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About 'Child Of Our Time.'

Professor Robert Winston presents 'A Child Of Our Time: The Children's Stories', an in-depth look at 10 of the children who have featured on the ground-breaking BBC series to date.

Since 2000, 'A Child of our Time' has been following a group of 25 children and their parents. In this series, leading fertility scientist Professor Robert Winston takes a retrospective look at the story so far for 10 of the families, with additional previously unseen footage and more context.
The children come from all walks of life, and documentary filming and scientific experiments demonstrate how nature and nurture coincide to shape their identities. The series has now amassed an extraordinary record of each family's life since their children were born, but only a small percentage has ended up on screen until now. For the first time, their full stories can be told in this series of special programmes.

There's Rhianna, a bright, articulate six-year-old who wants to be an actress when she grows up. But recently her mum Tanya has become concerned that Rhianna shows high levels of anxiety when faced with challenging situations. The programme asks the question where has this anxiety come from? And can it be overcome?

When Calvin was born 10 weeks prematurely, his doctors predicted a one-in-ten chance of brain damage and developmental problems. Aged two, the grave predictions about Calvin's future seemed to be coming true. He scored poorly in mental and physical development tests, and showed worrying behavioural traits. The experts wanted to investigate, but his mother Helen made the extraordinary decision not to allow it. Was she right to do so?

And young mother Olivia struggled alone after the birth of Taliesin. But when her absent boyfriend returned and held his baby, she knew he was going to stay forever.

Each portrait also includes an exploration of the children's evolving personalities - how their individual experiences have influenced their happiness, their confidence, their relationships, and how they make sense of the world around them.

Sir Robert Winston claims that the way the 25 youngsters featured are developing reflects society as a whole. "It's about the way children develop, but it's also about the environment each child is growing up in. 'A Child Of Our Time' is not just about the child, it's about our time."

Winston says the youngsters featured in the series have constantly surprised him: "I think everyone who has been involved in the programme has learned something. It's always teaching me new things, and I think that would be the same for everyone who watches it."

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