Episode 1 7 Up New Generation

This programme contains some strong language.

In the year 2000,

we filmed a group of seven-year-olds from all over Great Britain -

a new generation of the 7 Up series.

What would life hold in store for them?

We began a journey that would chart their lives every seven years.

At 14, we returned to film them again.

Do you think it's tough being 14?

I don't think so. It's not for me.

You just deal with the odd torment off boys in school

every now and again.

You just ignore them because... they'll mature eventually.

Cos girls are girls, there's so many girls in the world

can mess up your head, especially for a young boy.

'I love the idea of being married.'

Just in a wedding dress and everything.

It'll just be your day and everything. Be real good.

Now, in the year 2014, they've reached the age of 21.

I come across very confident,

but, like, in my head, it's not that at all.

I feel like I've got something to show for my life up to this point.

I think you become an adult when you leave education and you get a job.

That's when you become an adult, I think.

I want a wife.

That's what I asked Darren - how do you get a wife?

I wanted that question cos... so I know when I'm older,

so I'll get a wife quicker.

And how do you think you do get a wife?

I haven't a clue!

John grew up in Slough, 20 miles west of London.

When we first filmed him aged seven, his mother and stepfather Darren

were expecting their first child together.

Mummy, is it a boy or a girl?

It's too early to tell yet, John.

I like my dad, I call him Dad cos he's my dad.

He's taught me basically, like,

how to look after yourself.

Taught me...

He's just sort of helped me grow up in a way.

Just take that strap off of there, jiffy strap.

What strap?

The metal one, the joy strap.

What strap you looking at, mate?

'I've been working, well, for the same company as my dad for...

'for eight months now.'

Was in a bike shop which I was in when I left school,

I was there for about five years, which was good, but it was

just sort of...sort of a not going to go anywhere sort of a job.

Like, it was all right cos I like riding, but it got a bit boring

and it was just dealing with moody customers every day,

the same shit, innit?

Never gets - never changes.

You spend a great deal of time with your dad. How does that work out?

It takes its toll sometimes.

I think we get on a lot better than I thought we would when I took the job.

I knew it was going to be hard,

because we're both very argumentative and quite stubborn.

He's definitely more stubborn than I am.

I know for a fact he's a lot harder on me

than he would be on other people.

I see where he's coming from cos he wants me

to learn things quicker and he wants to push me harder.

He knows what he's doing and I do sort of listen, eventually.

You can get away with a bit more in the way that, like,

if you fuck up, you've got a few more second chances.

D'you know what I mean?

But, yeah, it's all right. He is quite tolerant.

I mean, I do fuck up a lot.

I can't remember the last time, like, I referred to him as my stepdad.

He's been there for so long.

I don't even remember, like, my biological father, like.

I can't remember him at all.

I just do not give a shit about him.

Like, if I saw him in the street,

I literally wouldn't even acknowledge him.

Like, he's nothing to me but a sperm donor.

So, like, Darren is my dad. He's my dad.

Yeah, he's cool.

We argue, but he's cool.

Mind that wall. Mind that wall.

Oooh! L plates!

My mum was born in Romanian...

um...in Romania, but I was born in England,

so Mummy had to teach me Romanian and Dad taught me English.

Alexandra grew up in London,

but her life has always had an international flavour.

At 14, she was making frequent visits to Europe

where her father was working.

So, Alex, last time we filmed, we were in Brussels,

and now we find you in Paris.

Tell me about how you landed in this particularly beautiful flat.

Well, I'm here on my year abroad, so I study in London usually,

and as part of my degree, cos I study French literature,

I have to do a year abroad.

So I decided to come to Paris and take a mixture of politics and law

and things that are vaguely more useful than literature.

For me, I felt that I would work better kind of in the real world

and not in sort of a student bubble.

Cos I think that when you leave university,

sometimes it can be quite a shock

if you've been on one of these campus universities

and you don't really know how to function,

so I thought kind of living in a real-life situation

would sort of get me used to networking

and interacting with people who are...

normal people of different ages,

cos, I mean, not everyone is sort of 18, 20.

Mark is 39 and Rika is 28, so it's quite a difference, but I find

I tend to get on better with people who are maybe a bit older as well.

I thought loads of candles to fight the smell.

Yeah, but have you talked to him about it?

Yeah, I don't... I don't really know.

If it doesn't stress you, then it's fine, but... PHONE RINGS

Bonjour.

I love Paris. There is a very big difference in cultures.

I like that they take their time to enjoy life more.

Enjoy simpler pleasures.

At the same time, there's a huge difference in attitude.

I find people here are slightly more abrupt.

It takes some getting used to.

