The innovative series returns to visit the people whose lives have been publicly tracked since they were seven. The latest follow up to the famous 1964 world in action special directed by michael apted that looked at the lives of seven year olds from a variety of social backgrounds. With extraordinary ambition, the show set out to study the extent to which children's backgrounds influenced their future prospects, with apted returning to visit the participants at seven year intervals to see how they were getting on. In 2012 the original participants had reached the age of 56, however all but one of the 14 agreed to appear in the show and discuss their lives, hopes and disappointments.