Child Of Our Time

DOCUMENTARY EVENT OF THE YEAR!
Premiere Week: Wed - Fri (24 - 26 August) 10pm
Every Thurs from 1 Sep, 10pm


About the Show

A Child Of Our Time follows a new British generation as they develop from the womb into adulthood.Twenty-five very different families are taking part in this unique experiment, which will follow the children’s growth and development over a twenty year period.

The opening programmes tell the story of parents and their babies, all born during January 2000, whose lives will be documented by the BBC over the next 20 years.The series aims to uncover the truth behind an enormous number of theories, such as whether talking to a baby in the womb or playing music has an impact on the foetus, and how much personality is inherited.

A Child Of Our Time also examines key influences in society, such as the difference between being born into a remote farming community in Yorkshire, being the child of a single mother in a hostel for the homeless in an inner city or being born to a mother who is disabled.

The 21 families who have volunteered for this unique project probing the secret life of the foetus were chosen because they offer different environments - emotionally, financially and in their ambitions - and because they will give their children different genes, mapping tendencies for sporting prowess, physical appearance, dyslexia, hyperactivity, eczema, risk-taking, spatial awareness and anxiety.

Each of the children, with their own unalterable genes, will be brought up in an environmental cauldron which shapes them.The way genes work in particular environments is just beginning to be disentangled by science and, as the series progresses through the years, answers to the question, "nature or nurture?", will become clearer.

Executive producer Tessa Livingstone says: "This series represents a unique event, witnessing the birth of a group of British babies at the beginning of the new Millennium and following them from conception through birth and childhood.

"We use the most advanced techniques in DNA diagnostics, cognitive psychology, embryology and neuroscience to track the progress of the Millennium babies as they grow.We will get the first ever view of the biological and social factors which will help shape a child in the 21st century."










8-days write-up on the program