Young World in Action

Granada repeats its most popular World in Action report – Seven Up

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From the TVTimes for week commencing 19 December 1964

CLANG! Yes. World in Action certainly rang the bell with Seven Up — that delightful keyhole glimpse of the men and women who’ll be running Britain in the year 2,000.

“Please,” pleaded thousands of viewers. “Please may we see it again?” And Granada is happy to oblige at 9.40 on Wednesday.

This 45-minute programme, which came out of the blue in May this year, had such a stunning impact that TV people have already come to recognise it as a classic.

Seven Up was derived from the fact that today’s seven-year-olds will be running the country at the turn of the century. And a famous quote that goes: “Give me a child of seven and I will give you the man “

The idea was put up by award-winning Canadian drama producer Paul Almond. And those journalistic “hard cases” who cover the world’s trouble spots for World in Action were unable to resist it.

The programme’s present executive producer Alex Valentine, told me: “Standards on World in Action are perpetually high, but now and again, a programme rings the bell. This was one of them.”

Almond interviewed dozens of seven-year-olds from all branches of society. A boy from Liverpool’s middle-class suburbs. A girl from the Surrey stockbroker belt. A boy from a children’s home. Two girls from London’s East End. A farmer’s son from the Yorkshire Dales.

Their views on life are not just sensational — they are of vital importance in taking the pulse of the next generation.

Their outlook is amazingly decisive for seven-year-olds. They speak frankly on love, leisure, marriage, education, money. The Beatles.

Like the young toff who had dabbled in stocks and shares but found the city page “frankly, quite boring ”

Other kids expounded, “I think The Beatles are mad.” “I have a girl friend but I don’t think very much of her.”

One seven-year-old wanted to be a jockey. Another a missionary.

The response from viewers was tremendous and immediate. A number rang the TV centre on the same night of the programme asking if they could adopt the little boy from the children’s home. “These calls were genuine and the people were very sincere,” said Alex Valentine.

A mammoth post arrived. Education authorities wanted to borrow the film to show in teacher-training colleges. A children’s hospital asked if they could show it to their student nurses.

If you missed this programme and your mouth is watering, you can judge for yourself on Wednesday.

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