New posts

Reply to thread

Message: <blockquote data-quote="Mel O&#039;Drama" data-source="post: 332805" data-attributes="member: 23">Last night I watched 35 Up and the beginning of 42 Up. As I haven't finished 42 I'll try and stick mainly to the earlier episode, but I'm sure there'll be some overlap. I do really enjoy the soapy element of catching up on the gossip with them all. If the themes for 28 were marriage and birth, 35 has a definite air of midlife, with divorce and bereavement in the air. With Jackie, Lynn and Sue, at least two of them are now divorced (it could be all three but I couldn't swear. It seems I wasn't paying enough attention), and Jackie now has a child from a post-marriage fling with someone. They're as level headed and consistent as ever. The dynamics of these three is always interesting. The more I watch, the more struck I am with how conservative Sue is. From an early age she was kind of the saucepot of the three - the prettiest one who probably got the most admiring glances from men, and she seemed very comfortable with herself which often suggests someone who's a bit more relaxed and liberal. But again and again she's expressed different views that are very traditional and conformist. She was the last of the three to marry, but she also expressed the view that marriage and children go hand in hand for her. Lynn has a bit of an attitude. Both she and Jackie are blunt, but Lynn can feel more prickly with hers and almost defensive, especially when it comes to discussing money and class. She seems very giving and I love how dedicated she is to her library work and introducing kids to books. Jackie is probably in between the two somewhere, but she usually comes across as the strongest personality. It's interesting to see that Nick's wife wouldn't do either 35 or 42, having been unhappy with how her appearance in 28 went down. It seems there were lots of naysayers predicting that the marriage wouldn't last and she blames the programme makers. Nick's being as diplomatic as ever. He looks so incredibly settled in his new life and looks ridiculously good with a moustache in 35. I was very much reminded of John Slattery as Howard Stark in Iron Man 2. The more I see of Suzy the more I like her. She seems to most clearly get across the impact having to live with the ghost of the series can have. She's another who has experience bereavement and is putting her life experience to good use in 42 with her bereavement counselling. It hasn't been shown a great deal but I'm intrigued by the relationship between Suzy and her son who has learning difficulties. I get the sense she hasn't coped with it very well at times and she mentions it's a love/hate relationship because of the problems they had from birth (presumably before she understood that he had learning difficulties). It does seem she and Rupert are putting the kids' interests first and life in their pretty new village seems nice and relatively simple. Bruce is now doing an exchange at a school overseas, in a place where many of his students hail from. As close to missionary work as he's got. He's likeable as always though one feels he's somewhat anguished and tormented a lot of the time. Pressed about his lack of a love life, Apted points out "You're getting on a bit" like a critical parent tapping their feet and waiting for the grandchild. I can't help feeling Bruce is somewhat struggling with his sexuality. In every film from 14 onwards it's felt like the elephant in the room, and I note he also uses gender neutral pronouns when speaking about his brief affairs or waiting for the right person to come along. I may be wrong, and even if I'm not it's entirely possible he'll either marry a woman or simply never talk about his love life. Whatever happens, I hope he finds his peace with himself. Tony's marriage seems interesting in that it's clear he's not going to change his laddish ways. In all three episodes since he's had the kids, his wife comments how she's the one who's handled a lot of responsibilities such as disciplining them, which Tony then undermines. In 35 he talks about going on golfing holidays abroad and implies there's temptation there (though his tone also suggests he wants us and his wife to believe he's resisted). His wife's face is very telling and it's clear it's a sore subject. In 42 they're still married, but the infidelity is now overt. And of course, it's because she caught him. And of course, it was only once. When asked why she forgave him, his wife says it's because of their responsibilities with the kids, and Tony nods enthusiastically remembering he has a family now that it's in his interests. I feel sorry for her. Tony's bad acting is paying off, with some clips of him playing a cheeky chappie cab driver in The Bill (the cab rolls forward while he's saying his one line) and a cheeky chappie customer in Children's ITV comedy Spatz (oh - I used to watch that!).Andrew is an extremely likeable fellow, and John made a brief return for 35, mainly to promote a cause in which he's involved politically. He's exactly who and where I'd have expected him to be based on Seven Up!It was really nice to see Paul bringing his family to London to visit his roots. He's built such a nice life for himself and the stability in his life continues to be something I cheer. I missed both Symon and Peter in 35. Neither was really mentioned, which seemed a glaring omission as a brief update would have been nice. In 42 Symon's back and mentions his mother died in 1990, so I'm guessing that was why he didn't want to do 35. In 42 Symon has a completely new family and it seems his divorce was acrimonious and his children from his first marriage haven't forgiven him. I'm sure we're only getting part of the story. The situation feels particularly disappointing given his comments in 28 about giving his children a father. Here's hoping Peter will appear in 42 Part 2. Oh, I do worry about Neil. It's lovely to see him involved in what looks like a supportive community on the Shetland Islands, which suits his need for isolation while still allowing him to find interests like the am dram. And he has the stability of a council flat. But he actually looked so much more frail in 35 than he did in 28, where I thought he looked well, even if he didn't feel it. It's clear his mental health is declining in some areas, and he's rejected help. As always, of all the participants I'm most curious to see where he'll be in Part 2 of 42.</blockquote>

Verification: What month follows July?