What happened to 7 Up participant Nick Hitchon?

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NICK Hitchon was one of the original children whose lives were followed for well over half a century in the groundbreaking Up documentary series.

The Yorkshire farmer’s son went on to become a respected scientist and university professor in the US after first appearing on screen as a six-year-old in 1964.

Who was Nick Hitchon from 7 Up?

William Nicholas Hitchon grew up in a farming family in Littondale in the Yorkshire Dales.

Although 7 Up focused on children aged seven, Nick was only six when he was chosen for the original World in Action documentary.

Asked about his future, the youngster memorably said he wanted to “find out all about the moon and all that”.

His interest in science proved to be a lasting one – Nick went on to study at Merton College, Oxford, before earning a doctorate and moving to the US in 1982.

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The couple later divorced, and Nick married Cryss Brunner in 2001.

How did Nick Hitchon die?

Nick was diagnosed with cancer in the years before he appeared in 63 Up in 2019.

During that programme, he spoke openly about being seriously ill and having to consider his mortality.

Despite his illness, Nick continued working at the University of Wisconsin.

On July 23, 2023, he sadly passed away from throat cancer at the age of 65.

His dedication to his students continued until the very end.

Long-time Up producer Claire Lewis told Times Higher Education: “Until the last moment, just before he died, Nick was marking his students’ dissertations on his phone.

“He was so ill and yet his brain was completely all there. His commitment to his students was unbelievable.”

Will Nick Hitchon appear in 70 Up?

Nick will make a posthumous appearance in the final instalment of the Up series.

Following the death of long-time director Michael Apted in 2021, there had been doubts over whether another edition of the programme would be made.

But Claire revealed that the terminally ill Nick contacted her because he wanted to record one final interview.

She travelled to the US with a camera crew despite 70 Up not yet having been commissioned.

Nick died just three days after they filmed the interview while Claire was flying home from Chicago.

His final contribution helped convince the team to bring the extraordinary TV experiment to a close with 70 Up.