I like it because it kind of reminds me

that I'm going to graduate soon and I have to get myself together

and figure out what I'm going to do, and I think that

being in a big city makes you more comfortable with the fact that

you're going to be on your own and just sort of forging your own path.

We first met Ryan, aged seven, with his friend Gemma

at her birthday party in Bolton, Lancashire.

Tell me why you like Gemma.

Because she's beautiful.

A cute face.

Her mum and dad is nice

and her house is nice.

And he thinks... And he thinks my daddy's really funny.

Yeah. He says, "Hello, big ears."

Born three months prematurely, Ryan has cerebral palsy,

a condition affecting speech and mobility.

It's really just to have an image in your head about what it would

look like when they went to war in 1914, OK?

When I was seven and they filmed me, they asked me what are my wishes.

And I said, to jump. And now I can jump.

But with some other things...

like I can't do what, like, other people do,

and that just frustrates me.

If I had a chance, I would rather not be disabled.

Because I was 14 last time,

it was just like I wasn't as good on my feet,

lost my balance quite a lot, and now I've got a bit better walking.

I mean, sometimes I do feel like I struggle with things,

but, like, I try and do things at my own pace.

I'd say I'm a lot more independent since last time.

As soon as I passed my test, it felt so good.

Just brilliant. Very, very good. I love driving. I love it.

I didn't have to rely on anyone taking me to college, trading.

I could just be...hop in my car and go places,

and it gives everyone a break and it gives me

my own independence,

and I just love the fact of that.

Well, I'm at university at the moment. I study sports studies.

I'm in my third year when I go back at the end of this month.

Hello, how you? All right?

Yeah, I'm not bad.

I work at Bolton Arena. I'm a sports coach there.

Mainly, I work with a group of people who've got Parkinson's Disease.

What you doing today? Your usual?

28, yeah.

I love, love, love working with the Parkinson group.

They're such a good bunch of people, what, despite what they've got

wrong with them, they can take everything in and, like,

try and do it as fast as they can on it.

Don't hardly give up. Don't hardly give up.

I just think that's great. That's absolutely brilliant.

Love to see that.

Do you think you're luckier than other children?

Well, all children are the same, though.

We may not be the same on the outside, like, look the same,

but we're the same in the inside.

I always wanted to study at the university that I'm at

so I chose to come to Paris and to do that.

I have friends that are going to Martinique, to Quebec,

to Switzerland, even, all kinds of places.

You've been privately educated. How do you look back on that?

I'm incredibly grateful

to have gone to my secondary school that I went to.

I honestly think it's one of the best schools in the world.

Because it was the first girl's school in the UK, they do

sort of drill it into you, the whole sort of feminist history,

and I think that when you compare yourself,

you meet other kids from other schools and you see, hang on,

there's something a bit different here of the way that we're thinking.

Obviously, when I was at school, there was just so much pressure

and stress and we were all kind of hating it,

but everyone who has gone to my school has come out thinking

that we have been told we can do whatever we want with our lives.

I just have to be smart enough about how I go about it,

but the world is my oyster.

I hate books. Still have to read them at school, though.

If somebody held up the best book in the world and a television,

yeah, a great big, big television, I would take the television.

I know it's a big TV, but I don't watch it much.

If I've got people over, normally just sit

and chat really or listen to music.

I read, like, I like true crime. Love me gangsters and stuff.

I'm not one to sit and read, like, fucking Harry Potter or something.

Couldn't think of anything, like, more boring.

I'd rather be on my bike than read a book.

I'm not an indoorsy person.

Well, I moved out when I was sort of 18.

From there, really, I just didn't have anyone to answer to,

just answer myself.

Go to work on time, come home, pay my bills,

and I enjoy the rest of my life.

I don't like relying on people, if I can.

Given everything on a plate, like - where's the achievement in that?

How important do you think it is to have money?

Really important cos you can't get nowhere without money,

unless you've got money you can't do anything.

What would you do with your first thousand pounds?

Er...

Probably buy my Stringfellows membership, something like that.

Would probably blow it on something proper stupid.

I've learnt that money does come and go and you're better off

to enjoy yourself and work hard, get your money and go and enjoy it.

I just spunk a lot of money,

but it doesn't, like it doesn't rule my life.

I like having money.

Money to me is like a ticket to do something.

Money to me is a ticket to get somewhere in life.

It's a ticket to saying, I'm going on holiday,

or...I don't think I want to be saving it or a mortgage.

I'm not bothered about that at all.

All I want to do is just enjoy myself.

If it means having no money in the bank, then so be it.

I used to ride, like, a jump bike, then I was too big,

so I got a BMX.

Yeah, it's either working or riding, really.

