We've followed their lives for six decades - now the stars of 7 Up are bowing out. Image source, ITVImage caption, 70 Up stars from left to right: Peter Davies, Symon Basterfield, Paul Kligerman, Tony Walker Neil Hughes, John Brisby, Andrew Brackfield, Bruce Balden Jackie Bassett, Suzy Lusk, Sue Davis Six decades have passed since Jackie Bassett first appeared on TV aged seven, skipping down the road with her little sister. It was 1964 and she had been selected by teachers at her east London primary school to appear in a documentary called 7 Up.The show interviewed 14 seven-year-olds from vastly different socioeconomic backgrounds. Inspired by the Jesuit saying: "Give me the child until he is seven and I will show you the man", it was intended as a one-off - a snapshot of Britain's class system and how it shapes us from a young age."

"They only picked me because I never stopped talking," Jackie told the BBC, with an infectious giggle that hasn't changed since childhood. Little did she know then, but Jackie was being filmed for a show that would go on to be the longest-running documentary series ever made. In 2024, it was voted the most influential TV show of the past 50 years. Now the curtain is falling, with the final instalment - 70 Up - airing on ITV this Tuesday.

Image source, ITVWe didn't really know what we were doing, we had no idea what was happening," Jackie said of the day the Granada TV crew turned up at her school. In the first episode, Jackie appeared alongside her friends, Lynn and Sue, as they were asked questions about boys at school and their hopes for the future. Jackie said she would like to marry a boy "that's not got a lot of money, but has got some money".The nation was also introduced to the likes of wide-eyed Neil, who explained his plans to become either an astronaut or a coach driver; anxious Paul, who ruminated on the idea of one day marrying a woman who made him eat his greens; and pensive Bruce, who said his "heart's desire is to see my daddy who is 6,000 miles away" in Rhodesia.

As the series grew in popularity, Apted started receiving push-back from some of the participants, who felt they had been typecast based on their backgrounds. At 21, Apted asked Jackie - who had recently got married - whether she had met "enough men" before she decided to marry. For the rest of the interview, she mostly looked to the floor while Sue and Lynn answered questions. It took her 18 years to fully confront Apted over his questioning.