32,681 - Well what about your own life, 217 00:11:32,681 --> 00:11:34,521 what about relationships for you? 218 00:11:35,481 --> 00:11:37,761 - I would like a relationship. 219 00:11:37,761 --> 00:11:39,641 I mean I've been trying for the last five years 220 00:11:39,641 --> 00:11:43,081 to build up a social life of my own 221 00:11:43,081 --> 00:11:46,761 because I knew that this time would come. 222 00:11:47,921 --> 00:11:49,561 I've been using the internet 223 00:11:49,561 --> 00:11:54,241 which is interesting to say the least. 224 00:11:54,241 --> 00:11:55,401 - Is it scary? 225 00:11:55,401 --> 00:11:57,081 - I mean you know some people have 226 00:11:57,081 --> 00:11:59,561 obviously had bad experiences with it. 227 00:12:01,001 --> 00:12:01,801 Yes. 228 00:12:01,801 --> 00:12:04,441 - But there was a chap that we filmed when 229 00:12:04,441 --> 00:12:06,761 we were looking at you and Liz, what happened to him? 230 00:12:06,761 --> 00:12:08,841 - He decided he needed space. 231 00:12:10,001 --> 00:12:12,161 So I gave him that space. 232 00:12:12,161 --> 00:12:14,681 So that was a bit of a disaster. 233 00:12:14,681 --> 00:12:18,241 But that's the way of relationships 234 00:12:18,241 --> 00:12:21,081 sometimes they work sometimes they don't. 235 00:12:21,081 --> 00:12:24,041 - What are you looking for in a fellow? 236 00:12:24,041 --> 00:12:25,721 - A pulse would be nice! 237 00:12:27,881 --> 00:12:30,201 ♪ If I say that I love you ♪ 238 00:12:30,201 --> 00:12:33,281 ♪ And you know it's true ♪ 239 00:12:33,281 --> 00:12:36,081 - You look great, you seem optimistic. 240 00:12:36,081 --> 00:12:37,641 - Yeah, no I am. 241 00:12:38,481 --> 00:12:41,081 My glass is always half full never half empty 242 00:12:43,681 --> 00:12:48,681 and that's the way it will continue to be I hope. 243 00:12:49,001 --> 00:12:54,001 Life's too short and you just have to try and go on the best 244 00:12:55,161 --> 00:12:58,321 you can and I think my life's gonna be good. 245 00:13:28,761 --> 00:13:31,161 - What sort of things do you do? 246 00:13:31,161 --> 00:13:34,441 - Ride, swim, play tennis, ping pong. 247 00:13:36,721 --> 00:13:40,041 I might play croquet, something like that. 248 00:13:40,881 --> 00:13:43,681 - I don't think my father wants me to be a farmer. 249 00:13:43,681 --> 00:13:45,561 My youngest brother, the deaf one, if he can't 250 00:13:45,561 --> 00:13:47,761 do anything else he can probably run a farm. 251 00:13:49,481 --> 00:13:52,161 I thought that you and I were both in the film 252 00:13:52,161 --> 00:13:56,961 as being rural in the sense that your family had 253 00:13:56,961 --> 00:14:00,961 some big connections to rural Scotland I thought. 254 00:14:00,961 --> 00:14:04,281 - Yeah and I think also when we were 21 I seem 255 00:14:04,281 --> 00:14:06,561 to remember having to go to some reunion 256 00:14:06,561 --> 00:14:09,961 or something somewhere and I remember you just stuck out 257 00:14:09,961 --> 00:14:12,721 as being the one person that I had more 258 00:14:12,721 --> 00:14:16,201 in common with and spoke to the most. 259 00:14:17,561 --> 00:14:19,721 Well I've played for the same four girls 260 00:14:19,721 --> 00:14:20,761 for the last 25, 26 years. 261 00:14:20,761 --> 00:14:21,601 - We've been emailing each other 262 00:14:22,841 --> 00:14:23,681 since forty something-- 263 00:14:23,681 --> 00:14:24,561 - I think yes. 264 00:14:24,561 --> 00:14:27,161 It was one night it was just, I think it was quite late 265 00:14:27,161 --> 00:14:29,081 and I just threw a line at Nick. 266 00:14:29,081 --> 00:14:32,281 So I said I'm going to bed now I said perhaps you 267 00:14:32,281 --> 00:14:33,641 and I ought to do a double act 268 00:14:33,641 --> 00:14:35,881 on the sofa and I went to bed-- 269 00:14:35,881 --> 00:14:37,241 - I'm not sure-- 270 00:14:40,161 --> 00:14:41,041 I mean-- 271 00:14:41,041 --> 00:14:43,561 - And you wrote back some funny message 272 00:14:43,561 --> 00:14:44,641 that I picked up the next morning. 273 00:14:44,641 --> 00:14:46,801 - Well no wonder I would wouldn't I? 274 00:14:46,801 --> 00:14:51,481 - When I leave this school I'm down for Heathfield 275 00:14:51,481 --> 00:14:56,321 and Southhill Manor and then maybe I may want to go 276 00:14:56,321 --> 00:14:59,241 to a university but I don't know which one yet. 277 00:14:59,241 --> 00:15:01,201 My home life wasn't very easy then. 278 00:15:01,201 --> 00:15:04,601 I'd been sent off to boarding school when I was quite young. 279 00:15:05,441 --> 00:15:07,481 My parents marriage was breaking up 280 00:15:08,401 --> 00:15:11,161 and like a lot of children I think you feel 281 00:15:11,161 --> 00:15:14,641 that you take the blame for why they've broken up. 282 00:15:14,641 --> 00:15:17,601 That's just the way it was and I hated the two years 283 00:15:17,601 --> 00:15:20,081 I was away at this first boarding school 284 00:15:20,081 --> 00:15:23,241 and I think that was probably what changed me. 285 00:15:23,241 --> 00:15:26,321 - Well I hated boarding school too with a passion. 286 00:15:26,321 --> 00:15:29,721 I was forced to grow, I didn't choose it; 287 00:15:29,721 --> 00:15:32,761 I definitely got some messages that said you're gonna 288 00:15:32,761 --> 00:15:37,721 be in trouble if you don't do well and so on. 289 00:15:37,721 --> 00:15:39,481 - But you don't regret it-- 290 00:15:39,481 --> 00:15:40,481 - No, no, no. 291 00:15:40,481 --> 00:15:42,361 - And you wouldn't you wouldn't have the life you have now. 292 00:15:42,361 --> 00:15:46,761 - Hey I'm grateful for it but it was very uncomfortable. 293 00:15:47,641 --> 00:15:50,201 - I was never one to push myself forward. 294 00:15:50,201 --> 00:15:51,201 - And nobody else was pushing. 295 00:15:51,201 --> 00:15:52,601 - And no one else pushed me. 296 00:15:53,681 --> 00:15:56,881 I left school when I was 16, went to Paris, 297 00:15:56,881 --> 00:15:59,561 went to secretarial college and got a job. 298 00:16:00,521 --> 00:16:01,761 - What made you decide 299 00:16:01,761 --> 00:16:03,401 to leave school and go to Paris? 