It's like a getaway.

Like, when you're out on your bike, nothing else bothers you.

It's like, leave problems at home, get on your bike, don't have

to speak to anyone if you don't want to, but wherever you go there's

always like people there, so you've always got your friends with you.

Friendship's, like, a massive part of it.

You don't just ride with anyone, really, you always go riding

with your mates and you meet people along the way sort of thing.

I look it as my...my sense of freedom

and just the way I chill with my mates.

Shoreditch in east London.

Orala is on her way to perform at an open mic night.

Good evening!

When I write a song, it's sort of like a manifestation

of an emotion of mine or a thought of mine or a situation of mine.

My songs give me so much joy, like, even if it's a sad song or whatever.

All right, next on stage, make some noise,

make her feel very welcome, give it up for Orala J, please.

Do you feel British, Orala?

Yeah, cos I did come from Britain

but I have the blood of Nigeria.

I don't know that that means but that's what my mummy says.

Orala, aged seven, had never visited Nigeria.

She lived with her mother and siblings in Hackney, east London.

My brother's got the same dad as me but I haven't met my dad,

my real dad.

And I've got a stepdad that's living with me right now.

I don't know my real dad because he left before I was born.

I was in year four and, like, we went to Nigeria

and I was staying at my auntie's house and, like, they took me

and my older sister and my older brother into a room

and there was a man sitting in the chair

and my auntie was like, "This is your dad."

I was like, "What?"

-It's somewhere else down the line.

-Down the line!

Oh, Lord have mercy!

Quit while you're ahead, Dad!

When we filmed Orala at 14, that man,

her biological father, had just come to London to live with them.

When my biological dad came into the picture, he was never a father to me.

He was just like a parasite that kind of sucked all the life

and energy out of my family.

So it got to the point where I just couldn't stand to have him around,

even though, like, he's my biological dad.

Like, he never tried to be a dad to me,

he never took an interest in my life.

# Summertime... #

He only, like, kind of appeared interested

when people were watching,

like when his friends were around.

Then he'd be like, "Oh, look at my talented daughter.

"Oh, look, she sings, oh, she's so smart."

I never felt like I have to pretend to have a type of relationship

that I don't have, if that makes sense.

So when he left, literally, me and my older sister celebrated.

It sounds terrible, but it was sort of like finally this fog,

this shadow that was over our family has been lifted

and there were no...there was no sadness that day.

There was joy.

Our Father we've come to worship you.

We've come to say Lord, you are the king of our lives.

You are the king of kings.

From a young age, we had a very close relationship with God.

You know, I had my mum and then I had my faith.

So I never felt the absence of a father figure because, like,

how we were raised was that really and truly God is our father,

like, our heavenly father type thing,

and he kind of just provides everything you need.

# I can see clearly now the rain has gone. #

At around 14 or 15 I kind of decided to kind of pursue it on my own,

like, to learn what, you know, a relationship with God is.

So I did, and it just got stronger and stronger and stronger.

There are certain things that I don't even have to worry about.

I just feel so secure in my life now, in my future.

Like, even though I don't know what it's going to entail,

I'm not scared about it because I believe God is orchestrating things

so that I'm going to have a great life.

Mum and Dad split up when I was in year 11.

It just wasn't right.

He's... It's hard to explain, really.

He's... I don't see him now. Don't know where he is.

When he was in my life, he was a good dad to me.

Me and my dad were really close even when my mum and dad split up.

And then he met his partner and we sort of, like, drifted apart.

We'd fall out quite a bit over stuff.

When he first disappeared, I was very upset.

I was like, how can you and Dad do that?

But you soon realise not to be immature, no point in getting upset.

No point. I'm dealing with it fine.

I just feel like I can't go down the route of, like, my father,

like... I've got to be higher,

be the total opposite of him.

It's been a tough year.

My grandad, he died of asbestosis.

I remember he was like a father figure to me,

he was, like, always there for me.

Always did stuff with him.

And if you go down to the next one....

-Yeah?

-Look at the ducklings!

Because he was working with asbestos, he was diagnosed with asbestosis,

which is a form of cancer in the lungs,

and it was incurable, unfortunately.

And he still kept his sprits high.

He was still positive he would overcome it.

-Hello, lovely.

-Are you OK?

-I'm fine, are you?

-Yeah, thank you.

Are you hungry?

Yeah. I am starving!

You're always starving!

I know! I know I am!

When are you back at uni?

I'm back on the 30th September.

8,000 words dissertation, I've got to do.

Well, don't leave it to the last minute.

No, I never do.

You did last time.

Yeah, well, I did.

Yeah, you did, you did.

