How to Stay Young

2 x 60′ for BBC1

How to Stay Young

2 x 60′ for BBC1

How to Stay Young

2 x 60′ for BBC1

How to Stay Young

2 x 60′ for BBC1

Angela Rippon and Dr Chris van Tulleken are on a remarkable journey into our bodies and our minds.

How To Stay Young examines how science is enabling all of us to overcome the obstacles of getting old – and reveals the secrets of how we can stay young and healthy for longer.

Director of Photography

2 x 60 min, BBC 1

Sony F55, A7s, Pocket Camera

This two-part series fronted by Angela Rippon and Chris van Tuleken explores the process of ageing from the perespective body and the brain. Angela Rippon sees how the brain changes as we age, visiting leading neurosurgeons, and the remarkable nuns at the School Sisters of Notre Dame in Mankato. Meanwhile Chris van Tuleken sees how the body can shape our future, and help combat ageing.

I was DOP for the series, shooting in the UK, USA and Japan. I opted to shoot on the F55 as the main camera with prime lenses. B Camera was the Sony A7s on a gimbal for quick and fluid linking shots. For interviews we often shot multi-camera with the Black Magic Pocket Camera, main for its size and beautifully organic grain structure and natural image.

The humble sweet potato

Exploring the role of anthocyanins in your diet; how the purple sweet potato can help slow the effects of ageing.

Sit to rise

What can sitting and standing back up tell you about how your body is ageing? Let Angela show you the Sit to Rise test, and join in at home.

An 80 year old Chris

Using advanced prosthetics Chris is aged for one day only; he tricks his own father, and sees how the general public respond to the elderly

How do I keep my brain young?

The BBC's guide to brain training

Watch on BBC iPlayer

Play

Okinawa

London

Mankato

Wright Patterson Airforce Base

University of Minnesota

Magdeburg University

German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases

Episode 1 – The Body

In the first episode Angela and Chris discover scientists now know how much of the way we age is down to genetics – and how much of it is down to the way we live our lives. They look at the latest science that reveals the best lifestyle choices we can make to combat the effects of ageing.

Angela travels to Germany where she follows a study comparing the benefits of dancing with conventional gym exercises and reveals which activity best keeps us fit and strong into old age. Chris visits a community outside Los Angeles that has one of the lowest levels of heart disease in America and high life expectancy, and looks at how their good health could be down to diet.

Chris turns 80 years old for a day thanks to Hollywood-style prosthetics. Since how we feel about old age is hugely influenced by society’s treatment of the older generation, Chris decides to experience the public’s reaction to the elderly first-hand.

Chris takes a newly pioneered test that reveals on a molecular level how quickly his body is getting old, by comparing his biological age with his actual age. Will his body be as young as he feels, or older than it should be?

Pictured: Dr Chris van Tulleken in prosthetics

Episode 2 – The Brain

Taking a look at the science that could help protect against brain disease, one of the fastest growing areas of research, and a subject particularly close to Angela’s heart as her mother suffered from vascular dementia.

In Japan Angela discovers the foods can help protect your brain and meets a 100 year-old who is living proof of the importance of diet in maintaining a healthy brain. In the USA Chris is granted exclusive access to a trial where Alzheimer’s sufferers are injected with young people’s blood in order to observe its effects on the brain.

The BBC team up with Kings College, London, to carry out a unique study into which exercise is best for the brain, putting brisk walking and table tennis head-to-head. The study reveals that after just 10 weeks of exercise actual changes to the structure of the brain can be seen – but which exercise comes out tops in improving brain function?

How To Stay Young features inspirational centenarians, cautionary tales and offers tricks and tips to improve the cards we’re dealt – all with one ultimate goal: to help us live better and healthier lives for longer.