300 00:16:04,721 --> 00:16:05,881 - Well I just wanted interested in school 301 00:16:05,881 --> 00:16:08,081 and just wanted to get away. 302 00:16:09,081 --> 00:16:12,361 - If you have had no choice but to get out there 303 00:16:12,361 --> 00:16:15,961 and support yourself the chances would have been greater 304 00:16:15,961 --> 00:16:18,241 that you would have forced yourself to do it. 305 00:16:18,241 --> 00:16:20,481 - Yeah that's possibly true but at the age 306 00:16:20,481 --> 00:16:25,481 of 11, 12, 13 are you really aware of that? 307 00:16:27,321 --> 00:16:29,081 - Now that's a very telling question, 308 00:16:29,081 --> 00:16:31,281 in my world you betcha. 309 00:16:32,241 --> 00:16:35,921 When I grow I'd like to find out all 310 00:16:35,921 --> 00:16:38,241 about the moon and all that. 311 00:16:38,241 --> 00:16:39,801 And I said that I was interested in physics 312 00:16:39,801 --> 00:16:42,481 and chemistry, well I'm not going to do that here. 313 00:16:42,481 --> 00:16:45,481 - At 14 Nick was away at boarding school, 314 00:16:45,481 --> 00:16:48,081 at 21 reading physics at Oxford. 315 00:16:49,321 --> 00:16:53,721 His road to Oxford started in a one room village school. 316 00:16:53,721 --> 00:16:55,961 - My father was here a long time ago 317 00:16:55,961 --> 00:16:58,001 He must be somewhere in these pictures. 318 00:16:58,001 --> 00:17:00,441 I remember distinctly coming here one day 319 00:17:00,441 --> 00:17:02,321 and I'd missed a day for some reason 320 00:17:02,321 --> 00:17:04,081 and they'd been talking about something 321 00:17:04,081 --> 00:17:08,201 to do with aeroplanes and the teacher said we missed you 322 00:17:08,201 --> 00:17:10,281 because you would have known about aeroplanes. 323 00:17:10,281 --> 00:17:12,161 I knew nothing about aeroplanes 324 00:17:12,161 --> 00:17:15,001 but I thought oh I know about aeroplanes do I? 325 00:17:15,001 --> 00:17:17,321 So then I went off and read about aeroplanes, 326 00:17:17,321 --> 00:17:21,201 so that could easily have been the start of I want to go 327 00:17:21,201 --> 00:17:24,961 to the moon and I think she planted that idea in me. 328 00:17:24,961 --> 00:17:28,041 - Do you have a girlfriend? 329 00:17:30,721 --> 00:17:33,281 - I don't want to answer that. 330 00:17:33,281 --> 00:17:37,521 I don't want to answer those kind of questions. 331 00:17:39,081 --> 00:17:43,521 I thought that one would come up because when I was doing 332 00:17:43,521 --> 00:17:45,601 the other one somebody said what do you think 333 00:17:45,601 --> 00:17:47,601 about girls and I said I don't answer questions like that, 334 00:17:47,601 --> 00:17:49,361 is that the reason your asking it? 335 00:17:51,281 --> 00:17:52,881 The best answer would be to say 336 00:17:52,881 --> 00:17:54,601 that I don't answer questions like that 337 00:17:54,601 --> 00:17:58,241 but I mean it was what I said when I was seven 338 00:17:58,241 --> 00:18:01,521 and it's still the most sensible but what about them? 339 00:18:02,601 --> 00:18:06,241 - I mean if you'd been somebody who had had fixed ideas 340 00:18:07,241 --> 00:18:10,481 of a woman's role in marriage that meant dinner 341 00:18:10,481 --> 00:18:13,001 on the table at six every evening-- 342 00:18:13,001 --> 00:18:15,401 - Didn't I tell you about that? 343 00:18:15,401 --> 00:18:18,001 - By 28 Nick had married Jackie, 344 00:18:18,001 --> 00:18:20,321 a fellow student from Oxford. 345 00:18:20,321 --> 00:18:22,321 They had a son Adam. 346 00:18:22,321 --> 00:18:24,881 By 42 they were divorced. 347 00:18:24,881 --> 00:18:27,001 - What I concluded and I've talked to other people 348 00:18:27,001 --> 00:18:28,881 about this who've gone through it, 349 00:18:28,881 --> 00:18:30,281 I'm not sure if they feel it as strongly 350 00:18:30,281 --> 00:18:32,841 as I did but it was like a death. 351 00:18:32,841 --> 00:18:35,441 - Anything could happen, we could easily drift apart; 352 00:18:35,441 --> 00:18:37,561 there are so many pressures on people. 353 00:18:37,561 --> 00:18:39,521 - If your spouse died you could look back 354 00:18:39,521 --> 00:18:42,961 and think well it was wonderful while it lasted, 355 00:18:42,961 --> 00:18:45,961 but in a divorce you can't look back 356 00:18:45,961 --> 00:18:50,361 and say these are all happy memories. 357 00:18:50,361 --> 00:18:52,961 - Hey Chris. 358 00:18:52,961 --> 00:18:55,401 - Chris is my new wife. 359 00:18:57,961 --> 00:18:59,881 I don't mean to be superficial but I think 360 00:18:59,881 --> 00:19:02,521 she's the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. 361 00:19:03,481 --> 00:19:05,001 - Is he sexy? 362 00:19:05,001 --> 00:19:06,081 - Oh man. 363 00:19:08,481 --> 00:19:09,681 Absolutely. 364 00:19:13,081 --> 00:19:14,801 Didn't you have fun with that one? 365 00:19:15,921 --> 00:19:18,161 - Well I always need to learn patience 366 00:19:18,161 --> 00:19:20,641 and, what do I need to learn? 367 00:19:22,441 --> 00:19:23,761 - Shall I get out my list? 368 00:19:23,761 --> 00:19:25,561 - Yeah I think we need the list. 369 00:19:25,561 --> 00:19:27,121 - Go on. 370 00:19:27,121 --> 00:19:29,161 - No. 371 00:19:29,161 --> 00:19:34,161 - Tell me do you have any boyfriends Suzy? 372 00:19:34,201 --> 00:19:35,841 - Yes 373 00:19:35,841 --> 00:19:37,801 - Tell me about them? 374 00:19:37,801 --> 00:19:41,641 - He lives up in Scotland and I think he's 13. 375 00:19:44,401 --> 00:19:48,161 - Have you got any boyfriends Suzy? 376 00:19:49,761 --> 00:19:53,681 What is your attitude towards marriage for yourself? 377 00:19:58,481 --> 00:19:59,321 - Well I don't know. 378 00:19:59,321 --> 00:20:00,161 I haven't given it a lot of thought 379 00:20:00,161 --> 00:20:02,401 'cause I'm very very cynical about it. 380 00:20:02,401 --> 00:20:05,081 - When I last saw you at 21 you were nervous, 381 00:20:05,081 --> 00:20:08,641 you were chain smoking, you were uptight and now you seem 382 00:20:08,641 --> 00:20:12,921 happy, what's happened to you over these last seven years? 