Gordon McDougall, who was involved in finding the original participants for the 'Seven Up!' documentary series, has corrected the start date of the programme. He stated that 'Seven Up!' was made in early 1964, rather than 1963 as previously suggested.
McDougall also clarified that the series was the brainchild of Tim Hewat, who was the producer of 'World in Action'. After Hewat's departure, Canadian director Paul Almond took over oversight, and McDougall, alongside Michael Apted, was given the job of finding the initial 20 children for the show.
The programme was initially conceived as a one-off. However, a follow-up, '7 Plus Seven', was commissioned in 1969 at the insistence of Denis Forman, then CEO of Granada TV. McDougall noted that he was unable to work on the follow-up, which Apted directed alone.
McDougall has maintained contact with the 14 participants who continued through to '63 Up'. He stated that none of them felt their lives were impaired by taking part, despite some complaints about a perceived socialist bias in the series.