7 Up's John Brisby accuses show of 'setting him up' as he brands original director Michael Apted 'sneering'
John refused to appear in 28 Up7 Up original John Brisby has branded original Up series director Michael Apted as “sneering and supercilious”.
John, who is a judge, will tell viewers how he felt he was “set up” when he was seven years old.
In the final 70 Up episode, he even describes his portrayal in the 60s and 70s as “an awful little prig”.
John did not take part in the series for 28 Up, only agreeing to return for 35 Up under strict terms.
He shares his thoughts on Michael, who died in 2021, in Tuesday’s episode.
7 Up’s John Brisby slams show for ‘setting him up’
John was one of 14 children picked to appear in the 1964 show, 7 Up. Four girls and 10 boys were chosen.
Viewers will recall him telling the cameras, aged seven, his plans to attend the prestigious Westminster Boarding School and Cambridge University. He also claimed to read broadsheet newspapers.
But by 28 years old, John declined to appear in 28 Up.
Looking back in 70 Up, John will explain how strangers would take an “instinctive dislike” to him because of how he had been portrayed in the earlier shows.
“When I was 28, I hadn’t been very happy with the way I’d been portrayed in the first three programmes,” John says.
“Years ago, when I first started at the Bar, a lot of people who subsequently became good friends said they instinctively disliked me.
“They said they approached me with a completely different idea of who I was.
“I was made to appear age seven as an awful little prig. People I’ve talked to who knew me when I was seven said I was actually quite nice. I was a bit of a dreamer. You don’t see that side of things at all.”
He adds: “I felt that I had been set up to represent an outmoded class system that had no validity in the modern world.”
‘He wanted the bogeyman’
John will go on to speak about Michael Apted. The late director’s final episode was 63 Up in 2019. 70 Up is directed by Asif Kapadia.
“I did not have a relationship with Michael Apted,” John says. “He had a sneering and somewhat supercilious manner. I didn’t feel he was on my side.”
John adds: “He wanted the fake me as a bogeyman.”
Despite his feelings, John insists he did not “fall out” with Michael. “But I didn’t like him and didn’t trust him,” he says.
John agreed to return to the show for 35 Up, but only on strict terms. This included Michael not interviewing him. He also wanted the plight of his work for the Bulgaria humanitarian and social crisis to be shown.
As a result of his terms being met, John agreed to keep returning every seven years. Michael never interviewed him again,
John is now bidding an emotional farewell to the programme along with the remaining participants.
Read more: 70 Up’s Neil Hughes living almost solitary life in France after once ‘sleeping in a bulldozer’