It was really special up here for him. He loved it.

The family scattered his ashes on here,

cos he absolutely adored this garden.

Doesn't feel real now he's gone

because he was such a big part of my life.

Feels weird.

Tell me what it's like to be an only child.

Well, it's quite nice, actually, because you don't get bossed around.

Or you don't get, "Mummy, Alexandra said something rude to me,"

or anything like that.

My mum and I, our relationship tends to improve

the more distance there is between us.

She has a very set idea of how she wanted to bring me up.

Well, I think my mum was incredibly strict in my...my freedoms in my

teenage years, which I mean, I credit a lot of my discipline towards that.

We're both quite headstrong, and if there is a certain way

that we want things to be done, we will clash on that.

I mean, when I've been home in the past,

just on holidays, like, we do argue.

I think it's normal, though.

I find myself now understanding why my mother acted in certain ways

that she did and going back and thanking her for that

and actually behaving in ways that she wanted me to behave when

I was going through the rebellious years of being a teenager and then

now realising, ah, OK, I understand why she wanted me to do that.

So that's kind of become part of my character now.

The Moslem community in Glasgow was home to seven-year-old Asif.

A big part of Asif's childhood was the daily study of the Koran.

Koran gives a set of rules we must follow.

I'm not allowed to drink alcohol. I'm not allowed to smoke.

I'm not allowed to go to discos, not allowed to have a girlfriend

and I'm not allowed to dance with girls.

14, I didn't think for myself.

I was making sure that everybody else was happy.

I felt like what I wanted wasn't important, and what I wanted

in my mind wasn't important, the goals that I wanted to achieve

was what other people wanted.

The 14-year-old is just not me.

I don't know, I was a bit like a puppet as a kid.

Like it was just like, "Asif, you need to do this, off you go, go."

I went to mosque and that expectation was there,

you know, why is he not going to mosque as he grew up?

Like, I still pray but, like, I don't... I seldomly go to mosque.

I'll go to Friday prayer, but you know people are like,

why is he not going three, four times a day any more?

They expect you to act a certain way and then if you don't conform to it

then people sort of shun you, they don't speak to you, like,

it's not the religion, it's the culture, like the way the people are.

It's like if you're not doing a certain thing or in a certain way,

then you're just shunned.

My mum and dad are from, like, a different generation.

We don't always see eye to eye,

and cos I'm grown up I don't always agree with what I'm told.

So I feel like I'm going through that phase of like when most

16- or 17-year-olds did it at school,

but I'm doing it now, like, making my own choices.

And I'll make my mistakes, but I want them to be my mistakes

and not anyone else's.

Me going to uni, I feel like, even though it's a different culture,

it's not necessarily wrong.

After finishing college,

Asif gained a place at Paisley University to study law.

I feel like a lot of my friends that are Asian, they feel like,

oh, well, we'd rather just stick with the one group.

Not like... Not mix, and I just think they're another person.

I just...I'm interested to hear what they say

and let's have a good time, like, why does that matter?

Things that are wrong are actually brought before a court.

The persons are actually convicted. So you've got the ...

The challenge that Asif faced at the age of 13

was when he was assessed as being dyslexic.

Other people within the culture told me you shouldn't let people know.

Like, that you have got this thing,

because, like, people look at you in a different way.

When I was at school, like, I could feel like my friends

getting involved with stuff and getting places,

but cos I was dyslexic,

I don't think it really held me back, but I felt like people

thought I wasn't capable, so then I thought I wasn't capable of it.

But then I used to get the grades but then I wouldn't...

like, I would be like, oh,

I didn't believe, like, I was deserving of them.

The first stuff was easy, this stuff I don't even remember doing it.

Then you're made to feel ashamed of it,

so you don't really tell what your needs are.

But now I realise it's nothing, it doesn't really matter.

I put an A and a C in a different way - what's the big deal?

We've got spell check.

Do you want to know a story about my family?

Do you know why my daddy isn't here?

He moved away, because they were

arguing too much. So, he just moved away and lived...

..and lived with HIS mummy and daddy.

And that made me very sad.

Smile! Pretend! Look happy!

What relationship do you have with your father now?

Well, he moved out when I was four

and he actually passed on when I was nine.

Yeah.

What effect do you think that that has had on your life?

Well, one thing was, I never really got to speak to him

an awful lot after I... after he moved out.

You know, when him and my mum split up.

Now, you're going to have a heart attack!

THEY LAUGH

Oh, Jaysus!

'I finished my A levels,

'went and spent two years at Belfast Metropolitan College

and studied software engineering.

I made a lot of great friends there.

Then, I went down to Queen's University, Belfast,

'and I'm doing computer science.

