Lewisham NHS Trust The Choir

One, two, three.

Gareth Malone wants to help Britain's workers find their voice.

Good morning, everyone! I'm here to start the choir.

If you are at all interested, make yourself known to me.

In search of hidden talent, he wants to create choirs

in four of Britain's busiest workplaces.

MACHINE BEEPS Are you a singer?

What do you do?

Dig holes for a living, mate.

# Pat puts all his postbags in the van. #

Yes, he does!

And for the workers, company pride will be at stake,

when they compete to find Gareth's Best Workplace Choir.

-Is everybody ready? ALL:

-Yes.

-Fighting spirit? ALL:

-Yes.

-Let's go and do it.

When I was learning to sing, it was always through competing with others

that I got better, and I want that for these choirs.

I want them to feel the pressure and get better.

Before the performance I'll pray to God. God help us, this time.

We want to win it, and we're going to go hell for leather to win it.

Months and months of work and slog

come down to that one moment when you're on stage.

That's why I love it.

Gareth Malone is on his way to one of London's busiest hospitals,

Lewisham NHS Trust.

He wants to create the first of four choirs

that will compete in his singing contest.

It is going to be a really interesting place to start a choir,

because there's such a wide variety of people working there.

Everyone has their own job, but they don't always come together.

When does a porter sit with a surgeon and have a chat?

When do they stand together as one and represent the hospital?

I bet that never happens,

and I think the choir is about bringing everyone

together for one purpose, which is to sing and represent that company.

Cheers!

Lewisham NHS Trust has over 3,000 staff and deals with

over 100,000 patients a year.

It's the NHS. I'm in a queue!

Good morning, hi. I'm Gareth Malone. I'm here to start a choir.

I think you've got a pass for me.

-Yes. That's for you.

-Great, thanks.

And they've left you a map.

A map?

Is it complicated? Oh, gosh. Where shall I go first?

-Erm...

-Looking for people.

-That's probably the best place to start.

-The yellow zone.

Spread over 14 sites, and with over 200 departments,

Gareth needs to create a choir

that represents every part of the hospital.

The hospital actually functions like a series of little villages.

I don't know a lot of the clerical staff,

I don't know a lot of the admin staff or even the nurses.

There are so many jobs in the hospital, honestly,

we just see people in the corridor, you go past.

We wouldn't necessarily talk to you

unless we have something to do with you.

To be honest, I can't figure out which way up this map goes.

To find the best voices,

Gareth will be holding a series of open auditions.

Are you interested in being in a choir, at all?

I'm starting a choir for the hospital.

-No, thanks.

-No?

I haven't got the time. I'm rushing to do an assessment.

Thank you very much.

No problem.

Right, the Anderson Delivery Suite.

Hello, Doctor. Are you interested in being in a choir?

No, I can't sing.

Can't sing?

Are you interested?

I can come in between sections tomorrow in the morning, possibly,

but I can't give a definite time.

I don't think anyone has ever said that they're going to have to

squeeze in the audition between Caesarean sections to me before.

That's a first.

Are you interested in being in a choir?

A choir?

Absolutely everyone who works here.

Oh, OK. Yeah, I'd love to.

-You've done some singing before?

-Yeah, I do sing.

-I'm Gareth.

-Derek.

Lovely to meet you, Derek. What do you do here?

I'm a kitchen porter.

I got a kind of kitchen vibe.

What sort of thing do you like to sing?

# When we sing our song

# At times we may be crying

# And nothing's even wrong. #

Brilliant. I want you to audition.

Thanks, bye-bye.

OK, bye-bye, take care.

Over the next two days, Gareth auditions over 120 staff.

Really scared.

Yeah.

Got a real dry throat now.

Yeah, I know.

I haven't practised.

I have a cold, I'm still coughing!

He's looking for the 30 strongest voices from across the hospital.

Hello!

Who's nervous?

Everyone, great.

This is about taking the best of this hospital and bringing it together.

I want those people who are absolutely top-notch.

Great. Come and have a seat here.

Good afternoon.

-ALL:

-Good afternoon.

And welcome to your audition.

We are here to create a choir for your hospital that is excellent.

We're going to have to hear everybody sing individually.

And I know that's slightly scary and alarming.

We're going to start with Aaron.

Let's hear your singing voice.

# Just a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down

# In a most delightful way. #

That is a bass. OK, well done.

Very good. Natalie, here we go.

# Just a spoonful of sugar

# Helps the medicine go down

# In the most de... # Sorry.

Sorry. Frog.

-Frog?

-In my throat.

I think we could go up, don't you?

Yes.

Let's hear that.

# Just a spoonful of sugar

# Helps the medicine go down

# In the most delightful way. #

Let's go up again, please.

# Just a spoonful of sugar

# Helps the medicine go down

# In the most delightful way. #

I'm still shaking, because I'm so shocked

at what Gareth was able to get me to do with my voice.

