Severn Trent Water The Choir

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.

-BLEEPING

-Are you a singer?

-What do you do?

-Dig holes for a living, basically.

# Pat puts all his postbags in his 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?

-Yes.

-Fighting spirit?

-Yes.

-Let's go and do it.

When I was learning to sing, it was through competing with other people that I got better.

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 has set up three of the workplace choirs

that will compete in his singing contest.

He's now on his way to the Midlands to create his fourth and final choir.

I'm going to one of the biggest water companies in the country,

which I'm looking forward to.

I don't know anything about water,

other than when I turn on my tap, I expect it to be there.

It's just not something you ever think about.

I don't know what kind of person works for a water company

but I do know that it's a very important service

because we can't live without water -

it's like one of the emergency services.

Severn Trent is the second biggest private water company in the UK,

supplying clean water to nearly 4 million homes and businesses

across the Midlands and Wales.

If we didn't do our job right,

our customers would either turn on their taps to no water supply

or that supply's not going to be fit to drink.

With over 100 sites, the company employs over 5,000 staff,

from call centres...

Hello, Control Room, Sam speaking.

..to work gangs, who find and fix leaks.

We're like the foot soldiers, the Severn Trent Army.

We've got to go out there and find these leaks

and it can take days, it can take weeks

and there can be a lot of water being wasted

and it does get stressful.

Gareth is starting his search for singers at the company's brand new headquarters in Coventry.

-Morning.

-Hi, good morning.

-Hello. I'm Gareth.

-Welcome to Severn Trent Centre.

-I'm here to start a choir.

Wow.

So corporate.

There must be thousands of people in this building

and there might be somebody typing away at the back of an office

who's got no idea that they're going to be

an absolutely key member of my choir and that really excites me.

-Have you heard about the choir?

-Yeah, I have.

-Have you put your name down?

-No, I can't sing.

Severn Trent Water, Charlotte speaking.

You're speaking to Stuart.

Gareth wants to make sure everyone in the company knows he'll be holding open auditions

to find the strongest 30 voices.

Severn Trent Business Direct, Jo speaking. How can I help?

-Hello, are you busy?

-Just wrapping up a job.

Go for it.

He begins with the busy call centre staff,

who deal with thousands of enquiries and complaints every day.

Thank you for your call. Enjoy the rest of your day.

-Have you got a call?

-Not really, not at the moment.

-So you must have to deal with people who are really angry.

-Of course.

-When you go home can you hear them echoing around your head?

-Always.

-Really?

-Every time I hear a beep, it's like...

"Good morning, you're through to Severn Trent Water." GARETH LAUGHS

-Hi. I'm Gareth.

-I'm Steve.

-Hi, Steve.

-I'm the manager of everybody on the floor.

-I was just wanted to make sure that you were aware that we've had quite a busy morning.

-Have you?

-We've had 500 calls so far this morning...

-Right.

It's just imperative that we make sure we're able to answer...

I can see that you're quite stressed, aren't you?

-..every single call...

-Are you thinking about joining us?

-I feel you're a man under pressure.

-You may well be right.

Until I came here I didn't realise how much people in call centres are under constant pressure.

Imagine what it's like when it's freezing out there

and all the pipes are breaking - it must be hell in here.

Imagine having a whole day of people being angry with you

because they haven't got water.

Right, floor seven.

Next stop, senior management on the top floor.

Spacious.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-I'm Gareth Malone.

-Hi, Gareth. How are you?

-I'm starting a choir in your company.

-I'm Andy Smith.

-Have you sung before?

-Erm, only at school and rugby matches.

-Right.

But I wanted to show willing and show a bit of leadership.

I like that. Leading by example.

If I put myself forward, I could expect my people to do the same.

-Thanks very much.

-You're very welcome. See you later. Great.

With the boss on board, Gareth heads over 20 miles to Leicester,

in search of the workmen.

Morning. Thanks.

-Hi. I'm here to talk about the choir.

-Welcome to Leicester.

-Good to be here.

-Good luck.

-Oh, right - thanks!

Before you go, could I have a very quick word? Is that all right?

-Yeah, no problem.

-I'm here today to invite you to be part of a choir

that will, I hope, represent your company

in a national contest.

And for me, it's really important that this choir reflects the whole company

from, you know, the girls in the office to all of you.

It's absolutely about bringing everyone together,

so I hope it's something you'd like to get behind.

Has anyone put their names forward?

Two.

Come on, guys!

Anyone? For the company!

BUZZ OF CONVERSATION

I can't sing. I've got no teeth.

No way. I can't sing.

I'm underwhelmed.

It's kind of what I expected.

You know, not even the girls from the office was enough of an enticement.

The following day, Gareth's back at head office to begin auditions.

Right, hello. Follow me, come on in.

-Hi, everyone.

-Hello.

-Welcome to the audition.

I want to set up a choir in this company that can speak for the company,

that represents the whole company.