'It's always been somewhere I wanted to go to.

'One of the best universities.

'I'm quite happy there. Really enjoying it so far.

My mum will probably kill me for saying this,

but she was always a pushy parent. I mean that in the nicest way possible.

"You have to go here. I want you to go there.

"That's a good school, you have to go there.

"I want you to go to university, you have to. I didn't, so you have to."

Probably not a bad thing, looking back.

I meant to post that on your page today, so I was like...

It's a lot of money and those are the only the ones that you remember

to get stamped.

'I left home, first, last year, with one of the people

'I currently live with and two other people.'

It probably wasn't as big a change for me as it might have been

for most people, because I'm moving within Belfast.

What amount of money did we work out that you've spent on...

200 quid for a T-shirt.

'I just knew that I had to do it, at some point.

If I didn't, you know, get it over and done with, make that first

initial step of getting myself out the door, I might never do it.

With your new hipster haircut. Who do you think you are - Morrissey?!

'Both my house mates are studying'

music technology, both at Queens, with me.

Jamie, this looks very morbid. That looks like a noose.

-I thought that, as well. It actually does.

-That is a noose.

'She plays in a band. I've known both of them for,'

you know, a couple of years, like. I mean, we've always got on very well.

Jamie, how many times have you seen the band?

Too many. Too many.

'We've seen them more times than some of the members of the band have!'

Cos my auntie was telling me there was, like, iron in Guinness and all.

I really wish you hadn't said that, because now I can actually taste it.

SHE LAUGHS

You know, having left home, do you

enjoy your independence now, as well?

Yeah. And I think I value it. I mean it is,

'it's important to have people there to help you out when you need it.'

But I like to be able to stand on my own two feet, to some extent.

Hey!

-Do not bring those dogs near me.

-Asif, they're not alligators.

No, please don't!

'I met my friends at college.

'I was quiet at the beginning, which is surprising and then we just

'started talking about stuff, like music and that, and then I became

'super-loud and they became quiet.'

It's going to bite me.

'Sometimes, they give me confidence that I didn't have in school -'

"You can do it. You're OK.

"You've got a brain. Your opinion's useful."

What are you going to do if Simon Cowell hears you?

THEY SING ALONG TO RADIO MUSIC

-What are you doing after this year?

-Get a job, like a normal person.

I may apply for a paralegal job.

You should get that sorted.

MUSIC PLAYS

# I'll take somebody on! #

SHE LAUGHS

I get the feeling

from everybody that you like music.

Mum wouldn't be too pleased about this one.

She think it's all the devil's music. Yeah.

I mean, I listen to Top 40 music, just like any 21-year-old person.

HE SINGS ALONG TO MUSIC

What do you listen to?

'You really going to ask me what I listen to?!

I told you, Top 40. Basically, Rihanna.

HE GIGGLES

-God.

-Why are you laughing?

Because it's... It's cringy.

People are going to be like - Asian guy liking Rihanna.

Come on. It's not very manly!

'The job at Relay has been great.

'They offered me an opportunity there to start in July.

'Really enjoy it and they asked me to stay on

'and they've been really helpful, in terms of letting me'

fit the work around university and around other things.

'It's software development. Computer programming.

'Maybe it doesn't sound like the most exciting thing.

'It's not much to look at, because it's, you know,

'it's a real sort of mental thing. But I do really enjoy it.'

I mean, in a way, I think it's creative.

It's almost like, it's almost like a kind of art, maybe,

because you are creating something.

So, you chose to live away from home.

Does that put a financial pressure on you, at all?

'Even when I lived at home, I would always try and contribute something.

'It is always going to be more expensive living away.

'If you're careful enough with the money that you've got,

'you can do OK. The student loan helps a lot.'

Do you worry about money?

In truth, no, not really.

'And I don't particularly want to be rich, anyway.

'It wouldn't really make an awful lot of difference to me.'

It would be wasted on me.

Follow the leader, Jamie.

'What I do value, I value my friends and I do value my family.

'My brother is a great musician, as well.

'He's a fantastic guitarist. He's currently studying music in Bangor.'

He's getting on really, really well there.

I know that, and really, really proud of him. I really am.

And I'm glad that it is working out for him.

OK, salsa. Oh, OK.

'I never feel alone, because I have such a loving family. One thing

'I've really grown to appreciate is the fact that, with my family,

'they get me, they understand me. Well, they understand me

'more than most people do. We just support each other and we're

'just there for each other. They are, literally,

'they're my best friends and I'm their best friend.'

I love this!

# The time of my life And I never felt this way before... #

I love this!

'They, kind of, take every sadness of mine

'as theirs, and every success of mine, as theirs.'