I enjoyed myself.

I was happy I was at the back, as well, hidden,

so no-one could see me.

I doubt I'll get in.

Hello, hello.

As the staff keep coming...

# Just a spoonful of sugar

..Gareth takes his pick.

# Helps the medicine go down

From female altos and sopranos...

# In the most delightful way. #

..to male basses and tenors.

# In the most delightful way. #

Fantastic.

Chidi, we need to work on the serious expression.

LAUGHTER

Do you do a very serious job?

Erm, I suppose it is.

A&E Consultant. Yeah, that sounds pretty serious.

OK, Eddie. What do you do?

-I'm a surgeon.

-A surgeon?

Yeah, I stop people bleeding to death.

OK, good.

# Just a spoonful of sugar

# Makes the medicine go down

# In the most delightful way. #

I just find it amusing that you said "makes" the medicine go down,

because that's like...

Well, I'm a surgeon. People do what I tell them.

There we go. Pedal to my right foot. Not yet.

My job title, I'm a consultant vascular surgeon,

which basically means I operate on people's blood pipes.

As I say to my mates at the rugby club, I'm a posh plumber.

Basically, when you're the consultant surgeon,

the buck stops with me,

for everything that happens to the patients under my care.

In theatre, everyone knows how I like things done, and they also

know that if they're not done that way, I'll get pretty cross about it.

You'll feel a little bit of pressure in your leg now.

I don't find it stressful,

unless things are not done the way I want them.

# In the most delightful way. #

Well done, thank you. Thank you, Eddie.

APPLAUSE

Can we get Joe?

OK. What do you do here?

I'm an anaesthetist.

Anaesthetist, OK. So do you work together?

Occasionally, but he probably doesn't recognise me,

because I'm quite junior.

Is it all right for you to be sat next to him?

I'm a little bit tense, but I'm OK.

Eddie, would you like me to move him?

No, I'm fine. He's more likely to be nervous than me.

That's good, yeah. Eddie looks fine.

Joe, every reason to be terrified, let's hear you.

# Just a spoonful of sugar

# Helps the medicine go down

# In the most delightful way. #

Head for the hills. Well done, thank you.

Well done.

That was good.

There's some pretty good voices in there.

I think it's going to do a lot of good.

I mean, the fact that, in that session,

you had people that had never met, an anaesthetist that would never

have spoken to the surgeon, the surgeon was sat right next

to him in the choir, and actually it was the junior member of staff

who was the better singer, so it's great. It's a great leveller.

Auditions over, it's decision time for Gareth.

Right. He's good. He's definitely in.

He wants a cross section of the hospital,

but also needs the best voices to represent Lewisham in the contest.

He's a staff nurse. He wasn't bad.

He had a good, light sound, but I think he might... Oh!

But what a spread of the hospital. I mean, it's amazing.

I've got an anaesthetist, a surgeon,

I've got ENT, I've got language therapy, I've got physiotherapists

coming out of my ears, I've got a really good range.

Nurses, everybody.

Feels really good.

The next morning, Gareth's back to break the good news of who's in.

Are you busy?

Yeah, just a little bit.

I want to say well done, and I'd like you to be in the choir.

Oh, thank you very much!

You're welcome.

Thank you very much. I'm excited!

-Sarah.

-Yes?

-You did very well in your audition.

-Thank you.

-I'd like you to be in the choir.

-Oh, my God!

-Guess what?

-Are you in?

I got in!

Hello, Natalie. How are you?

I'm all right.

I'd like you to be in the choir.

Oh, my God!

And now it's time for some singing!

Natalie Beaumont is a speech therapy assistant for the Trust.

I work with children with a language delay,

and I work with deaf children.

'It's just the most moving job ever.'

Don't look. Pick one.

-Star!

-A star.

Go!

'A lot of people see me as quite a strong person.

'I don't see myself as that. I see myself as quite under-confident.'

I was bullied at school.

I think that's probably why I never, ever wanted to go

'and sing in public, and although I do it in my job here, again,

'it's behind closed doors.'

I feel like I've almost come out of the closet!

Well done. My secret's out. I like to sing!

Lunchtime at the hospital.

Hello, ladies. Hi. Hello.

Taking a break from busy shifts,

Gareth's handpicked singers arrive for their first ever rehearsal.

APPLAUSE

Welcome to the choir!

Very good. Woo!

I'd like to remind you that you are now in a contest.

This is going to get exciting, it's going to be a lot of fun.

It is about bringing the hospital together,

but now we have to really come together as a unit, and of course,

I'm suspecting a lot of you won't even have seen each other before.

Oh, that's great. The surgeon and the porter. Brilliant.

So, we need a song that best represents the hospital,

that sums up what you do here.

Yes, I've had an idea.