383 00:20:14,081 --> 00:20:15,001 - I suppose Rupert. 384 00:20:16,041 --> 00:20:17,681 I'll give you some credit. 385 00:20:19,161 --> 00:20:21,241 - I'm not chain smoking. 386 00:20:24,761 --> 00:20:27,401 - No I think you can't just walk through a marriage 387 00:20:27,401 --> 00:20:29,281 and think once you get married it's all gonna 388 00:20:29,281 --> 00:20:32,241 be roses and everything forever. 389 00:20:32,241 --> 00:20:36,001 It's very hard to actually say what it is that goes on 390 00:20:36,001 --> 00:20:39,681 between a couple, it's either there or it's not. 391 00:20:41,721 --> 00:20:46,481 Any marriage has its ups and downs but somehow 392 00:20:46,481 --> 00:20:48,561 whether it's through luck or determination 393 00:20:48,561 --> 00:20:51,601 we've worked through the difficult times. 394 00:21:01,281 --> 00:21:04,961 - One of my favourite places in Oxford, Merton Chapel. 395 00:21:04,961 --> 00:21:09,281 Here's this lovely top part of the cross 396 00:21:09,281 --> 00:21:12,881 and there was going to be the main part of the cross. 397 00:21:12,881 --> 00:21:15,001 This is one of the places in England 398 00:21:15,001 --> 00:21:17,801 that just is tremendously important to me. 399 00:21:17,801 --> 00:21:20,961 After I left the Dales this was where I spent 400 00:21:20,961 --> 00:21:24,001 the next six years and then I went to America. 401 00:21:24,001 --> 00:21:25,161 - Look at this isn't this beautiful? 402 00:21:25,161 --> 00:21:27,641 This is Mob Quad. 403 00:21:27,641 --> 00:21:30,281 I believe that it's historical fact that there 404 00:21:30,281 --> 00:21:32,321 were quite a lot of students who were massacred 405 00:21:32,321 --> 00:21:33,481 in the Middle Ages and for. 406 00:21:33,481 --> 00:21:37,001 When I came here I thought I'd died and gone to heaven. 407 00:21:37,001 --> 00:21:39,561 But I was under an awful lot of stress all the time 408 00:21:39,561 --> 00:21:43,881 I was here trying to succeed in this place as well. 409 00:21:43,881 --> 00:21:46,201 - Okay, yeah so this was my staircase 410 00:21:46,201 --> 00:21:49,041 in my first year and also on my third year. 411 00:21:49,041 --> 00:21:51,961 There was this fella who lived in the room next door to me 412 00:21:51,961 --> 00:21:54,681 and he came in one day to tell me some story 413 00:21:54,681 --> 00:21:57,121 and on his way out he said "you know 414 00:21:57,121 --> 00:22:00,681 I don't associate intelligence with your accent." 415 00:22:00,681 --> 00:22:04,601 It would seem really ridiculous to any of my friends 416 00:22:04,601 --> 00:22:06,441 who watch this if I said "Christ aren't I 417 00:22:06,441 --> 00:22:10,681 a great success look at me, what success? 418 00:22:12,481 --> 00:22:14,481 - By the time he was 28 419 00:22:14,481 --> 00:22:16,321 Nick had emigrated to America. 420 00:22:17,361 --> 00:22:19,881 He was doing research into nuclear fusion 421 00:22:19,881 --> 00:22:21,921 at the University of Wisconsin. 422 00:22:21,921 --> 00:22:23,641 - Tell me about the current drive. 423 00:22:24,641 --> 00:22:26,281 - If you'd have been offered a similar 424 00:22:26,281 --> 00:22:28,481 type of job over here-- 425 00:22:28,481 --> 00:22:30,681 - In a heartbeat. 426 00:22:30,681 --> 00:22:31,521 - You would have stayed? 427 00:22:31,521 --> 00:22:33,801 - In a heartbeat. 428 00:22:33,801 --> 00:22:38,281 I mean I had dreamed of getting a university job over here. 429 00:22:38,281 --> 00:22:43,081 Maggie Thatcher was squeezing the universities like crazy 430 00:22:43,081 --> 00:22:46,801 at that very moment in time and it was the worst time 431 00:22:46,801 --> 00:22:50,441 to be working in a university in generations. 432 00:22:51,841 --> 00:22:54,521 England doesn't seem to concern itself 433 00:22:54,521 --> 00:22:58,521 with training people like me and wanting them around. 434 00:22:58,521 --> 00:23:00,881 There doesn't seem to be a sense of urgency 435 00:23:00,881 --> 00:23:05,041 or a strong will to have people developing technology 436 00:23:05,041 --> 00:23:07,601 to help keep the country going. 437 00:23:07,601 --> 00:23:10,401 The fusion reaction gives off energy and produces 438 00:23:10,401 --> 00:23:13,801 the power that would be turned into electrical energy. 439 00:23:13,801 --> 00:23:16,441 I was on a mission you know to get 440 00:23:16,441 --> 00:23:20,081 extremely cheap, clean plentiful electricity, 441 00:23:20,081 --> 00:23:23,161 so nuclear fusion looked like it was going to do that 442 00:23:23,161 --> 00:23:26,881 but even then they were saying it's twenty years away. 443 00:23:26,881 --> 00:23:31,001 I would say absolutely not in my lifetime. 444 00:23:31,001 --> 00:23:33,481 I mean it was kind of heartbreaking. 445 00:23:33,481 --> 00:23:37,521 So I had to find something else to do. 446 00:23:37,521 --> 00:23:42,121 So the area that I'm looking at is this times this. 447 00:23:42,121 --> 00:23:44,761 When I go in to a classroom full of undergraduates I try 448 00:23:44,761 --> 00:23:47,561 and explain to them why they might want to try and do it. 449 00:23:47,561 --> 00:23:50,841 That's my little attempt to open a little door for them. 450 00:23:50,841 --> 00:23:52,041 See, there's a method in my madness. 451 00:23:52,041 --> 00:23:55,761 - Nick is a Professor of Electrical Engineering. 452 00:23:55,761 --> 00:23:56,721 - That's really impressive, he was the guy. 453 00:23:56,721 --> 00:23:59,321 And my ambition as a scientist is to be more famous 454 00:23:59,321 --> 00:24:01,281 for doing science than for being in this film 455 00:24:01,281 --> 00:24:03,961 but unfortunately Michael it's not going to happen. 456 00:24:19,321 --> 00:24:21,881 - When I get married I'd like to have two children. 457 00:24:24,401 --> 00:24:27,521 I'm not very children-minded at the moment, 458 00:24:27,521 --> 00:24:29,081 I don't know if I ever will be. 459 00:24:31,161 --> 00:24:32,881 - What do you think about them? 460 00:24:32,881 --> 00:24:34,201 - Well I don't like babies. 