When I’m 65 is a challenging new BBC One primetime series set to tackle a subject that affects everyone: ageing.

The season of documentaries examine the very real concerns facing our ageing population. It all begins with tonight’s When I Get Older episode in which Tony Robinson, John Simpson, Lesley Joseph and Gloria Hunniford (who are all over 65 themselves) go to live with pensioners who are in far less enviable positions than they are.

The season poses some pertinent questions. What will it be like to work at 70? What will it mean to live with 20 or 30 years of ill health or bereavement? What are the financial implications? What are the cultural implications? How will that affect grandchildren and young people going into work?

Monday’s How to Live Beyond 100 meets some of the country’s 12,000 centenarians and asks how their attitudes have changed with the times.

The programme has attracted some well-known senior citizens to front its programmes. Next Wednesday, The Apprentice’s Nick Hewer and Margaret Mountford see if septuagenarians can still cut it in the modern workplace in The Town That Never Retired. EastEnders actress June Brown (who plays Dot Cotton) presents Respect Your Elders on Thursday 12 July, in which she investigates the increasing social gap between the old and the young in the UK.

The new series has also prompted The Guardian to explore the role and content of the television services the BBC offers to this growing older audience – BBC1 and BBC2 are currently redesigning their daytime programmes, of which elderly people are the key consumers of.

The BBC’s When I’m 65 season begins tonight with When I Get Older on BBC One at 9.00pm and continues tomorrow. Will you be watching?