Well, the closest one I could get to what I do is

If You Want Blood (You've Got It)

by AC/DC, but I don't think that's really...

LAUGHTER

Hands up in favour of that!

I've had a really good idea.

# Keep bleeding

# Keep, keep bleeding. #

OK, any others?

-Sorry?

-The Drugs Don't Work.

The Drugs Don't Work!

Any other gems? Natalie.

Come On, Get Happy by Judy Garland,

only because I think everybody should be happy.

-You don't want to do anything depressing?

-No.

Not for your first song, do you?

Lean On Me.

Lean On Me.

# When you're not strong. #

I've always...

Can we hear this? Can we all sing that?

# ..times in our lives

# We all have pain

# We all have sorrow

# But if we are wise

# We know that there's

# Always tomorrow. #

That's quite good, actually, and coming out of your mouths,

it sort of works.

I've never really been into that song,

but hearing a group of people in the medical profession saying

lean on me, it's, sort of, quite moving, actually.

I had a little bit of a tingle, there.

All those in favour of Lean On Me.

Oooh!

I think it's Lean On Me,

but what would be quite interesting with this is just to do a...

# Sometimes in our lives

# We all have pain

# Sometimes in our lives

# We all have pain

# We all have sorrow

# But if we are wise

# We know that there's

# Always tomorrow

# So just call on me, brother

# When you need a hand

# We all need somebody to lean on. #

There we go, well done. Give yourselves a round of applause.

It's really fantastic, actually.

The first rehearsal sound was very promising.

I'm desperately competitive, and I can't see a competition

or a contest without wanting to be in it,

and if I'm in it, I want to win it.

To become a consultant,

you do need to have a little bit of a push about you.

I see myself as a somewhat competitive person,

and I definitely want us to win.

It's going to take a little while before I think that I'm able to,

you know, fully relax and fully open up to this whole singing thing.

It's so fascinating to see all the different parts of the hospital

coming together.

Just all of the porters looked a little bit nervous,

and like, "Do we really belong here?"

The surgeons feel like they belong,

because they are central to what the hospital does.

It's amazing, actually,

how much lack of confidence there is amongst them, and a lot of them

haven't sung before in choirs, and yet, a great sound is emerging.

I'm really, really excited about this.

Over the following weeks, to help get the choir to contest standards...

CHOIR DOES VOCAL EXERCISE

..Gareth arranges for them to have additional rehearsal sessions

with a local choirmaster.

And!

# We all need somebody to lean on. #

Good.

On his next visit...

How are you?

-Not too bad, thank you.

-I've come to see you.

..Gareth spends time with some of the non-medical staff...

I'm wondering about just having a quick session with you,

just to build up your confidence a bit.

..meeting up with pharmacy porter, Aaron.

What are you used to doing, music-wise?

Just a bit of rapping, really.

-Really?

-Yeah.

Could you give me a demonstration?

Is it me that you see when your eyes close?

Is it me that you want to chill and watch soaps with?

Is it me you wanna go home with?

So, you're breathing in the wrong place. Lie on the floor.

I know it seems weird.

OK, so shove that on your stomach. There we are.

Try and get the bottle to rise up when you breathe in.

There you go.

Try and do that on an "aaah", so you go "aaah".

Aaah.

Yawn.

Aaah.

That's great. That's really good.

I felt like I was actually using something, actually down there.

Yeah? You speak in a very soft way.

I mean, I think what we need is, like, the confident Aaron.

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-I'll give it a try, I suppose.

-Yeah?

I don't know. I think, after a while, I should get the confidence.

Obviously it's all different for me, it's new for me.

-Yeah.

-Yeah, I think, eventually.

How do you feel about being stood next to people

who are from totally different parts of the hospital?

Erm, that's different.

That's quite good, actually, because, you know, usually,

there's levels, there is levels, you know.

Porters, this, that, doctors,

and everyone mixes with their own level, if you get what I'm saying.

Well, I think if the choir does anything,

it should make you feel like you are equally as part of the hospital

as the next person, even if they are general surgeon.

I don't know, but yeah, it's going to take a while,

because, you know, the levels are going to take a minute to

break down, but I'm feeling it a little bit.

-You're doing well. Thank you, that was great.

-Thank you.

-Thanks.

-See you later.

See you at the rehearsal.

A few days later...

How often do you all leave the hospital together?

-ALL:

-Never.

Great, well, it's a first. Come on, let's get on board.

..to help the choir bond, Gareth arranges a social night out.

Welcome to the boat.

The reason I brought you on this boat is

so that absolutely no-one can get off.

Nobody can get paged, nobody can get called away.

Cheers. Thank you.

You know each other already, don't you?

-No.

-No, I know Sophia.

-Yeah.

-I don't know.

-You're physio?

-I'm physio, yeah.

So you never talk to junior doctors?