THEY LAUGH

So, you spread the bacteria out across the plate.

Remember, what you're trying to do is take a concentrated load

of bacteria and, basically, just dilute them round the plate,

so you end up with single colonies.

'I did biology, chemistry, maths and physics. I'm interested in medicine.

'I'm interested in diseases. I'm interested in the human body.

'I'm interested in how things work'

and I never knew that that's what the degree biomedical sciences is.

I never knew that it just, kind of, perfectly, kind of, sums up

everything that I'm interested in.

'Reading is great, because my university's there

'and that's about it.

'I'm cool with the quietness, cos I don't really like going out'

and, kind of, drinking and going to pubs and stuff.

And that's, sort of, the scene that is the norm at uni,

so I don't really enjoy that, because it's not what I do, really.

Hi guys! So, I'm back with another video.

I'm back. So, I'm going to quickly do my hair.

I'm going to do some swing dancing, so I'm just going to show you

what hairstyle I'm going to do and, yes...

'I spend a lot of my time at home. Like, I spend a lot of my time

'in my head, thinking about things. I spend a lot of my time

'on my computer. I'm always doing something, even if it's blogging

'or music or creating a new product, or cooking.

'I'm always doing something.'

MUSIC PLAYS

All right, guys, so that's it.

This is how the hairstyle came out, so let me do a quick 360.

If you guys have any questions, let me know,

and I'll see you in the next video, which, hopefully, will be soon, OK?

So, bye, bye! Bye-bye! Mwah! Bye.

'Sex without love is a waste, man. It's a waste and, like,'

I don't believe that 14-year-olds can feel, like, the intense feeling

of love. Like, fair enough, you have a crush

or you have, like, 14-year-old love, yeah, but you don't have love,

kind of thing.

MUSIC PLAYS

'I don't have a boyfriend at the moment.

'When I was 17, I decided that I am not going to just date

'for the sake of dating. I saw a lot of people that couldn't function,

'like, or couldn't be happy without being in a relationship

'and I just didn't think that that was healthy, I guess.

'I was like, "Unless I really, really like someone,'

"I'm not going to date anyone. Before then, I had a few boyfriends,

but they weren't... They weren't, like, serious.

'So, now I'm 21, I still haven't met anyone that

'I really wanted to date and I just don't feel the need for it.'

I'm not closed off to love. It's just that it will happen

when it happens and it's not something I actively search for.

Do you think that the man that you might end up marrying

would have to be Christian, as well?

Christian, yes. Definitely.

Definitely. Just because it's such a big part of my life. Yeah.

That's the one thing. It doesn't matter what colour he is,

it doesn't matter, like, what politics, what job,

but Christian is my only deal-breaker.

FRENCH RAP MUSIC

-What? He's Romanian? What's his name?

-Andreas.

-OK.

Oh, my God. You have to introduce me.

'I do admit that it's slightly strange growing up in an

'all-female environment and then, once you leave, or maybe around

'the ages of, sort of, 14, 15, you don't really know how to act

'around boys. I remember those were an awkward few years for me

'and all of my colleagues, but when you leave, it's fine'

and you realise that everyone is probably just as awkward

as everyone else and you all just get thrown into life together

and figure it out.

You're not in a relationship. And this is what he said to me,

"I'm getting none of the benefits of being in a relationship,

"yet feel I'm in one."

'To this day, I still tend to socialise with my close group

'of girlfriends.'

Not that I have anything against socialising with boys,

but I think boys at this stage tend to have their minds somewhere else.

If you're seven and you are a little boy, it's like, if you're not

really nice, you don't really understand about girls.

'I do have a boyfriend at the moment and we've been together for about

'one and a half years now. He's in London at the moment.

'We probably see each other once every five weeks,

'but for me, my priority here is to really make the most

'of my time as an Erasmus student,'

so in my studies, but also in going out, socialising with my friends.

Just really... And he knows that. I mean, I've made that clear.

'This is my time now, to use it to the absolute best,

'sort of, potential that I can.'

He's important to me, but he knows that that's my priority,

so that will come second for this year.

You talk a lot about, you know, partying and everything.

Tell me about your social life.

'If I do go out, I like to go out properly.

'I don't go to a shitty little nightclub in Windsor.'

If I go out, I go to London or go to Bristol.

I got to, like, a big party. We do it properly.

'Well into my hip-hop. Like grime, old grime.

London is massive for, like, drum and bass and dubstep.

HOUSE MUSIC PLAYS

-What kind of scene is that?

-If you go to a drum and bass rave

with the hope of meeting a bird, you've got no hope.

