Applause for BBC2's The Choir

Another series of The Choir has just ended on BBC 2 Gareth Malone, choral animateur and veteran of Boys Don't Sing was parachuted in to the Hertfordshire housing estate of South Oxhey. The estate was built after WW2 to help alleviate the housing pressures thrust upon London during the Blitz. Originally council-built, some 70% of the housing is now owner-occupied, but the estate, which is a stone's throw from much more affluent areas, suffers from a poor reputation in those surrounding neighbourhoods. There is a church, a clutch of primary schools, some shops, a boxing gym - and five pubs. All too obviously, for decades, there has been no investment in infrastructure; the population are demoralised to the extent that Gareth was met everywhere with the mantra: 'Nothing, but nothing, has happened here for years.' No-one sings. The people are so unplugged from singing that - even in this age of ubiquitous pop music and The X-Factor, they are borderline hostile to the very notion. They obviously needed a community choir - but would anyone join? Every choir leader round the world would have sympathised with Gareth as he set about mobilising this community. Fast-forwarding to the end of the series, the fact that virtually the whole estate of 6000 people turned out to hear the choir at the concluding 'SOX 09' Festival was proof of Gareth's success.

Gareth's appeal is interesting - he looks a bit like an overgrown schoolboy (some people want to mother him), but underneath the necessary desire to please and be liked, he's very focussed, confident and has steely determination: also he's actually a bit posh and as part of his obvious sincerity, unlike some politicians and dare-I-say broadcasters, doesn't drop his 't's (or his jacket-and-tie) or moderate his speech or behaviour no matter who he's talking to... 

All through the series I've been riveted as Gareth's work, dedication and charisma began to pay off, with predictable impacts on the personal lives of the, literally, hundreds of people he's touched - it's been like watching the tightest of flower buds gradually opening. As his choirs ventured out into the world of the snooty folk down the road in Hertfordshire's stockbroker belt, they found themselves acting as ambassadors for their community and helping change entrenched attitudes towards it. Apart from the usual concerns over the legacy once Gareth and the film crews have left (although in response to tearful appeals we learned that he's to stay on for a while) there really are no negatives ...

The messages of the series are clear ...