Emotional 70 Up finale leaves viewers in tears as critics praise a 'deeply moving conclusion' to 'invaluable study'

The deeply moving grand finale of 70 Up left fans in floods of tears as the great experiment aired for the last time on Tuesday night.

The extraordinary ITV documentary explored the lives of 14 people from disparate class backgrounds every seven years, from childhood up until the age of 70.

Viewers bid farewell to the lifelong study, 62 years after the first episode of the series appeared on television screens in 1964. 

The final entry in the series, 70 Up, brought fans to tears just minutes into the episode as its colourful cast reflected on how their lives have changed.

Emotional viewers took to social media to share their feelings. One wrote: 'I was in tears even from the opening titles. Such a touching and interesting series.'

Others penned: '70 Up has been on two minutes and already crying seeing the past clips knowing it is the last one,' 

'I'm filling up already,' '#70up has been one of the best and insightful programmes ever made. It has remained a fascinating slice of social history,'

'70up and all its predecessors must be one of the most important, enlightening, enchanting, sobering and emotional TV series ever produced. It's a window to our lives, especially to those of us who are 70. We've grown up with them,'

'Am I the only one crying my way through 70Up? What a brilliant project which showed us lives playing out. It's been a privilege to catch up with the lives they chose to share with us.'

Audiences were also devastated to see Yorkshire lad Nick Hitchon appear on the documentary just three days before he died of throat cancer in July 2023. 

And viewers swooned over Liverpudlian Neil Hughes, who has perhaps led the most chaotic life of the original 14 participants, who began sharing their lives on the series aged just seven. 

Neil was homeless for 28 Up, in a council house by 35 Up and had a brief marriage that had ended by 63 Up. He thinks he's probably always suffered from depression.

But for 70 Up, Neil revealed that he now lives in France, in the same house that he came to for many years on holiday.

He said while he may appear to be a hoarder, everything in the property 'has a purpose'.

Neil also revealed that he is planning on retiring but is questioning where the money will come from. 

'Neil, he must be protected,' one person posted on X. 'Neil is such an intelligent man who just lost his way. Very sad,' another added. 

The series 7 Up was helmed by director Michael Apted from 1970 until his death in 2021. For the finale, Academy Award-winning director Asif Kapadia stepped in. 

There have been a total of ten films which explore how the participants' lives have changed in the intervening time periods. 

Most of the stars have appeared every seven years, but some have missed episodes, dropped out or been unhappy with their portrayal.

Public schoolboy and lawyer John Brisby said in 70 Up he felt he'd been 'set up to represent an outmoded class system that had no validity in the modern world'. 

Meanwhile, East End girl Jackie Bassett also appeared.  She said she was initially picked because 'I wouldn't stop talking. In our house, if you didn't speak up you didn't get heard. I don't think I've changed.'

Jackie married at 19, divorced, remarried, moved to Scotland, had three children, divorced again and was a single mother. Her fellow East Ender Lynn died in 2013. 

Sue, also from the East End, married at 24 but was divorced by the age of 35. She has now remarried. 

In 70 Up, she revealed she has now retired after holding a series of office jobs. She said, however, she needs to find herself a 'new direction' as she sometimes doesn't know what to do with herself.  

Public schoolboy Bruce, who wanted to be a missionary, also appeared on tonight's show, as well as Symon, who has fostered more than 120 children and has 12 grandchildren.

Viewers also heard from Charles, a former participant who stopped appearing in the films after the age of 21. 

Lawyer Andrew, the prep school pupil who read The Financial Times, returned together with Suzy – once a young ballerina who hated her private school. 

ITV factual controller Jo Clinton-Davis previously said the series was a 'truly distinctive landmark piece of filmmaking that has become part of our cultural fabric'.

She said: 'In the evolving stories of our cast we see the universal themes of life play out... Ultimately, this is a tribute to the courage of all the cast who continue to share their lives with us so we can see our lives in them.'