Yeah, but we're on different floors. We're on different floors.

But now I've met them.

I don't think we've ever really done anything that's built us altogether.

We're all getting to know what everyone does, I think.

And then we can kind of join together, and win!

And win! That'd be great.

When I started work, they said, "Mr Chandler's here,

"and he likes a few certain things, and just don't piss him off,

"basically, or else he'll kick you straight out of theatre!"

Everyone knows where they stand.

-I like that.

-We're doing it my way. That's it.

-Great.

I'm going to learn a lot from you, I think!

It's been absolutely fantastic.

I think everyone's really getting to know each other.

There's a really good atmosphere.

And I think they like each other, but my goodness,

there's so much stiffness and difficulty between them, because

of this hospital hierarchy, and we've got some very senior people in this

choir, so I think we need to loosen them up a bit and break that down.

This has been a great start, but there's more to do.

Guys, come outside. It's Tower Bridge.

Come out, it's great.

Right, everyone. Shall we do a bit of a sing-song?

# London's burning... #

How's that? One, two...

# London's burning, London's burning

# London's burning, London's burning

# London's burning, London's burning

# London's burning, London's burning

# Fetch the engines Fetch the engines

# Fire, fire, fire, fire

# Pour on water, pour on water. #

A few weeks later, Gareth is on his way back to the hospital.

I'm happy with how they've come together. They're starting to bond.

In the contest, the choir's going to be judged on how much they're a unit,

how much the sound blends together,

and if you're not a totally united force, then that can't really work.

So they're going to have to bond further,

and I think it's only through performing that you really

understand that, so I need to get them out there.

-Hello, everyone. ALL:

-Hello.

How are you?

Awesome, yeah?

Let's have a quick listen to Lean On Me.

I'd like to get this one licked today.

Let's just get it done, done and dusted.

In fact, can I hear the sopranos on your own?

Two, three, and...

# Sometimes in our lives

# We all have pain. #

Yeah, good, that's it, isn't it?

Can I just check those harmonies?

Can I hear basses and tenors on top of that? Two, three...

# We all need...

Crescendo.

# Somebody to lean on. #

It's quite hard, isn't it?

Can you just turn in to face Eddie?

Right, and sing it to him. Freestyle, freestyle.

Now sing it, unaccompanied.

One, two, three.

# But if we are wise

# We know that there's

# Always tomorrow. #

I think that's excellent,

and I think that it is time that you performed it.

In front of a group of patients.

Yeah? And I'd like us to do it right now.

Let's go!

I am a bit nervous, because I do not know

how we're going to sound out there.

This is our first outing.

I'm just scared I'm going to do it wrong.

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

It's medicine of a very different kind today.

It's musical medicine from the first performance of the newly-formed

Lewisham Hospital staff choir,

and everyone behind me works in the hospital,

and they have all got together and they're going to sing for you.

# Sometimes in our lives

# We all have pain

# We all have sorrow

# But if we are wise

# We know that there's

# Always tomorrow

# You just call on me, brother

# When you need a hand

# We all need somebody to lean on

# I just might have a problem

# That you'll understand

# We all need somebody to lean on

# Lean on me, when you're not strong

# And I'll be your friend

# I'll help you carry on

# Oh, for it won't be long

# Till I need

# Oh-oh-oh, somebody to lean on

# Lean on me. #

It was a lovely surprise. For a first performance, it was lovely.

The choir was fantastic.

Lewisham is a very good hospital,

and everybody works so hard to keep us going.

Well done! How are you feeling?

-ALL:

-Good.

Pretty good?

It felt really nice and really appropriate to go

and perform for patients.

It was a soft audience, wasn't it?

Officially, I give you the rubber stamp. You're a choir.

Very well done. Did you enjoy it?

Enjoyed it very much.

The thing that you taught me earlier,

I was actually applying that today.

I was using it, and I do think it did help.

Great. Well, I've been getting good reviews about you

from the other guys, saying you have a really good voice.

-That's a good thing, I suppose. A good thing.

-Good job.

Thank you very much. See you later.

-Keep working.

-Will do.

That's been absolutely critical in getting them

to feel like a choir, and getting them to bond together, and I can

see trusts developing between them, and little friendships and alliances.

All of that stuff is so important.

You only find that out in the performance.

# Sometimes in our lives

# We all have pain

# We all have sorrow

# But if we are wise... #

In less than two months, the hospital choir

will have to compete in Gareth's singing contest.

To prepare them, Gareth will need to set a new challenge.

First, he wants to understand the impact the choir has had on staff.

Hello, Gareth. How are you?

I'm all right. How are you?

-Not too bad.

-Good.

In Accident and Emergency, he meets up with consultant, Chidi.

Because we did the performance yesterday, did you get a...?

Bit of a buzz about it, yes.

You looked like you were.