461 00:24:37,041 --> 00:24:40,881 - At 28 Suzy had two sons Thomas and Oliver. 462 00:24:41,721 --> 00:24:43,321 - Don't touch it. 463 00:24:43,321 --> 00:24:45,281 - By the time she was 34 464 00:24:45,281 --> 00:24:47,561 she also had a daughter Laura. 465 00:24:47,561 --> 00:24:48,481 - Mummy? 466 00:24:48,481 --> 00:24:49,641 - Yeah 467 00:24:49,641 --> 00:24:52,081 - Laura wants you. 468 00:24:52,081 --> 00:24:55,881 - We were lucky we had a very good family unit 469 00:24:55,881 --> 00:24:59,361 with them growing up and that meant an awful lot 470 00:24:59,361 --> 00:25:00,801 to me that I was able to do that 471 00:25:00,801 --> 00:25:04,161 for them 'cause I never had it for myself. 472 00:25:04,161 --> 00:25:05,321 - And you've done it. 473 00:25:05,321 --> 00:25:07,401 You've been tremendously successful at it. 474 00:25:08,361 --> 00:25:09,641 - Well you see that's my problem. 475 00:25:09,641 --> 00:25:12,161 I don't think as myself as being, 476 00:25:12,161 --> 00:25:15,201 I just do my best and do what I can for them. 477 00:25:18,321 --> 00:25:20,321 - Did all your children go to university? 478 00:25:20,321 --> 00:25:21,161 Your daughter did? 479 00:25:21,161 --> 00:25:23,041 - Yes and my son, the eldest one. 480 00:25:27,201 --> 00:25:28,241 Hello. 481 00:25:28,241 --> 00:25:31,081 I haven't had a successful career no, 482 00:25:31,081 --> 00:25:34,521 but I do feel fulfilled and I mean I've done quite 483 00:25:34,521 --> 00:25:37,961 a lot of different things over the last seven years. 484 00:25:37,961 --> 00:25:40,961 You know we all make mistakes in everything 485 00:25:40,961 --> 00:25:45,121 from parenting to decisions in life, 486 00:25:45,121 --> 00:25:46,481 you make mistakes and that's how 487 00:25:46,481 --> 00:25:48,521 you become the person you are. 488 00:25:48,521 --> 00:25:50,441 - You can talk to me by myself outside 489 00:25:50,441 --> 00:25:52,561 but I'll just meet your by the garage okay? 490 00:25:54,081 --> 00:25:55,721 All right bye. 491 00:25:55,721 --> 00:25:56,961 - Nick's son Adam 492 00:25:56,961 --> 00:25:59,321 was 10 when his parents divorced. 493 00:26:01,001 --> 00:26:05,681 - When he was first told he was terribly, 494 00:26:05,681 --> 00:26:09,841 terribly upset and then he just pulled himself together 495 00:26:11,121 --> 00:26:14,001 and didn't want to talk about it anymore. 496 00:26:14,881 --> 00:26:17,841 Take it easy Adam the main thing is not to crash. 497 00:26:17,841 --> 00:26:20,361 - Really you don't want me to crash right now? 498 00:26:20,361 --> 00:26:22,161 - How's he deal with it now? 499 00:26:22,161 --> 00:26:26,321 - He doesn't talk to me about it very much at all. 500 00:26:26,321 --> 00:26:27,761 He's a private person. 501 00:26:30,681 --> 00:26:32,721 He's getting more mature and he has 502 00:26:32,721 --> 00:26:35,561 to be very patient with me really. 503 00:26:35,561 --> 00:26:38,081 Can you imagine having me for a dad? 504 00:26:38,081 --> 00:26:41,201 Do you think it would be a low-pressure existence? 505 00:26:41,201 --> 00:26:43,841 Wow this is my little school. 506 00:26:43,841 --> 00:26:45,961 I'm nuts and I would drive a kid nuts 507 00:26:45,961 --> 00:26:48,001 with all my nagging, I mean I drive-- 508 00:26:48,001 --> 00:26:48,801 - Do you think you've pushed him 509 00:26:48,801 --> 00:26:51,961 too far which is why he's now backing away? 510 00:26:51,961 --> 00:26:53,481 - Anything I push him to do he's going 511 00:26:53,481 --> 00:26:57,961 to do the opposite so there's a real you know. 512 00:26:57,961 --> 00:27:01,641 They'd like to come out for a holiday in the country 513 00:27:01,641 --> 00:27:05,841 when I like to have a holiday in the town. 514 00:27:05,841 --> 00:27:07,681 It's a fixed reference point in a sense, 515 00:27:07,681 --> 00:27:11,641 the sort of earthy life and death cycle 516 00:27:11,641 --> 00:27:14,641 that you get living on a farm. 517 00:27:14,641 --> 00:27:16,121 And so when something dies it rots 518 00:27:16,121 --> 00:27:18,161 and feeds back in to the earth. 519 00:27:19,601 --> 00:27:21,921 - He has a density to him. 520 00:27:21,921 --> 00:27:22,961 One of the first things he said 521 00:27:22,961 --> 00:27:25,041 to me is my feet on in the mud. 522 00:27:25,041 --> 00:27:30,041 The whole idea of being deep in the mud and very attached 523 00:27:31,961 --> 00:27:35,721 to a foundation makes good sense to me. 524 00:27:38,281 --> 00:27:39,641 - Nick has two younger brothers, 525 00:27:39,641 --> 00:27:41,121 Andrew and Christopher. 526 00:27:43,201 --> 00:27:46,441 - Well I come up most weekends and then Chris gets up 527 00:27:46,441 --> 00:27:49,961 usually in mid week so he helps with shopping 528 00:27:49,961 --> 00:27:51,641 and stuff like that and does things around the house. 529 00:27:51,641 --> 00:27:53,401 - We don't get over the England very often 530 00:27:53,401 --> 00:27:56,241 and so you can count on one hand how many times 531 00:27:56,241 --> 00:27:59,121 you're gonna see your family before somebody dies. 532 00:28:00,401 --> 00:28:05,001 And that's getting more and more pressing every time 533 00:28:05,001 --> 00:28:09,961 we come; you know, so yeah this is tricky. 534 00:28:11,121 --> 00:28:12,561 - How are they doing? 535 00:28:12,561 --> 00:28:16,601 - Not well, they're very old. 536 00:28:20,681 --> 00:28:25,321 Yeah I don't really want to elaborate on that and you know. 537 00:28:25,321 --> 00:28:28,321 - But it's full of emotion all this? 538 00:28:29,361 --> 00:28:31,241 - It's all the stuff that we repress as hard 539 00:28:31,241 --> 00:28:36,241 as we can isn't it, but yeah it really is. 540 00:28:45,001 --> 00:28:46,641 I'm looking at these names and who they all are 541 00:28:46,641 --> 00:28:50,401 but this of course is Granny Hitchon and Grandpa Hitchon. 