70 Up start date confirmed as ITV announces two special episodes as landmark documentary reaches its final chapter
The Up series is going out with a fanfareITV is giving 70 Up a bumper farewell as the landmark documentary series comes to an end – and the start date has now been confirmed.
The broadcaster has announced two bonus programmes to accompany its emotional final chapter.
One will revisit how the original 7 Up came about. The other offers a fascinating comparison between two generations who reached 70 in a very different era.
The standalone shows will accompany the final 70 Up instalment. Together, they will form the “emotive final chapter” of a television journey that began with 14 children aged seven in 1965.
Members of that original line-up will all say goodbye to the project in the final farewell. They include cabbie Tony, musician Peter and university administrator Sue.
ITV announces 7 Up: The Story
The first of the 70 Up companion shows will be 7 Up: The Story. It will turn the spotlight back on the documentary’s beginnings four decades ago.
The documentary will explain how the original Up series came together in the mid 60s and examine British society at the time.
It will revisit the pleasures and pressures of life in 1964, along with the concerns facing people when the first programme appeared.
While the main instalment concludes the participants’ journey, 7 Up: The Story returns viewers to where everything started all those years ago.
70 Up: The Victorians
The second special programme is 70 Up: The Victorians.
MultiStory Media’s archive team (part of ITV Studios) found interviews with people born during the Victorian era while helping to create the final Up series.
Those contributors had reached 70 around the time the original project begun. Their thoughts will now sit alongside the experiences of present-day participants, including Andrew, Jackie and Bruce, in the final farewell.
The comparison will explore the lives, concerns, hopes and ambitions of people who shared an age – but not an era.
Some contributors discussed changes they believed lay ahead. Their interviews have now been re-edited and remastered for 70 Up: The Victorians.
ITV confirms 70 Up start date
The main 70 Up finale will consist of two tear-jerking 90-minute programmes. ITV has now confirmed it will start at 9pm on Tuesday September 15, 2026.
ITV will also air the two bonus companion documentaries to celebrate 70 Up. Both 7 Up: The Story and 70 Up: The Victorians will run for 30 minutes each. The date they will air is yet to be confirmed.
You’ll need to stock up on tissues. This is going to be one hell of an emotional goodbye!
70 Up will air at 9pm on ITV1 and ITVX on Tuesday September 15, 2026
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