I was beginning to get into it, yes. Maybe not so serious now.

Yeah, no, definitely. I think that's coming.

But I think it takes a while,

especially to come out of this environment.

I mean, all human life is here.

Yeah.

It's almost a bit of a split personality to it.

You've got to have your professional hat on,

so you approach it clinically, even though

it's probably, for your patients and their relatives,

it may be the worst time of their life,

and there are may be things going on

that will completely change the way in which they go forward,

but you've got to be somewhat detached,

clinically, particularly hard

when it's children, particularly hard...

Have you got kids?

Yes, I've got three daughters.

-That separation must be very hard.

-Yes.

Do you go home and dream about it, at times?

Only occasionally. Otherwise you're not going to be able to cope.

Is that...?

TANNOY BLARES

-Blue light..

-Blue light.

-That's serious?

-Yes.

You're blowing about 470, which is excellent.

When you go to your GP's,

do they give you that flowmeter to blow into?

They're just going to have to run with it from here.

-You take a lot of pride in your work, don't you?

-Yeah.

Very much so.

It's one of the few places where you can actually do something there

and then, and save a life.

That's amazing.

And you've done that, how many thousands of times?

And that's really what I'm in the job for.

I find that incredibly powerful. Really do. It's amazing.

You'd better get on with this! Carry on.

Really interesting, really interesting.

He's really made me evaluate what we have here, you know.

These people are working their guts out.

This is his daily life,

and he's given his life to help people get better.

I think the choir is a chance for someone like Chidi to show the

personal side of what can be a very impersonal and difficult situation.

I think we need that.

With a better understanding of the hospital,

Gareth thinks he's found the perfect song to challenge them.

When they chose a song, they chose a very upbeat song to represent

themselves, and now it's my turn to choose a song,

and I've chosen something completely the opposite.

It's actually rather mournful, rather slow, rather beautiful,

and rather sad song.

# Everybody hurts. #

I absolutely know that they can sing this from a technical point of view.

The question is, can they sing it emotionally?

It's exactly what I need from them for the next stage.

And I think that's difficult, in a hospital, actually,

because there's a sort of rejection of emotion a lot of the time,

or at least the need to contain it and deal with it.

It needs that level of intensity, and they live intense lives,

and are they prepared to put that into their singing?

OK, so, I think it's time for a new song.

-Don't you? ALL:

-Yay!

Yay, it certainly is!

We're going to perform to your colleagues, lots of them,

in a couple of weeks.

To open your brand-new emergency department.

And the song that I've chosen for you is by R.E.M. It's Everybody Hurts.

It's a very emotional song. It's a beautiful song.

I was talking to Chidi earlier,

and he said that you have to develop this, he described

it as a split personality, between your private life and your

private feelings about the work that you're doing,

and your professional role, and I'm sure all of you,

to some degree, have to do that.

I want to explore that through the song choice,

because you are quite guarded, at times.

OK, let's stand up. Here we go.

# When the day is long

# And the night The night is yours alone

# ..sure you've had enough

# Of this life

# Sometimes

# And everybody hurts. #

We need to sort that rhythm out.

# Oooh. #

A couple of "hmms" about the song. Anyone anti?

I don't particularly like it, but I think maybe we ought to do it.

Oh.

It's not that I don't like it, it's just that it's not my kind of song.

I think it'll grow on you. I think it's a grower.

Thank you very much. You may go. Good job.

I think he wants us to open up more and be a bit more emotional.

It's not what we're used to doing.

We kind of train ourselves

to keep a bit of a blank face

and hold in our emotions.

Some people find that quite hard.

I don't particularly, as I say,

connect with the song especially,

but that doesn't matter.

This is about a contest, it's about a competition.

There's a really weird atmosphere today.

It's really odd.

I don't know.

I think it's this business about going for an emotional song,

it's like there's collective terror of emotion here.

I don't know if they're going to get behind this song.

After a lukewarm response to Everybody Hurts...

Come and stand here.

..Gareth hopes to win staff round as he searches for a soloist.

# When the day is long

# And the night. #

What I feel is that you...

It's just very, like, straight, and you're perhaps not...

I'm used to...

That fear.

I'm used to standing with a score like that, not moving,

-and just singing.

-Yes.

That's interesting.

Just not used to emoting at all.

Mmm.

This solo can't be too ordered. It's not about going one, two...

When the day is long,

three, four...

and counting through all the beats.

It's about thinking about the words.

When the day is long, and the night is yours alone,

and you think you've had enough of this life, well, hang on.

# When the day is long. #

Just hold my hand and sing it to me.

When you're sure.

# When you're sure you've had enough

# Of this life, well hang on. #

I didn't think about the emotional thing about it at all.

I just tried to get the singing nice, you know.

-It's all about the emotion.

-Yeah.

Hello, how are you, Eddie?

-All right, thanks.