542 00:28:51,801 --> 00:28:54,041 When I was a little guy I got up at the crack of dawn 543 00:28:54,041 --> 00:28:57,681 and scooted next door to spend the morning with her. 544 00:28:58,601 --> 00:29:03,601 So yes when she died when I was five or six I think, 545 00:29:04,761 --> 00:29:08,481 so I think I was devastated yeah. 546 00:29:08,481 --> 00:29:10,201 - And you still remember her? 547 00:29:10,201 --> 00:29:14,521 - Absolutely, yeah, yeah. 548 00:29:17,561 --> 00:29:19,481 - I know you should let these things out 549 00:29:19,481 --> 00:29:23,601 and I don't I store them up but that's 550 00:29:23,601 --> 00:29:26,721 the character of me now and I can't change it. 551 00:29:26,721 --> 00:29:27,761 - Thank you very much. 552 00:29:27,761 --> 00:29:29,841 - Oh yes, thank you yes. 553 00:29:29,841 --> 00:29:32,481 Nick is truly English. 554 00:29:32,481 --> 00:29:37,281 I mean my father is English and I was probably 555 00:29:37,281 --> 00:29:39,721 in my late twenties maybe early thirties 556 00:29:39,721 --> 00:29:42,401 before I uttered the words I love you 557 00:29:42,401 --> 00:29:43,801 to either one of my parents. 558 00:29:45,841 --> 00:29:48,681 There is a difference, a distinct difference between 559 00:29:49,721 --> 00:29:52,761 the type of English person he is and the type 560 00:29:52,761 --> 00:29:54,801 of American people I've been with. 561 00:29:54,801 --> 00:29:58,401 So I don't, you may know the difference too 562 00:29:58,401 --> 00:30:00,881 Michael because you've been in both settings. 563 00:30:00,881 --> 00:30:03,201 ♪ If I say that I love you ♪ 564 00:30:03,201 --> 00:30:05,961 - What do you think about making this programme? 565 00:30:08,561 --> 00:30:10,161 - I just think it's just ridiculous. 566 00:30:10,161 --> 00:30:12,521 I don't see any point in doing it. 567 00:30:12,521 --> 00:30:14,201 - Why is it that we are 568 00:30:14,201 --> 00:30:16,641 so annoyed about this programme? 569 00:30:16,641 --> 00:30:18,801 - I think the problem I have is 570 00:30:18,801 --> 00:30:21,321 that you don't get a very rounded picture. 571 00:30:21,321 --> 00:30:25,081 You get the odd comment that comes out on a particular topic 572 00:30:25,081 --> 00:30:27,641 but because of the time restraint that this programme 573 00:30:27,641 --> 00:30:30,001 obviously has otherwise we'd be on 574 00:30:30,001 --> 00:30:31,041 for a couple of months if you were trying 575 00:30:31,041 --> 00:30:33,681 to get everybody's real thoughts on things. 576 00:30:33,681 --> 00:30:36,641 - It's just that the limitations of such things 577 00:30:36,641 --> 00:30:41,041 as what the audience require and the time 578 00:30:41,041 --> 00:30:42,881 don't allow it to be a real study. 579 00:30:44,201 --> 00:30:46,881 I think I'd like to say this and I'd like to say that 580 00:30:46,881 --> 00:30:50,681 and then they film me sort of doing all this daft stuff 581 00:30:50,681 --> 00:30:53,681 and it goes on seven days out of every seven years. 582 00:30:53,681 --> 00:30:55,481 It's sort of biblical something or other 583 00:30:55,481 --> 00:30:59,001 and it's all this excitement and so on 584 00:30:59,001 --> 00:31:01,241 and then they present this tiny little snippet 585 00:31:01,241 --> 00:31:04,361 of your life and it's like that's all there is to me? 586 00:31:04,361 --> 00:31:07,881 - When I go home I go and see my mother 587 00:31:08,841 --> 00:31:11,201 and I have tea and watch TV. 588 00:31:15,281 --> 00:31:20,001 And then I do my homework and I go and see my father. 589 00:31:21,081 --> 00:31:25,241 Were they in the sixties trying to say that the fact 590 00:31:25,241 --> 00:31:28,641 that I'd supposedly had a more privileged upbringing 591 00:31:28,641 --> 00:31:29,801 that I should have been the one 592 00:31:29,801 --> 00:31:32,641 who'd become the high flyer and that you-- 593 00:31:32,641 --> 00:31:33,561 - Absolutely. 594 00:31:33,561 --> 00:31:36,121 - You having come, I mean I just think that's so wrong 595 00:31:36,121 --> 00:31:38,281 but is that what they were trying to get at? 596 00:31:39,721 --> 00:31:44,321 - The idea of looking at a bunch of people over time 597 00:31:44,321 --> 00:31:48,481 and how they evolve that was a really nifty idea. 598 00:31:48,481 --> 00:31:53,481 It isn't a picture really of the essence of Nick or Suzy. 599 00:31:53,481 --> 00:31:55,761 It's a picture of everyman. 600 00:31:56,721 --> 00:32:01,721 It's how a person any person, how they change. 601 00:32:02,001 --> 00:32:04,801 You know just seeing me this age 602 00:32:04,801 --> 00:32:07,281 and the next age with more wrinkles and more oh. 603 00:32:10,241 --> 00:32:12,521 - I think we all have got a few of those. 604 00:32:12,521 --> 00:32:13,721 - Oops. 605 00:32:13,721 --> 00:32:14,681 - Oops 606 00:32:14,681 --> 00:32:18,441 - It's not an absolute accurate picture of me 607 00:32:18,441 --> 00:32:22,641 but it's a picture of somebody and that's the value of it. 608 00:32:22,641 --> 00:32:26,801 - But then we're putting ourselves out to be that person. 609 00:32:27,681 --> 00:32:31,401 I didn't want to do it when I was 14. 610 00:32:31,401 --> 00:32:34,521 I know I was very difficult because I was very anti 611 00:32:34,521 --> 00:32:36,361 doing it; I was pressurised in to doing it 612 00:32:36,361 --> 00:32:43,361 by my parents and I hated it and I vowed 613 00:32:43,441 --> 00:32:47,001 I'd never do it now but here I am. 614 00:32:47,001 --> 00:32:48,801 I mean who knows in seven years 615 00:32:48,801 --> 00:32:50,801 whether it will be done again 616 00:32:50,801 --> 00:32:55,801 but this is me saying hopefully I'll reach 617 00:32:57,161 --> 00:33:01,641 my half century next year and I shall bow out. 618 00:33:03,881 --> 00:33:05,161 I don't know what happened. 619 00:33:05,161 --> 00:33:07,321 I was quite adamant I wasn't going to do it 620 00:33:08,641 --> 00:33:13,521 and then, I don't know I suppose I have 621 00:33:13,521 --> 00:33:18,521 this ridiculous sense of loyalty to it even though I hate it 622 00:33:19,401 --> 00:33:22,201 and that's just such a contradiction isn't it? 623 00:33:23,321 --> 00:33:31,321 But, and also I think it's like reading a bad book. 624 00:33:31,401 --> 00:33:33,001 I'll still read it. 625 00:33:33,001 --> 00:33:36,841 I'll still see it through and I guess I'll put this down 626 00:33:36,841 --> 00:33:39,841 to being a bad book but I'll see it through. 