'It's a sweaty place. Like, you don't not dress up,

'but if I go to a rave, I'll probably go in a pair of shorts.

'It's just, go there, have jokes and go with your mates and dance about.'

And is there a big drug culture at that scene?

There's a massive drug culture there. Yeah, it's huge.

-What drugs?

-It's pills and stuff like that, really.

You must know. Can't not know, can you? It's, like, massive!

SHE SINGS

'One of the things I don't do is'

pre-marital sex. I don't believe in sex outside of marriage, for me.

'That's one of the ways I try to live my life for God,

'as opposed to for myself, if that makes sense.

'So, it's something that we were brought up with,

'but, I mean, it wasn't something that, kind of, was real to me

'until I was a teenager'

and that's because that's when everyone started having sex

and then that's when I actually had to decide what I thought about it.

'It's not something I talk about, but in instances where it has come up,'

people are like, "What? How old are you?" And then, I'm, like, "21."

"And you've never had sex?" "No."

And then, they just freaked out. Like, completely freaked out.

And it's like, "Why does it affect you so much?

"It's not you. It's me. It's not you."

Always got a girlfriend at school. But she's probably going to dump me.

She's got fed up with me already. I've only had her about...phew...

..a month. That was it.

And she's getting to the stage to dump me.

What about girls, though?

What about them?

What about them?!

-I mean, do you have an interest in girls?

-Yes. I'm not gay!

'I love being with my mates, but I also like classy girls

'and linking up with them. Quite confident with them.'

And what do you think you look for in a girl?

Don't know. Good looks. Good looks, good body.

HEAVY ROCK MUSIC PLAYS

-You got a girlfriend now, have you?

-Yes.

Tell me a little bit about Marie.

'She's French. Studying film production

'at South Bank Uni.'

-He doesn't wait long, does he?

-Huh?

-You didn't wait long.

'We're quite happy to just go out and just chill. Do basically nothing.

'We went to the Ministry of Sound and next day, just walked round London.

'It's cool just to have someone to do that with.'

I'm a wing man - just someone to go along with, someone to be with.

"Oh, I want to go to London, like, shopping." Yeah, she'll come.

'Maybe like, in the future... Like, kids and marriage, that's like

'not even, at all, in my brain. Does not bother me one bit.'

So many people I went to school with have got kids and like, yeah,

they're obviously happy but I think, if that was me,

I'd be pissed, cos that's just the end, isn't it?

You can't go out and party all night and ride, if you've got kids,

can you? That's it. That's it. That is your ball and chain.

Are you not interested in having a girlfriend?

Oh, no!

Yeah. If I like a girl,

then, yeah, if she likes me, then, yeah.

How do you approach a girl?

Oh, lord!

Ask her, like, what she likes doing.

Ask her..ask her what she has, like, for tea.

And, eventually, once you get her,

once you get to know her, ask her out

and, hopefully, she'll say "Yeah".

GENERAL HUBBUB

I think we are, literally, the youngest people in this room.

-Oh, I'm not. You two are.

-I don't know.

Yeah, probably are.

ALL LAUGH

Oh, hang on a minute. To your right, to your right, to your right.

Some young ladies have just walked in. Yeah, he's seen him.

-Go and talk to them.

-I think you should go and give it a shot.

-I'm not even drinking.

-It doesn't matter!

-How are you? All right?

-I'm not bad. You?

-I'm good.

-Good to see you.

-What are you doing now?

-I'm at uni.

-Are you at uni? What are you doing?

-I'm doing sports studies.

-Are you? You've always been into sport.

-Do you like it?

-Yeah, I love it.

-Well, I'll leave you to it. See you later. Bye.

-See you later.

Go on. Out of ten. what are you going to give her?

-Out of ten, out of ten.

-Shut up!

-Come on. Out of ten?

-Eight.

-Eight.

-Eight? Ooh!

-It's just down here, isn't it?

-Yeah, turn left.

-All right.

'I have been a member of the Alliance Party of Northern Ireland

'about a year or two now, I suppose.

'I've always found politics interesting growing up,

'but I think, just because of the situation in Northern Ireland,

'it's quite unusual, and I do think'

things have got a lot better, certainly, don't get me wrong,

things have got a lot better, but I think that we still have

an issue with sectarianism here.

Do you ever hear people talk about religious differences?

Do you know what the difference is between Catholics and Protestants?

No. What is the difference?

'Of course, people will still attempt to label you as one or the other,

'but I don't feel that either applies to me,

'because I was not raised either way, which, I guess, does put me in

'a definite minority there, because most people would have leanings

'one way or another. I do not.'

DOG BARKS

You have to be so careful they don't jump and try to catch your fingers.

-I know!

