Abstract. Previously published studies concerning the proliferative changes, during ageing in vitro, of human embryonic fibroblasts, have been reappraised. The data suggest that the changes occur through shifts in a whole spectrum of cells between two extremes: complete inhibition and a normal division cycle. Reversion from the non‐dividing to the dividing state becomes increasingly difficult and random. Ageing is the result of a long chain of events that hinder the transit of cells through the division cycle, mainly through interference with the G1 but also with the G2 period. Some metabolic events at the very end of the lifespan could support the terminal differentiation hypothesis.