627 00:33:54,641 --> 00:33:57,161 - Symon was brought up in a children's home, 628 00:33:57,161 --> 00:33:59,321 the only child of a single parent. 629 00:34:01,521 --> 00:34:04,321 - They say where's your father then? 630 00:34:04,321 --> 00:34:05,801 You know, when your mum's out at work? 631 00:34:05,801 --> 00:34:07,921 They say where's your father? 632 00:34:07,921 --> 00:34:10,041 And I just tell them I ain't got one. 633 00:34:10,041 --> 00:34:12,481 See, I can get on well with my mother sometimes. 634 00:34:15,601 --> 00:34:16,721 We talk very well with each other 635 00:34:16,721 --> 00:34:19,961 but it's sometimes not quite as mother 636 00:34:19,961 --> 00:34:22,081 and son, sort of more like friends. 637 00:34:23,641 --> 00:34:27,441 - When he was 34 Symon's mother died of cancer. 638 00:34:28,561 --> 00:34:32,161 - There was so many things I never actually said to my mum 639 00:34:32,161 --> 00:34:36,001 that, just things you think about afterwards 640 00:34:36,001 --> 00:34:38,401 it's too late because they're not there anymore. 641 00:34:39,601 --> 00:34:41,601 - What sort of things? 642 00:34:41,601 --> 00:34:43,721 - I don't know, just I love you every day. 643 00:34:45,601 --> 00:34:48,721 When I was born, an illegitimate child, 644 00:34:48,721 --> 00:34:52,841 that's something that's only whispered about. 645 00:34:52,841 --> 00:34:56,561 People feel strongly about it in those days 646 00:34:56,561 --> 00:35:01,561 but nowadays it's not a serious matter. 647 00:35:02,441 --> 00:35:04,081 The serious point is whether you 648 00:35:04,081 --> 00:35:06,641 stay with somebody or you leave them. 649 00:35:06,641 --> 00:35:11,641 Since 21 I've got married, had a couple of kids. 650 00:35:15,481 --> 00:35:17,241 - By 28 he had married 651 00:35:17,241 --> 00:35:20,001 Yvonne and they had five children. 652 00:35:20,961 --> 00:35:24,561 - They've got everything; they've even got what I never had. 653 00:35:26,201 --> 00:35:27,041 - Which is what? 654 00:35:27,041 --> 00:35:28,081 - A father isn't it? 655 00:35:28,081 --> 00:35:29,721 So I mean they've had everything. 656 00:35:32,161 --> 00:35:34,641 - By 35 they were divorced. 657 00:35:36,321 --> 00:35:39,601 - At one stage they all stopped seeing me at all 658 00:35:39,601 --> 00:35:44,601 but now a bit older, a bit wiser and I'm a bit older 659 00:35:45,001 --> 00:35:48,761 and wiser and now three of them see me. 660 00:35:53,201 --> 00:35:56,521 - At 42 he'd married Vienetta. 661 00:35:58,281 --> 00:35:59,681 - We used to go out when we were younger. 662 00:35:59,681 --> 00:36:01,201 We met in the launderette. 663 00:36:02,481 --> 00:36:03,721 - Once a week. 664 00:36:03,721 --> 00:36:05,561 - Once a week in the launderette. 665 00:36:05,561 --> 00:36:07,441 - Vienetta already had a daughter, 666 00:36:07,441 --> 00:36:10,761 Miriam, and she and Symon had a son Daniel. 667 00:36:15,561 --> 00:36:17,601 Is there anything of you in him? 668 00:36:17,601 --> 00:36:20,921 His dashing good looks yeah, that's me 669 00:36:20,921 --> 00:36:23,041 and his love of sport as well. 670 00:36:27,081 --> 00:36:30,521 Well today is Daniel's big, big day. 671 00:36:30,521 --> 00:36:39,401 He's now 18 and he's a young man, he says, and he's done 672 00:36:39,481 --> 00:36:43,161 very, very well with his schooling and everything. 673 00:36:43,161 --> 00:36:45,401 - At the beginning of the week I received an email 674 00:36:45,401 --> 00:36:47,401 saying that I got on to my apprenticeship 675 00:36:47,401 --> 00:36:49,761 with Proctor and Gamble, which I'm very happy 676 00:36:49,761 --> 00:36:51,881 and excited about and I start that 677 00:36:51,881 --> 00:36:53,641 in the next couple of weeks. 678 00:37:02,561 --> 00:37:06,161 - What I want to say is that I have had the proudest week 679 00:37:06,161 --> 00:37:11,161 of my life with my son passing his exams. 680 00:37:12,681 --> 00:37:15,081 He's passed his test and if when 681 00:37:15,081 --> 00:37:17,921 and he runs through it he might get a car. 682 00:37:21,321 --> 00:37:27,961 ♪ Happy Birthday to you ♪ 683 00:37:29,961 --> 00:37:34,081 - But here people are undecided about you. 684 00:37:34,081 --> 00:37:37,841 They can be your friend one day and not the next. 685 00:37:37,841 --> 00:37:38,801 - Obviously when children come in 686 00:37:38,801 --> 00:37:40,241 to foster care family and friends 687 00:37:40,241 --> 00:37:41,641 are involved as well and we have 688 00:37:41,641 --> 00:37:43,921 to ensure the children are kept safe and secure. 689 00:37:43,921 --> 00:37:46,241 - By 49 Symon and Vienetta 690 00:37:46,241 --> 00:37:48,761 had decided to train as foster parents. 691 00:37:48,761 --> 00:37:51,321 - I went to boarding school when I was young 692 00:37:51,321 --> 00:37:54,641 and I always felt that that was regimental. 693 00:37:55,481 --> 00:37:58,561 It didn't allow for personal care, for loving 694 00:37:58,561 --> 00:38:01,881 from the adult carers so I wanted to do 695 00:38:01,881 --> 00:38:04,641 something like that for myself in my own home. 696 00:38:06,441 --> 00:38:08,801 - And we always say to foster carers please do not cut 697 00:38:08,801 --> 00:38:11,801 the children's hair without the permission of the parents. 698 00:38:11,801 --> 00:38:12,841 - So what's the toughest 699 00:38:12,841 --> 00:38:14,641 thing about being a foster parent? 700 00:38:15,961 --> 00:38:18,681 - You're taking a chance when you do it 701 00:38:18,681 --> 00:38:21,401 because you really don't know what you're getting. 702 00:38:22,441 --> 00:38:26,241 It's something that all children want is to be loved, 703 00:38:26,241 --> 00:38:28,721 is to be wanted so if you can give 704 00:38:28,721 --> 00:38:32,521 that to them then everything else is second. 