-Right. You all right?

-Yeah, fine, thanks.

-Come and stand here.

# When you're sure you've had enough

# Of this life, well hang on. #

Good. I'd describe it as a clinical performance.

Accurate, to the point, nice and precise,

but a little lacking in feeling.

As I said, I don't particularly like this song.

I think it's a bit soppy and dirge-like, really.

Soppy and dirge-like. Sentiment. Revolting!

I'm not averse to sentiment, but I just think it's a bit mawkish,

that's all.

See you, bye.

It's a real problem.

It's a problem for me, and it's a problem for the choir, that we're

just going to get these technically wonderful performances that are...

..utterly controlled.

And therefore, to my mind, dull.

I'm struggling.

Determined to find someone to convey the right emotion,

Gareth continues his hospital round.

So I just do these bits, for now?

Just that, for now.

Meeting up with Speech Therapy Assistant, Natalie.

# When the day is long

# And the night The night is yours alone

# When you're sure you've had... #

-I can't.

-Oh, sorry.

No, it's all right.

Sorry.

It's got great meaning, it really has got great meaning.

# And everybody hurts

# Sometimes. #

OK.

-Hang on.

-Hang on.

Unfortunately, that one does touch me. In a good way.

Yeah. I think there's a place for that.

I think people that, I don't know, most of the time

we think of as just being doctors, you don't see them as human, do you?

When you come in.

No, we all go home to our lives, at the end of the day, and like

you said, sometimes it is hard, because the two worlds do collide.

-Yeah.

-And that's why I'm in this job.

-Is it?

-Yeah.

My daughter's deaf.

Oh, I see.

-Yeah.

-Is she completely deaf?

-Yes.

-Yeah.

-She's profoundly deaf.

-From birth?

-Yes.

And so that's inspired you to become a speech and language therapist,

-because of...?

-Yeah.

But she's OK?

Yeah, she's fine.

She wasn't, and it's just that she's got there and it's true,

there are times when we all hurt.

Hence the song.

Hence the song.

Yeah.

All right?

Yeah, thank you.

See you later, Gareth.

Thanks, Natalie. Well done. Bye.

I don't think I can sing on my own.

But I enjoyed it, though. And I need to learn the words.

I felt really moved, actually.

I felt really moved when she sang, and I feel really moved by her,

and I find that very inspiring.

This is such an incredible place to work, and it's only really dawning

on me now just what they do, and just how much sacrifice they make.

So, ladies and gentlemen, it is time to announce the soloist.

I wanted goosebumps, I really did.

I wanted to feel the emotion of the song,

and I know some people struggled with this.

The person who really got it for me,

and I found, just made me tingle was Natalie.

APPLAUSE

Come out, come out!

-Are you going to sing it?

-I'll try.

# When the day is long

# And the night The night is yours alone

# When you're sure you've had enough

# Of this life. #

Well done. Round of applause. APPLAUSE

Horrible pressure, very well done.

So, here's your challenge, because the next time I see you,

we will be building up to the performance.

If, in between time, you are able to meet in your sections,

I think that would be really useful.

Everyone has got to learn it,

knuckle down and get it absolutely right.

Good.

Goodbye. Thank you very much.

Natalie, how are you?

Absolutely gobsmacked.

-Are you?

-Yeah.

-Really well done.

-Thank you, Gareth.

-Good, well done, but you just need to practise it.

I will. There's a couple of bits I'm not sure of.

Totally off by heart, no music, just like...

You know, a performance.

I promise I'll prove it to you I can do it.

Yes. I like that. All right, brilliant. Thanks. Well done.

It's now just a few weeks until the choir's workplace performance.

Natalie makes me believe that it is possible for the hospital

to show its emotional side through singing.

I think they can do it, I really do.

I think if there's one person I really have to convince, it's Eddie,

who's the surgeon, because he just embodies that sense of surgical

precision and authority that I think I need to break down a bit.

Mid-rehearsal...

Morning!

..Gareth joins Eddie and the tenors.

I've come to offer my assistance. How are we all?

Two, and...

# Don't let yourself go. #

That's really nice. That's really good.

Now we need to just put the inflection in, as well.

Don't let yourself go.

-ALL:

-Don't let yourself go.

Don't let yourself go!

It's that feeling, yeah? Just a little bit more of that.

Honestly, it would really make a difference.

# Don't let yourself go. #

Really give it some.

I mean, how do you feel about it?

People are still struggling to find a point at which they fully connect.

-I'm sure it's something that we can do.

-Definitely.

-We have to work it out amongst ourselves.

-Definitely.

There is a chance for you to show a bit of heart.

It's nothing to be scared of, you know,

it's just a chance to show a bit of care.

That's what we need.

So I'll leave you with that one.

Where are you at with it, Eddie?

With what?

With the song.

With that song? Yeah, you know, it's all right.