-Yeah.

'It troubles me the idea that somebody,

'just because their background would be Catholic or just because

'their background is Protestant, that somebody would hate them'

just for that. If you were in a place without religion,

with race, I think it would maybe be easier for people to understand

why sectarianism annoys me so much.

If somebody said, in England, in this day and age,

"Oh, you can't go to that school, that's a school for white children,

"you're black," there would be outrage and there would be outrage

and quite right that there would be outrage.

But it almost seems OK, to some people, to say something

like that here, in Belfast, in 2013.

And that is wrong. And it's absolutely wrong.

SHE CHAPS LETTERBOX

Hello, very pleased to meet you. I'm Anna Lo, MLA for South Belfast.

-What a day!

-'To be honest with you,'

I don't want to become involved in politics,

but I'm also not going to sit on my backside and do nothing.

And if I don't go out there and do something,

I think I'm a part of the problem.

I think being involved with a party like Alliance is a good platform

to try and change things here.

Ready?

WHISTLE BLOWS

'I love playing sport and then I found a sport that I was eligible

'to play, called wheelchair rugby.'

And, instantly, I feel in love with the sport.

Anthony, out. Danny.

Josh.

'Basically, last year, I got selected to go

'to a screening camp for the GB talent squad,'

which is, basically, a development squad leading up to Rio.

'I really want to get somewhere in this sport,

'so I train five times a week. I have, like,

'a strength and conditioning coach. I have, once a week,

'a two-hour session, down in Leigh, which my mum runs.

'She teaches fitness.'

OK, well done. Half court. Space line, please.

'To play the sport, to enjoy the sport and to,

'ultimately, hopefully,'

go to the Paralympics.

I'd love that.

Be like the icing on the cake for me, that.

Be absolutely superb.

Just that whole lifestyle of being an elite athlete, be just great.

Be just fantastic.

And now, as fast as you can.

'I have to make a choice between my career and fulfilling

'professional goals and having a family.'

'You are only here for a certain amount of time

and, when you're old, I think, family is what surrounds you

'and having people around you, that's the most important thing.

'But I'm also conscious of the fact that, in my early twenties,

'I just want to have this drive to be successful. I think for the next'

10-15 years, I'll probably be, sort of, going crazy,

trying to accomplish whatever goals I decide to.

'I feel I'm doing a lot better than a lot of other 21-year-olds.

'Got an all right job, got a good bunch of friends,'

got, like, my calm. I'm pretty happy, like.

Got my own place. Can't really moan, can I?

'When I went to Marie's uni, it, sort of, like, opened my eyes.

'I, sort of, partially wished I went to uni.

'I don't know if it was just the education or just cos I like

'that sort of life. I feel I missed out a little bit there.

HOUSE MUSIC PLAYS

'But when I was at college, after a while, I though, "I just don't want

"to be doing this any more. I want to be making some money.

"I want to be an adult, not sat in a classroom.

'Even if you're at uni, in my eyes, you're still a kid.

'You're still going to lessons. It's not a childish thing,

'cos obviously you get a degree and stuff, but I think'

you become an adult when you leave education and you get a job.

That's when you become an adult, I think.

'When I finish uni and graduate and if I get a job somewhere.

'I want to go to London. Maybe move to the United States.

'I don't think I want to live in Glasgow any more.

'It's a big world out there and I want to explore stuff.'

Does that clash, at all, with any sense of expectation of what

your family would like for you?

'I think they'll maybe want me to get married and stay in Glasgow,

'but I don't want to.'

My family want some stuff, but I'm not like... I don't know

if I really will be able to live up to that expectation.

# The space between

# You and me

# When you call me... #

'I think, now, I'm at that point where I don't feel

'obligated to live up to anybody else's standards but my own.'

# The day that you're alone... #

I think I had, like, the type of realisation a few years ago,

where it was, sort of, like,

"Do you know what, only you live this life."

# It's poetry

# In the space between... #

'Like, this life in this body, only you live it.

'Other people, they have opinions about it,

'but they don't have to live with it.'

Thank you very much. And thank you to the band!

You guys - seriously!

In part two, we'll meet the other children

whose journeys we began at the age of seven.

What would you do in Hollywood?

Be a star.

'I can imagine myself watching TV, Match Of The Day,'

watching England. I can see myself in that centre-mid position.

'I want to get to the Olympics'

in 2012.

'God's in charge of every country'

in the world. He's king of the world, him.

'When I was younger I wanted to be an archaeologist,

'only to find out later on that I was scared of corpses.'

Tell me how you get on at school.

It's really good. It's cool. Yeah, man. Whoo-hoo!

Phew. Now that is a different story entirely.