Child of Our Time Episode Guide

Episode Guide

Child of Our Time: Season 8 (2008)

• Season 8 Episode 3: 24 Hours

  The featured youngsters are filmed continuously for 48 hours, capturing every laugh, tear and movement. The research is then analysed to provide an understanding of what the daily life of an average British child entails. Last in series, presented by Professor Robert Winston. Part of the Modern Childhood season

• Season 8 Episode 2: The Age of Stress

  Professor Robert Winston explores the struggles of the featured children while at school. He considers whether the stresses of bullying and exams being taken from the age of seven are a good preparation for later life or just too much for some to cope with. Part of the Modern Childhood season

• Season 8 Episode 1: The Divide of the Sexes

  Exploring the struggle of the children, who are now eight-year-olds, to make sense of gender roles as their parents strive for equality. Professor Robert Winston considers what the youngsters are learning in a culture engrossed in sex, celebrity and consumerism

Child of Our Time: Season 7 (2007)

• Season 7 Episode 3: Killing Creativity

  Professor Robert Winston examines why children's creative potential has often disappeared by adulthood, and puts five of the families through a series of tests to see what can be done to maintain that imaginative spark. Last in series

• Season 7 Episode 2: Fitting In or Standing Out

  Professor Robert Winston finds out how the children, now aged seven, fit into groups. Like everyone they prefer to think of themselves as individuals but blending in can be a very useful strategy at times. As the presenter finds out, however, going too far in the direction of conformity has its own dangers

• Season 7 Episode 1: The Will to Win

  Professor Robert Winston presents the documentary series following the development of 25 children from their birth at the start of the millennium through to adulthood. He studies five of the families as his subjects reach the age of seven, exploring the psychology of success and asking whether an inner drive and determination to overcome the odds can see them through their childhoods

Child of Our Time: Season 6 (2006)

• Season 6 Episode 4: Your Recipe for Success

  Professor Robert Winston presents an interactive show in which the children's ability to pick up new skills is tested through a series of elaborate games and puzzles. He also meets people who use all their senses to learn, including a former world memory champion and a man with synaesthesia. Last in series

• Season 6 Episode 3: Right and Wrong

  Professor Robert Winston finds out how the six-year-olds are distinguishing between right and wrong, discovering the ways in which upbringing affects values in later life. He learns which circumstances cause children to lie, and uses a specially designed game of 'moral Mastermind' to assess whether the youngsters are more ethical than their parents

• Season 6 Episode 2: Flesh and Blood

  Professor Robert Winston examines how children's development is affected by the bonds with their siblings, a relationship thought to be even more important than that between parent and offspring. He asks why some brothers and sisters get on well and others loathe one another, and tests the youngsters' temperaments to learn how they respond to differential treatment

• Season 6 Episode 1: Happiness

  Professor Robert Winston assesses the youngsters' capacity for happiness. He discovers which areas of the brain develop self-confidence and contentment - and finds illuminating patterns when comparing the children's results with their parents'. Further tests identify the optimists and pessimists within the group, as well as revealing how resilient they are

Child of Our Time: Season 5 (2005)

• Season 5 Episode 4: Tried and Tested

  Professor Robert Winston follows seven of the featured children on their first day of school, examining the lasting influence this experience will have on their lives. Featuring an interactive quiz allowing viewers to put their own parenting skills to the test. Last in series

• Season 5 Episode 3: What Are Dads For?

  Professor Robert Winston examines the role of the father in a child's development, examining the experiences of three families facing very different problems. The Lagevelds have just split up, but are attempting to remain friendly for the sake of daughter Charlotte. Five-year-old Parys Lapper has never known his father and the only constant in his life is his disabled mother Alison, while Richard Price is attempting to balance being a responsible parent with his own artistic ambitions

• Season 5 Episode 2: State of Play

  Professor Robert Winston investigates the importance of play on a child's development, and considers the possible impact of TV and video games, with the aid of triplets Alice, Mabel and Phoebe, who live in a house where the TV is always on and frequently fall asleep in front of the screen

• Season 5 Episode 1: Identity Crisis

  Robert Winston continues his research into childhood development by examining how youngsters first become aware of social distinctions such as class and race. The millennium children face their first day at school, and Professor Winston considers how the past five years have prepared them for this milestone. Plus, a look at the role of the father and leisure time in shaping identity

Child of Our Time: Season 4 (2004)

• Season 4 Episode 3: The Making of Me

  In the last episode of the series, Professor Robert Winston profiles Charlotte's personality changes as mother Emma embarks on a new career and asks if Matthew's shyness will lead to low self-esteem. Community spirit also comes under the spotlight, and identical twins Ivo and Alex are assessed to discover the extent to which they influence each other's behaviour

• Season 4 Episode 2: Read My Lips

  Now that the children have reached the age of three, Professor Robert Winston considers whether their learning habits are based on nature or nurture. Ethan, who is growing up in the shadow of his mother's depression, finds it hard to express his feelings and make himself understood

• Season 4 Episode 1: Zero to Hero

  Professor Robert Winston charts the development of children as they reach four years old. He reveals how, even at the age of three, both loners and popular children are marked out, and why the youngsters are able to make decisions about who they want around them. He also examines how diet can affect a child's personality, and the disturbing abilities of toddlers to mimic aggression

Child of Our Time: Season 3 (2002)

• Season 3 Episode 3: Active or Idle

  Professor Robert Winston explores the factors which make some youngsters exercise a lot and others become couch potatoes, looking particularly at the cases of Eve Scarborough, who has a tendency to be idle despite her parents' efforts to motivate her, and James Cachia, who wears his mother out with his inexhaustible energy. He tests all the children to find their natural physical talents, prompting him to investigate whether environment helps or hinders growth. Last in series

• Season 3 Episode 2: Power Struggles

  Professor Robert Winston explores toddlers' initial battle for independence and examines why it's important for them to win it in order to grow up. He uses a mirror and lipstick test to discover which of the 25 children has developed self-awareness and considers the difference this can make to behaviour

• Season 3 Episode 1: Thanks for the Memories

  Documentary following the development of children from conception through to adulthood. Now that the youngsters have reached two and a half, and are at the peak of their learning, Professor Robert Winston explores the concept of memories : how are they formed and what effect do they have on people's lives?

Child of Our Time: Season 2 (2001)

• Season 2 Episode 3: Brain Magic

  In the final programme in the current run of the documentary series following 25 children from conception through to adulthood, fertility expert Professor Robert Winston examines the factors influencing the babies' intelligence, which range from size and weight at birth, to early exposure to external stimuli. Will identical twins Ivo and Alexander develop normally in spite of their small size and appetite, and has exposure to music in the womb set opera singer's son Matthew on the road to becoming a genius?

• Season 2 Episode 2: Tomboy Or Sissy?

  Professor Robert Winston presents the documentary series following the development of 25 children from conception through to adulthood. The babies have reached the age of one and gender has already become an issue, with Marie and Jamal Hakeem determined their son won't become a stereotypical male and Gaynor and Rhodri Davies' daughter showing every sign of becoming a tomboy. Although biology is undoubtedly a major factor, upbringing is shown to be the overriding force when it comes to gender roles

• Season 2 Episode 1: Personality Test

  Fertility expert Professor Robert Winston presents three more programmes following the development of 25 children from conception through to adulthood. The babies have reached the age of one and are ready to have their personalities tested by experts to see if inherited genes or upbringing have had the strongest influence on their characters. Could Caroline Scarborough's depression affect her baby, Eve, or can living in a large family affect the Baller triplets' happiness?