49 Up Page #14

as a potential politician,

even though I am already 49.

I worry about the quality

of our democracy.

I worry in particular

about this government,

not because they're socialists

and they're to round us all up

and take us off to Trafalgar

Square in tumbrels

to face the guillotine.

Far from it.

In fact, Tony Blair is a very

good conservative, as I see it,

but rather because

of the insidious damage

they're doing

to our constitution.

Rich children always make fun

of poor children, I think.

It's very irresponsible,

because we all want more money,

as much money as we can get.

The acquisition of sacks

and sacks of money

is not something that

I set much importance by.

I'm not money-minded,

I would say, in that sense.

I mean, obviously it's nice

to have a fair amount of money,

and money does enable you

to go on nice holidays,

buy nice things,

so on and so forth,

but as a goal in itself, no.

I mean, who wants to be the

richest corpse in the graveyard?

By the time he was 35,

John had a house in London

and another in the country.

I seem to spend an awful lot

of my time gardening furiously,

trying to tame the wilderness

that we inherited there.

I'd have laughed if, ten years

ago, you'd have told me

that I would spend

most of my time

digging herbaceous borders

and things,

but that's what I seem to do,

and I enjoy it.

One good thing about having quite

a large house in the country now

is that I have taken up

playing the piano.

It's a very nonchalant

little theme,

butter wouldn't melt

in its mouth,

so take it very quietly

and let it present itself. Off.

A couple of years ago, I did

start again and even practicing,

but I am afraid I've lost

an awful lot of dexterity.

Whether it's old age

and arthritis,

or whether it's falling off

horses too many times,

I don't know, but, I mean, I don't feel

I've got quite the dexterity in my fingers.

Certainly I can never tell the

difference between you playing

and the CD playing

when I'm out of the room.

Yeah, very good, very good.

Well, she's very diplomatic.

No, no.

When boys go round with girls, they don't

pay attention to what they're doing.

My grandmother had an accident

because a boyfriend

was kissing his girlfriend

in the street.

By 35, John had married Claire,

the daughter of a former

ambassador to Bulgaria.

It is coincidental

that we met,

but it's obvious

that the Balkan connection

was a strong mutual interest.

(speaking Bulgarian)

We have a charity,

friends of Bulgaria,

which started in 1991,

which actually made

quite a lot of money

which we invested in medicine

and took out to Bulgaria.

We support some children's homes

in Starazagora,

an institution

for disabled children,

and we make donations

to other charities.

People who go on about the government

butchering the national health service

I think should come

over to Bulgaria

to see what being kept short

of necessary supplies and funds

really does mean.

We've been told

that in some places,

it's impossible

to do even operations,

albeit they have

the operating theatres

and they have excellent doctors,

for want of simple anaesthetics.

Up till then,

there'd been no provision

for education

of disabled children,

so we started

what was called a paralleca,

which is parallel education

for the disabled,

and we've now got

two classes here.

My name Deanna.

Cristo Christoff.

Claire and I

have been giving prizes

to the most talented

children in this town.

The school that we're in

was actually built by my family

at the end of the 19th century.

And they also used

to present prizes

to the best children

from the school each year

right until the advent

of communism in 1944.

I come from a very old family

with big traditions of

service to this country,

and, really, when I come here,

I feel very proud of them,

because I feel, in so many ways,

they've helped build Bulgaria.

This church is quite interesting.

It was built by

my great-great-great

grandfather in 1835.

They say he made off

with 8 tons of gold,

and even today,

the mountains here are

full of treasure hunters

who keep digging up all

the caves and everything

in the hope of

finding the treasure.

I wish I could find it.

I mean, once I'd refunded

my equitable life pension fund,

I reckon if I shoot the horses,

shoot the wife

and only drink Bulgarian wine,

I may be able to retire

age 94 or something.

Straw Macanessy got

three minuses in a day.

He's a pest.

It has to be said

that I bitterly regret

that the headmaster of the school

where I was when I was seven

pushed me forward for this series,

'cause every seven years,

a little pill of poison is

injected into - (Claire) Oh, no.

Well, it's the truth.

There are times when I have

felt appearing on this

may get causes near to my

heart a bit of publicity

and certainly when you came to

Bulgaria for the 35Up program,

that did lead to us getting

quite significant assistance,

which possibly we

wouldn't have got.

Well, I think it's

a very good system.

I suspect that why this program

is compelling and

interesting for viewers,

and I quite see why it is,

is because, really,

it's like big brother or I'm

a celebrity, get me out of here!

It is actually real-life TV

and with the added bonus that

you can see people grow old,

lose their hair, get fat.

Fascinating, I'm sure,

but does it have any value?

That's a different question.

Well, we pretend we've got swords,

and we make the noise

of the swords fighting,

and once somebody stabs us,

we go, "Ahhhh."

Neil grew up in a Liverpool suburb.

He had dreams of going to Oxford,

but didn't get in.

Instead, he went

to Aberdeen University,

but dropped out

after the first term.

At 21, he was working

on a building site

and living in a squat.

I would like to be somebody

in a position of importance,

I have always thought,

but I don't think

I'm the right sort of person

to carry the responsibility

for whatever it is.

I always thought

"Well I'd love to be...

Possibly love to be in politics

or something like this."

By 28, he was homeless,

wandering around

the west coast of Scotland.

If the money runs out, well, then, for

a few days, there's nowhere to go to,

and that's all you can do.

I simply have to find

the warmest shed I can find.

(Michael) How do people

regard you here?

Well, I'm still known

as an eccentric.

I'm not claiming

that I feel as though

I am in some sort

of nirvana,

but I am claiming that if I was

living in a bedsit in suburbia,

I'd be so miserable, I'd

feel like cutting my throat.

At 35, we found him

living in a council estate

on the most northerly

part of Britain -

The Shetland Islands.

It's an environment

which sustains me,

it's one in which

I can survive.

The reason I don't feel safe

is because I think I am getting

more and more used to this lifestyle,

which, eventually,

I shall have to give up.

And what would you like to be

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