I know you want me to be emotional and all the rest of it.

Well, I think...

That's actually quite a difficult ask, actually.

I mean, I'm not criticising you for that,

but that's just the way it is, and I see exactly what you're saying.

I mean, it's the difference between doing something correctly

and doing something in a performance way.

It's just nudging you a bit.

It's like, you know, I want the choir to be the sign at the front

of the hospital that says, "Welcome here, it's a good, friendly place.

"You're going to get a bit of care."

Care is not, you know, let me hold your hand and snuggle you up.

For certain people, like myself and Chidi, for example,

who's an A&E consultant, what we do is more...

Well, as I say, it's rational.

It's focused, and it's not about falling apart and blubbing.

-No, of course.

-It just isn't like that.

I know it's probably, from your point of view,

only 1% of what's important is how the person feels and all of that,

but from the person's point of view, it's everything.

-No, it isn't.

-Well...

-It isn't.

-It can feel like it, though.

It can feel like it at the time, but it isn't everything.

Hospitals come in for a lot of criticism.

"Oh, they were uncaring, they didn't care about me", blah, blah, blah.

That's bollocks, actually. That's absolute crap. OK?

Because it's all right me saying to you,

"Oh, I really feel really emotional about you,

"and I really, really feel a great emotional attachment to you,

"but sorry, I just cut your leg off when I didn't need to."

Yeah.

It doesn't need to affect how you do your job.

No, of course not.

I fundamentally don't ever want to go and see a choir

that doesn't sing with heart. We just need a reason to sing,

because otherwise it's just going to be meaningless.

Yeah, well, we'll see what we can do.

Yeah. All right, thanks. Interesting. Really interesting. Thank you, Eddie.

-See you later.

-See you later.

I respect Eddie so much for being able to go to work every day

and save lives, but I think that the choir

ought to be a place where he can...

..just, you know, feel, safely, within the work environment.

God, this is peculiar!

It's really peculiar.

Where else would you have this problem but in a hospital,

and but with a high-level surgeon?

It's really extraordinary.

# When the day is long

# The night is yours alone

# When you're sure you've had enough. #

As the workplace performance draws closer,

the choir put in the practice.

# Cos everybody hurts

# Sometimes. #

As a hospital choir, you need to reach out with that a bit more.

I'm putting quite a lot of emotion in already,

but I will try and put more in.

Now, I need that to dig in a bit more. That's the hurt.

For me, the song's definitely emotional.

It definitely gets me to open up.

With Gareth here, he's been pushing us hard on this. It's paying off.

Tenors, much softer.

# Everybody hurts. #

Singing together, we've really bonded a bit more,

and so people are letting themselves go.

Wow, that's fantastic. That's a very solid sound. Well done.

# Woo-hoo-hoo

# And everybody hurts. #

It's the night before the performance.

Hello!

Hello, Gareth.

Gareth's catching up with soloist, Natalie, at home with her family.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-What's your name?

-My name's Amy.

Hello, Amy.

So, how are you feeling about your solo?

I think I've got so used to singing it,

I'm not sure if I'm just belting it a bit, now.

Why was it special the first time?

I know how it feels when you get told that your child is less

than what you think at the time is not perfect.

And so, to me, it's almost like, well, you know,

when you feel you've had enough, hang on. It'll be all right.

I just mean every word. I still do, but I just, I don't know.

Tomorrow.

-Got to bring it back.

-Yeah.

I think it's really good for you to sing this in front of your family.

Yeah, well, it would be at them anyway, because this song

reminds me of some of the times that we've been through.

Let's hear it.

OK. Sing it to you.

# When you feel you've had too much...

Had enough!

# Of this life, well hang on. #

It's really lovely, but why is it that when you get to that line...?

-I really mean it.

-You mean it.

You don't mean when the day is long and the night is yours alone?

I think, now I'm in front of my family,

I'm feeling them emotions again.

When I'm with the choir,

it's easy to just do exactly what everybody else does.

It's almost like I'm holding back, because as you know,

I've never done anything like this before, so normally

I would just get my hands going, "Well, hang on", you know.

Well, do it. Can you sign it?

Yeah.

# When the day is long

# And the night The night is yours alone

# When you feel you've had enough

# Of this life, well hang on. #

Very good.

Good?

Mummy sang it.

Yeah.

And she did it well.

Thank you.

She's making me go, now!

-Oh.

-Thank you.

I really felt that.

I think that's really beautiful. No, it's good, it's really good.

Well done.

I have confidence in Natalie, actually.

I have confidence that she can pull off the emotion of this song,

which, let's face it, is not easy.

I think that's going to make the difference between a really

flat performance and something that's really special.

The day of the workplace performance has finally arrived.

Welcome to the Emergency Department. Come on in.

As the choir get their first chance

to see the hospital's new A&E unit...

