Star of 7 Up makes heartbreaking appearance in 70 Up documentary after he filmed interview just three days before dying

A Star of 7 Up who died three years ago will make a surprise appearance in the 70 Up documentary after he filmed an interview just three days before he passed away. Nick Hitchon previously revealed he was 'seriously ill' with throat cancer, saying he could only focus on the 'short-term future' due to his prognosis. He had been recorded alongside others every seven years from the age of seven for the experimental documentary series. Mr Hitchon, a scientist, had revealed in an episode of 63 Up, seven years ago, that he had been diagnosed with terminal cancer. He died aged 65 just three days after filming scenes for the latest episode of 70 Up. Most of the original cast have taken part in this 70 Up final however Lynn Johnson died in 2013 and Charles Furneaux chose not to take part in 28 Up but has made a return this year. Viewers are now being warned to prepare for heartache over Mr Hitchon's death as it was thought he would not have been alive to take part in the latest series. He died in July 2023 after moving to Wisconsin in the US. The scientist asked the TV crew to include his last scene in the final episode. Scientist Nick Hitchon revealed in 63 Up that he had been diagnosed with throat cancer He first appeared in 7 Up, filmed in 1964, as a child. The show is filmed every seven years Mr Hitchon said: 'I had a stroke last autumn and apparently they asked numerous times if they should just let me die. 'I had no idea I was going to be this ill and I had no idea I was going to keep living.'It's a surprise to my doctors that I'm still around. Curious really. One was saying "it does happen that people survive" but made it clear he didn't expect it. They should train them to be more tactful.'In the latest series, Mr Hitchon is seen going to the hospital and is lifted into a wheelchair but he said he feels 'guilty' because everyone is 'picking up the slack'. He said: 'I just hobble around on my walker and at the hospital they have to get me into a wheelchair instantly.' Mr Hitchon originally appeared in Seven Up! – the first iteration of the programme – in 1964. The series charted the lives of a group of seven-year-old children who had contrasting backgrounds and grew up in various parts of the country, both rich and poor, rural and urban. Mr Hitchon, a farmer's son who grew up in the Yorkshire Dales, went on to become a nuclear fusion scientist and was a professor at the University of Wisconsin until his retirement. Mr Hitchon, pictured here at 14 years old, went on to study at Oxford and became a scientist 70 Up will air on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV1. The cast (pictured) gathered in London for a private screening of the series finaleIn Seven Up! he was first seen walking along a road near his home in Littondale and, when later asked if he had a girlfriend, memorably he said: 'I don't want to answer that. I don't answer those kind of questions.'But he prophetically also told viewers: 'When I grow up, I'd like to find out all about the moon and all that.'He passed away after a throat cancer diagnosis. Mr Hitchon said then that he was unlikely to live beyond the end of 2020.He had called up producer Claire Lewis and told her about his diagnosis, saying he wanted to record one final interview.Ms Lewis said: 'We all decided that we should make another film and (began) looking for a director.'Of its original 14 cast members – ten boys and four girls – 11 appeared in the programme in 2019, which followed on from 56 Up in 2012 and 49 Up in 2005.Seven Up! had been inspired by the Jesuit maxim 'give me the child until he is seven and I will give you the man'. Mr Hitchon asked the TV crew to include his last scene in the final episode Mr Hitchon had called up producer Claire Lewis and told her about his diagnosis, saying he wanted to record one final interviewIt was commissioned as a 40-minute special for ITV's World in Action series.The original plan was to only catch up the children in the year 2000 but it was then decided that the children would be re-visited in 1970 and then every seven years thereafter.Mr Hitchon was chosen to appear by Michael Apted, who began his involvement as a researcher on the first programme.Mr Apted had found it difficult to recruit a rural child who was willing to talk in front of the camera, but then chanced upon Hitchon at his Church of England primary school.He featured despite the fact that he was only six when the show aired. The eldest of three boys, he was the son of farmer Guy Hitchon and his wife Iona.Mr Hitchon and his younger brother were the only boys in the tiny hamlet of Hawkswick, where their family farmed. In 7 Plus Seven, the first follow-up, Hitchon was a teenage boarder at Yorkshire grammar school but had no interest in following his father into farming.Seven years later, in 21 Up, Hitchon was studying physics at Merton College, Oxford, and expressed his anger at how some viewers perceived him in the first show. Pictured: The cast gather for a picture for 21 Up, which aired in May 1977 After he revealed his diagnosis Mr Hitchon said he was unlikely to live beyond the end of 2020He told Mr Apted: 'One of my friends had me pointed out to him as being destined to run the farm and being educationally pretty inept.'He added that he had made a 'conscious effort to be more outgoing'.By 28 Up in 1984 Hitchon had reached the level of assistant professor at the University of Wisconsin, which he had joined in 1982.He was a researcher in nuclear fusion in the department of electrical and computer engineering, where he remained until his retirement.He had been married to fellow Oxford undergraduate Jacqui Bush since 1979 and told how moving to the US had given him new opportunities and a standard of living that he could not have had in Britain.Mr Hitchon also explained his transition from child to adult, saying: 'Trying to become a reasonably well-adjusted person was for me a bit of a struggle for a while and I was given a fantastic opportunity when I went to university, and that really saved my bacon.'By the time of 42 Up in 1998, Mr Hitchon had been a professor at Wisconsin for four years.In the two further documentaries before 63 Up, Mr Hitchon experienced the birth of his son, divorce from his first wife, remarriage to his second wife and the ailing health of his parents.By the time of 63 Up, both of his parents had passed away. Asked how he compared to the boy who viewers first saw, he said: 'I'm still the same little kid, really.'I think I can relate to that little guy who was all eager and all earnest trying to answer all the questions.'He also revealed his throat cancer diagnosis and said then that he was unlikely to live beyond the end of 2020. Mr Hitchon's passing was the second death among the original group. The first came in 2013, when Lynn Johnson passed away.Until his retirement, Mr Hitchon was a respected professor in the department of electrical and computer engineering at the University of Wisconsin.He had worked at the institution since 1982, after gaining a doctorate in engineering science from the University of Oxford.70 Up will air on Tuesday at 9pm on ITV1. READ MORE - ROBERT HARDMAN: The last ever series of 7 Up has become a lament for a lost Britain - and a generation who only asked for a hand up, not a handout