705 00:38:33,481 --> 00:38:35,721 - You know why Uncle Symon looks younger? 706 00:38:35,721 --> 00:38:37,161 'Cause he's so laid back. 707 00:38:37,161 --> 00:38:38,681 Some of them come back, they ring you up 708 00:38:38,681 --> 00:38:41,041 and say hello Auntie, hello Uncle and how are you? 709 00:38:41,041 --> 00:38:42,241 They come and have Sunday dinner. 710 00:38:42,241 --> 00:38:44,081 They come and visit us which is good. 711 00:38:45,761 --> 00:38:47,121 - I once tried to count 712 00:38:47,121 --> 00:38:49,641 and I got up to 64 and I stopped. 713 00:38:49,641 --> 00:38:50,841 - Because if you know that you're 714 00:38:50,841 --> 00:38:53,881 going to get 50 people that Auntie kinda called. 715 00:38:53,881 --> 00:38:55,081 She's like a mother to me. 716 00:38:55,081 --> 00:38:56,761 She's always been there. 717 00:38:57,801 --> 00:38:59,441 There was a time where I felt like I want to give up 718 00:38:59,441 --> 00:39:02,081 in everything and she kept saying to me 719 00:39:02,081 --> 00:39:05,201 "you have to keep on going, you have to keep on trying." 720 00:39:07,321 --> 00:39:09,881 I'm getting emotional, sorry. 721 00:39:09,881 --> 00:39:12,401 - When I came through the airport my family 722 00:39:12,401 --> 00:39:14,321 wasn't at the airport to collect me and that 723 00:39:14,321 --> 00:39:18,441 so I just had to stay somewhere for a temporary base. 724 00:39:19,481 --> 00:39:23,401 I was here for I think about five to six years. 725 00:39:23,401 --> 00:39:25,121 I couldn't have asked for anything better to be honest. 726 00:39:25,121 --> 00:39:26,521 Yeah they were really, yeah really nice. 727 00:39:29,241 --> 00:39:31,241 - Were you looked after at some point? 728 00:39:31,241 --> 00:39:35,801 - My real mother died at birth and my dad remarried 729 00:39:35,801 --> 00:39:39,321 and my mother who made me the person I am today 730 00:39:39,321 --> 00:39:41,721 'cause she was always helping other young people 731 00:39:42,561 --> 00:39:45,681 and she used to always say to us, "don't be jealous 'cause 732 00:39:45,681 --> 00:39:48,561 you've got my love but they've got no one to love them." 733 00:39:49,401 --> 00:39:50,241 You know? 734 00:39:51,361 --> 00:39:53,921 - As well as fostering Vienetta 735 00:39:53,921 --> 00:39:56,321 also works for an organisation that takes 736 00:39:56,321 --> 00:39:58,681 homeless young people off the streets. 737 00:40:02,281 --> 00:40:04,081 - And what happens to the fostering children 738 00:40:04,081 --> 00:40:06,081 when you're here four days? 739 00:40:06,081 --> 00:40:09,401 - Symon and I balance them together, we juggle. 740 00:40:09,401 --> 00:40:11,721 Symon sometimes works late and then I rush home. 741 00:40:11,721 --> 00:40:13,001 He'll do the school run in the morning. 742 00:40:13,001 --> 00:40:15,321 I'll do the school run in the afternoon. 743 00:40:15,321 --> 00:40:16,641 My job's very flexible. 744 00:40:18,281 --> 00:40:20,561 - So you have incredibly busy life don't you? 745 00:40:20,561 --> 00:40:21,521 - Very busy. 746 00:40:27,401 --> 00:40:30,481 - Well we started to feel that we were getting tense 747 00:40:30,481 --> 00:40:33,641 and tight and that normally means you need a holiday 748 00:40:33,641 --> 00:40:37,001 'cause we found ourselves doing too much 749 00:40:37,001 --> 00:40:40,441 so at some stage you gotta chill out. 750 00:40:42,081 --> 00:40:44,841 - Symon took the family to Portugal. 751 00:40:44,841 --> 00:40:45,761 - Oh look at this. 752 00:40:45,761 --> 00:40:46,641 - So that's nice. 753 00:40:46,641 --> 00:40:48,801 - That's quite, what do you think? 754 00:40:48,801 --> 00:40:49,601 - It's blingy. 755 00:40:49,601 --> 00:40:50,961 - That's really nice. 756 00:40:50,961 --> 00:40:53,881 - So Jess is by your first marriage 757 00:40:53,881 --> 00:40:55,761 and Mini's your child-- 758 00:40:55,761 --> 00:40:56,601 - Yes 759 00:40:56,601 --> 00:40:58,241 - By your marriage. 760 00:40:58,241 --> 00:41:00,481 And the relationship's strong? 761 00:41:00,481 --> 00:41:02,201 - They know each other from being young. 762 00:41:02,201 --> 00:41:04,401 They did things together, went out together. 763 00:41:05,321 --> 00:41:07,321 So they're not like strangers. 764 00:41:07,321 --> 00:41:11,641 - Before I'm old enough to get a job 765 00:41:11,641 --> 00:41:16,161 I just walk around and see what I can find. 766 00:41:16,161 --> 00:41:20,121 I was going to be a film star but now I'm going 767 00:41:20,121 --> 00:41:24,321 to be an electrical engineer which is more to reality. 768 00:41:25,401 --> 00:41:28,561 - By 21 Symon was working in the freezer room 769 00:41:28,561 --> 00:41:31,121 of Wall's Sausages in London. 770 00:41:31,121 --> 00:41:33,081 - I know I can't stay at Wall's forever. 771 00:41:33,081 --> 00:41:34,481 I mean it's just not me. 772 00:41:34,481 --> 00:41:37,721 I couldn't stay there for that long, my mind will go dead. 773 00:41:38,881 --> 00:41:40,841 - Do you never feel that you should be doing 774 00:41:40,841 --> 00:41:43,641 better jobs than these, aren't you worth more than this? 775 00:41:43,641 --> 00:41:46,081 - No, I haven't really, I suppose 776 00:41:46,081 --> 00:41:47,841 I just like hard work I don't know. 777 00:41:49,081 --> 00:41:51,441 - The factory closed down. 778 00:41:51,441 --> 00:41:52,761 Since then he has worked near 779 00:41:52,761 --> 00:41:54,921 Heathrow Airport handling freight. 780 00:41:56,881 --> 00:41:59,801 - If I'd pushed myself at school 781 00:41:59,801 --> 00:42:01,801 probably I could have done a lot better. 782 00:42:02,681 --> 00:42:05,121 - Does that give you pause for thought? 783 00:42:06,361 --> 00:42:09,321 - No that means I was a lazy sod when I was younger. 784 00:42:09,321 --> 00:42:11,321 - If we had got together when we should have got together 785 00:42:11,321 --> 00:42:13,761 there's no way he'd have been a forklift driver 786 00:42:13,761 --> 00:42:18,121 not where I am with no way, not with all that brains. 