Viewers who tuned in back in 1963 were most affected by the story of middle-class youngsters Nick, Bruce, and especially Neil, a lonely, sickly looking Liverpudlian lad who aspires to be a tour-bus driver … a fascinating insight into a generation and the dynamics of the class system in Britain.
British Film Institute on Seven Up
In 2005 Seven Up was listed on Channel Four at number one of the 50 best documentaries ever made.
British Film Institute on Seven Up
In 2005 Seven Up was listed on Channel Four at number one of the 50 best documentaries ever made.
Gordon McDougall worked for ten years as a director/producer for Granada Television. He researched the children (with Michael Apted) for the ground-breaking World in Action: Seven-Up and produced all the Stables Theatre Company series, many documentaries, and Crown Court. With Brian Inglis he created a new history series for children: The Stormy Years. He directed this series, numerous local Granada shows and several televised Stables Company plays.
As a researcher on World in Action, McDougall found the original seven-year-olds for Seven-Up (part of 28-Up voted by Roger Ebert one of the ten best films of all time). He directed Scene at 6.30, Coronation Street and Afternoon Edition: The Stormy Years.
He then left Granada to work at the Traverse Theatre, returning to realize his own concept, the Stables Theatre Company, a company of actors working in television and theatre at the same time. A theatre was constructed from the stables of the oldest railway station in the world (the Liverpool Road Station in Manchester) and a special Equity contract was created to allow actors, for the only time ever, to work in both media. McDougall produced all sixteen television productions and directed three, at the same time as being Artistic Director of the Stables Theatre.
In 1973 he returned to Granada to produce the new thrice-weekly series Crown Court, based on the original The Verdict is Yours. An account of this work can be found in Granada Television: The First Generation (Manchester University Press). McDougall has extensive experience of single and multi-camera production.
He then left Granada to work at the Traverse Theatre, returning to realize his own concept, the Stables Theatre Company, a company of actors working in television and theatre at the same time. A theatre was constructed from the stables of the oldest railway station in the world (the Liverpool Road Station in Manchester) and a special Equity contract was created to allow actors, for the only time ever, to work in both media. McDougall produced all sixteen television productions and directed three, at the same time as being Artistic Director of the Stables Theatre.
In 1973 he returned to Granada to produce the new thrice-
Len Cariou as King Lear
David Jason in The Norman Conquests