Kirsty Walker reviews Child of Our Time, aired BBC One 8pm, Wednesday 7th May.

Sir Robert Winston is back with his troop of youngsters, they grow up so fast don’t they? In the case of the wee ones from Child of Our Time they do literally grow up before your very eyes, arriving on our screens at this time every year with the soft and warming VO from Sir Rob reminding us “Now, our children are eight.”

“Eight!!” we cry. “Never! Why I remember them when they were only just walking.” And yet here they are, eight year olds who already seem to be lugging the baggage of their parents and society. A year ago they were still odd little creatures, barely recognisable as people as they skipped through the jets of a bubble machine, refused to eat their peas and wanted to grow up to be mermaids, or possibly worms.

Now they are mini Britneys and Jay-Zs, worrying about their weight and embracing bling while we at home die a little inside.

These scenes should come as no surprise to us. Aren’t we used to images of primary school children who look like the offspring of a Bratz doll and Chico? Of course we are, but they are just that, usually 2d images of ‘kids gone wrong’ while the Daily Mail commentator proclaims that the sky is falling and that we’ll all be murdered in our beds by Chelsea and Lewis. Child of Our Time presents similar images but commentated  on by the subject themselves. Since the show’s debut series showing the births and first few months of the children’s lives we have watched them grow up, seen their families change, seen their burgeoning understanding of what is, after all, a pretty cruel world. To see little Rhianna, a gorgeous little puppy fatted precocity, announce that she is too fat and wants to be more like her skinny popstar name sake, is like a punch to the soul.

As you may have guessed, tonight’s show is about gender and image. How are our children, and these specific children at that, reacting to gender stereotypes and media pressures? The answers make for some uncomfortable viewing, as the children confirm our worst fears about what we are foisting on them. Aside from Rhianna and her belief that she’s fat we have little Helena, the only survivor of triplets and my personal favourite. Helena is as girly as a girl can be, all feathers and unicorns and pink. When asked to choose any clothes from a range offered on the high street, she opts for black fishnets and high-heeled Bratz wellies with a pink tshirt that says ‘Wags To Riches’. And she’s one of the more conservative ones. Tyrese, who believes it’s better to be rich than clever and lives in inner city Birmingham,  goes with the classic black jeans and hoodie with a dollar sign pendant that would make Usher blush. At this stage it still feels like they’re simply dressing up, but you can sense the coming storm when they start to emulate the behaviour of those they aspire to look like.

The most depressing moment of Child of Our Time is the moment that the parents are brought in. They land on screen like big, blundering beasts laden with their prejudices and paranoias and remind us that whatever problems these children have, they are completely the fault of us, the grown ups. Yes, you, sitting at home there, crying when adorable floppy haired Nathan says “When my Gran died it felt like my heart broke”. It’s your fault that his shining, childish brilliance is being slowly dimmed by the crass world you’ve created, where Grans can die and where being fat is tantamount to being a criminal. Unfortunately the programme is only on once a week when it should actually be broadcast on loop 24 hours a day on city centre big screens. It would take this to slow the rapid descent of these perfect little humans into the great lumbering fools who run this planet.