787 00:42:18,121 --> 00:42:21,121 I've got common sense and he's got the brains. 788 00:42:21,961 --> 00:42:25,961 - I am the proof that you need to push yourself and go on. 789 00:42:25,961 --> 00:42:28,001 If you want to get on if you want things in life 790 00:42:28,001 --> 00:42:30,481 you have to push yourself to keep going. 791 00:42:31,801 --> 00:42:34,121 I should have been an accountant, 792 00:42:34,121 --> 00:42:36,241 but I went in this office, 793 00:42:36,241 --> 00:42:38,721 I looked at this grey, grubby office 794 00:42:38,721 --> 00:42:43,361 and the people there looked gray-suited and miserable 795 00:42:43,361 --> 00:42:45,521 and I thought this isn't for me. 796 00:42:46,521 --> 00:42:49,521 I want to stay out in the fresh air, I don't want this. 797 00:42:49,521 --> 00:42:52,601 Years later I realised that not every office is like that. 798 00:42:52,601 --> 00:42:54,721 Some offices are vibrant and moving 799 00:42:55,881 --> 00:42:58,041 but it was too late then I'd already sort of 800 00:42:59,161 --> 00:43:01,641 stagnated myself driving forklifts 801 00:43:01,641 --> 00:43:03,961 and working in a warehouse. 802 00:43:03,961 --> 00:43:04,801 - You could have made 803 00:43:04,801 --> 00:43:06,081 a lot of money being an accountant. 804 00:43:07,401 --> 00:43:08,401 - Yes he could have. 805 00:43:09,601 --> 00:43:11,241 - She looks after me. 806 00:43:11,241 --> 00:43:13,441 She doesn't just push me she looks after me. 807 00:43:14,561 --> 00:43:17,361 She would never let anything be wrong for me. 808 00:43:17,361 --> 00:43:20,961 - Baked beans, I'll go and get the water. 809 00:43:20,961 --> 00:43:23,001 - At one stage we went to a marriage guidance 810 00:43:23,001 --> 00:43:26,001 'cause the pressures of being together 811 00:43:27,241 --> 00:43:29,041 were getting to us because we are 812 00:43:29,041 --> 00:43:30,641 two completely different people. 813 00:43:31,721 --> 00:43:36,721 I'm very laid-back, as she always says 814 00:43:37,641 --> 00:43:40,121 if I go any further back I'll fall over. 815 00:43:41,681 --> 00:43:44,441 - Is the chemistry still there between you? 816 00:43:44,441 --> 00:43:45,281 - Yeah. 817 00:43:45,281 --> 00:43:46,121 - Yeah I think so. 818 00:43:46,121 --> 00:43:48,121 - Yeah I hope so, is it? 819 00:43:48,121 --> 00:43:48,961 - Yes darling. 820 00:43:48,961 --> 00:43:51,041 - Yeah the chemistry's still there. 821 00:43:51,041 --> 00:43:54,081 - Yeah, we've been saying that, what nearly twenty years? 822 00:43:54,921 --> 00:43:55,961 - Is that all it is? 823 00:43:55,961 --> 00:43:56,801 - Yeah. 824 00:44:00,441 --> 00:44:02,641 Oh come on Symon hurry up, catch up. 825 00:44:02,641 --> 00:44:04,921 - Come on Jess and Daniel. 826 00:44:06,481 --> 00:44:07,721 - Do you think you could 827 00:44:07,721 --> 00:44:09,521 ever retire and ever just chill out? 828 00:44:10,441 --> 00:44:13,361 - There's people who I have noticed they stop work 829 00:44:14,281 --> 00:44:18,641 and they have no other interests, they suddenly get old. 830 00:44:18,641 --> 00:44:20,721 - Yeah so you're old. you've got a few bulges 831 00:44:20,721 --> 00:44:24,921 a few wrinkles but life still goes on, enjoy life. 832 00:44:27,121 --> 00:44:28,281 - So who won? 833 00:44:29,121 --> 00:44:31,241 I came here first: I think that was me. 834 00:44:35,841 --> 00:44:38,441 - How was it then? 835 00:44:38,441 --> 00:44:40,761 - Beautiful, did I win and just allow you 836 00:44:40,761 --> 00:44:41,601 to come in front of me? 837 00:44:41,601 --> 00:44:42,961 - No, no. 838 00:44:42,961 --> 00:44:44,401 - Dad you was like the person 839 00:44:44,401 --> 00:44:46,241 that comes round on the tractor. 840 00:44:46,241 --> 00:44:50,121 - I think I admire people with great determination, 841 00:44:50,121 --> 00:44:52,961 like people who have just come up from nothing. 842 00:44:52,961 --> 00:44:55,561 They build up their life from absolutely nothing. 843 00:44:57,121 --> 00:44:59,801 - Well do you see some parts of life as success 844 00:44:59,801 --> 00:45:03,081 and some parts are failure or do you not think like that? 845 00:45:04,041 --> 00:45:04,841 - No you don't stop life 846 00:45:04,841 --> 00:45:06,921 because you've made a mistake, you know. 847 00:45:06,921 --> 00:45:08,841 - Though it may go down the wrong road 848 00:45:08,841 --> 00:45:10,601 it doesn't mean that's the end of the road for you. 849 00:45:10,601 --> 00:45:11,641 There's another chance you have 850 00:45:11,641 --> 00:45:15,001 to turn round and come back and start again isn't there? 851 00:45:15,001 --> 00:45:17,881 - Do a U-turn and to be honest 852 00:45:17,881 --> 00:45:19,721 what do you think about our life? 853 00:45:19,721 --> 00:45:20,841 - I think there's been more ups than downs 854 00:45:20,841 --> 00:45:24,521 and hopefully there's a lot more ups to come. 855 00:45:24,521 --> 00:45:25,681 - Yeah, yeah. 856 00:45:32,361 --> 00:45:34,801 - And what about the other children? 857 00:45:34,801 --> 00:45:35,761 Where are they now? 858 00:45:36,801 --> 00:45:37,801 What are they doing? 859 00:45:38,681 --> 00:45:40,161 - I'm going to work in Woolworths. 860 00:45:40,161 --> 00:45:43,241 In my life I've been able to do more 861 00:45:43,241 --> 00:45:45,481 or less what I wanted to do. 862 00:45:45,481 --> 00:45:48,961 - My heart's desire is for me to see my daddy. 863 00:45:48,961 --> 00:45:53,961 It all springs from I think God and Christ I suppose. 864 00:45:55,761 --> 00:45:58,761 - I read the Financial Times 865 00:45:58,761 --> 00:46:00,241 - It's very irresponsible because we all 866 00:46:00,241 --> 00:46:02,081 want more money as much money as we can get. 867 00:46:02,081 --> 00:46:04,441 - I want to be a jockey when I grow up. 868 00:46:04,441 --> 00:46:06,921 Yeah I wanna be a jockey when I grow up. 869 00:46:06,921 --> 00:46:08,561 - I'm as good or even better than most 870 00:46:08,561 --> 00:46:12,081 of them people especially, on this programme.