It smells so clean, doesn't it?

..they're unaware that Gareth has invited one of the three judges

who will decide which choir will win the overall contest.

Renowned conductor, Manvinder Rattan.

The two things I'm really looking for from this choir

are good vocal technique and strong presentation.

Presentation, actually showing they're enjoying themselves

in front of their audience,

and communicating the message of what it is they're singing.

He will be hidden amongst the audience

of family and work colleagues.

Can't wait to see Natalie sing today.

She woke up this morning and she went, "Mark, I am so scared."

I said, "You can do it, Natalie. Deep breaths." She'll be fine.

I know she will.

I am absolutely thrilled with your progress.

I think it's absolutely fantastic what you've done.

So really give it your all, if you haven't been doing before.

I think you kind of have been, in the last few rehearsals,

but I think there's an extra gear to go from every one of you,

so give it that and it'll really work.

-I'm excited! ALL:

-Yes!

I think the adrenaline is kicking in.

I just want to get in and do it, so I'm really excited about it.

Every operation is a performance,

and I'm quite used to people watching me do stuff,

so from that point of view, I'm pretty relaxed.

Ready?

Yes.

Hello!

-ALL:

-Hello!

How exciting!

It's very good to be here,

and thank you very much for welcoming me into your hospital.

I have created the Lewisham NHS Choir, and here they are.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

The choir you see behind me

consists of a huge range of people who work for this organisation.

There's people out in the community, there are surgeons,

there are doctors, physiotherapists, nurses.

I think we've got pretty much the whole gamut,

and I think that's very, very important, because this choir

is going to go forward to compete in a contest against other

British workplace choirs.

Oh, yes!

We're going to sing a song for you that I've picked for them

to sing, and I think it's particularly appropriate that we

sing it here in this brand, spanking new emergency department.

The song that they're going to sing is Everybody Hurts,

because this is a place where everybody hurts, quite literally.

# When the day is long

# And the night The night is yours alone

# When you feel you've had enough

# Of this life, well hang on

# Don't let yourself go

# Cos everybody cries

# Oooh, and everybody hurts

# Sometimes

# Sometimes everybody hurts

# Sometimes

# Sometimes

# Hold on

# Hold on, hold on

# Hold on. #

CHEERING

Pretty good, huh?

How did he do?

Fantastic!

He was great, wasn't he?

Absolutely brilliant. Completely out of the blue!

I was holding back the tears! It was amazing.

It was really good. Didn't she do a great job? Hi. Good?

Good.

You work with her?

She works with me, yes.

Fantastic. What did you think?

I thought it was amazing.

It's a beautiful noise all together, but you can still hear all

the characters that you know, and I can hear her right across the room.

Really well done. Gather around a bit.

I'm delighted. That was really fantastic. Who was moved?

Oh, good. Fantastic. Now, I really was. Eddie?

What do I have to do?!

It was great.

So, what you didn't know

was that there was somebody listening to your performance.

A conductor called Manvinder Rattan, who is a conductor of national note,

but more importantly for you, he is one of the judges.

-ALL:

-Oooh!

And he's going to come and give you some feedback.

Right now.

Well, good evening.

You are really rather good.

There were some fantastic bits about that performance,

as I say, of which you should be immensely proud.

But this is a contest, and it's a contest between four choirs,

so you are going to need to drive yourselves quite hard...

..if you want to make that final cut.

Think quite carefully about blending your voices

and about blending the quality of the sound.

There are some of those quiet bits that can be quieter.

So I'd like you to work on being a little bit more convincing about

the story you're telling, so if it's something like Everybody Hurts,

a look of careful thoughtfulness would work really, really well.

That's what's going to make the difference between here

and the next levels.

Congratulations, and good luck.

-ALL:

-Thank you.

Absolutely fantastic feedback.

I just don't think I'm going to ever feel better

than this moment tonight.

I feel so emotional about the whole thing.

Many of the audience were moved by what we did, so if we can add

that to our performance and build on that, I think we can win.

I think all of us can make that step.

There were some absolutely stunning moments tonight.

I'm really excited to see what happens to this choir,

and whether they take this criticism, this constructive criticism

on the chin and then come back fighting and whether they improve.

The most interesting part of this contest is how they respond

to everything that we're throwing at them.

The judge was absolutely right in what he said tonight.

It's now up to them to act on it.

Next week, Gareth is at the Royal Mail in Bristol.

If you're not good enough, to be frank,

I'm just going to stamp on you.

THEY GROAN

A song choice hits the right note.

People, when they hear of us, will be inspired by the choir.

Nerves take hold.

I feel sick. Just like going to the dentist.

Don't really want to go.

And real men discover the joy of singing.

I know it sounds a bit wussy, about singing,

but we all look forward now to actually singing.

I was surprised that such an ugly bunch of people

could make such a nice noise.

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