I'm looking for a choir of around 30 people

out of a company of 5,000.

So I'm looking for the cream. I'm looking for the diamonds.

So the song that you are going to do now is Row Row Row Your Boat.

You're going to sing it on your own.

-Joanna... What's your second name.

-Bratt.

SHE SINGS CONFIDENTLY # Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

-Well done. Have you done this before?

-Yes.

-I've got a degree in music.

-You've got a degree in music!

-I have.

-I should be so much better.

-Can we do it in E major?

-No.

Can I just hear E major? One, two, three, and.

SHE SINGS HIGHER # Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

-The roof nearly came off.

-It's not good.

-It was good. Well done. Thank you very much.

I note with some interest

we have some people from the seventh floor here today.

-Andy.

-PIANO PLAYS CHORD

Here we go. Are you ready? One, two, three, and.

# Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

-Great. Have you done anything like this before?

-No.

Good. Well done. Thank you, Andy.

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

Throughout the day, Gareth auditions over 80 office workers

as he searches for the very best voices.

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

-Erm...

-Charlotte.

-Charlotte.

-Yes.

OK. One, two, three, and.

SHE SINGS SWEETLY # Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

Can I hear a low one? B flat, please.

SHE SINGS MORE DEEPLY # Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

-What do you do?

-I work in the billing department on the phones.

-Billing on the phones.

-Yes.

-So you get money from people, basically.

-Yes, I do.

-It's an important job. Somebody's got to do it.

The job that I'm in at the moment, I completely... I love it.

I'm the first point of contact for customers.

The job can be stressful.

They can be angry and that and you've got to learn to try and not take it personally.

But sometimes it is hard.

If the lines are busy we don't get time to talk to each other.

We're never on the same breaks,

so it's really difficult to get to know people in the company.

I think having a choir will bring everybody together

and this is why I think the choir is a good thing.

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

-Good. Thank you very much.

-Yeah.

-There were some great voices in there.

-There was.

Some really fantastic voices.

-Fingers crossed. Are you confident, Katherine?

-Erm, not really.

I hope I get into the choir.

I've never really had any experience of singing alone,

like, with people around me.

Well done. Thanks.

I'm actually properly excited. That was really good.

There's some great potential here

and people who really feel like they represent the company well

but who also sing well.

I thought it was really good. I was quite impressed.

Next, Gareth heads back to Leicester for the workmen.

-Good turnout.

-Hiya.

-This is looking good. Good afternoon.

Sit wherever you like.

If you can bunch up that would be great. Thanks.

Have we got the whole... We've got the works.

-Great. Hello. Welcome.

-Hello.

Thank you very, very much for coming this afternoon.

-Shall we get cracking and get singing, yes?

-Yes.

I'm going to go to Lee, all the way back over here. Hi, Lee.

-Have you done this before?

-No.

-OK, well, let's hear it. Two, three.

# Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

-Thank you, Lee. What do you do?

-Dig holes for a living, basically.

Dig holes! Mick, Hi. Two, three, and.

# Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

-Frog in your throat?

-A bit.

-That's fine.

-A cold or too many fags?

-It's probably too many fags.

All right, a bit of both. Jamie, up you get. Two, three, and.

# Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily

# Life is but a dream. #

-Does this before?

-No.

-Never?

-No.

-What do you do?

-Find leaks. Point at leaks.

-You're a leak finder.

-You point at leaks.

-Well done, OK. That's good.

OK, and Josh. Two, three, and.

HE SINGS IN A HIGH TENOR # Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

-We're going to go up!

-HIGHER CHORD

Two, three, and.

HE SINGS HIGHER # Row, row, row your boat Gently down the stream

# Merrily, merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

We're going to up. And.

-# Row, row, row your boat Gently down the... #

-Relax.

-HE HITS TOP NOTE # Merrily, merrily, merrily... #

-Well done. That's bloody good.

No, stand up! That's good!

# Merrily, merrily, merrily Life is but a dream. #

Is that an A? That's a find. Very good. Well done.

That's a high tenor. You're a rarity.

That is a high note. That's really high.

Well done. Thank you very much. You may go.

It surprised me. I didn't have a clue what we were going to be doing

but it seems like everybody knows Row Your Boat.

It'll be in my head all night now, thank you very much.

Quite embarrassing, standing up in front of everybody

singing really high-pitched notes.

Just uncomfortable with your work colleagues

because I'm going to get ripped now.

I'm going to get hammered for having a high-pitched voice.

Josh, the high tenor. That was absolutely extraordinary.

I mean, I can't believe he's not sung before

but he's got a naturally really high voice,

the sort of voice you don't expect to find.

That was really exciting.

That was... That was my rough diamond. Brilliant.

Auditions over, Gareth must now decide who's in.

What I'm trying to do is get a balance of good voices,

get it balanced across the company.

It's not just good voices, it's voices that are going to go together

and make up a section.

So if someone's going to stick out too much,

because they've got an enormous voice, it's not necessarily a good thing.

I want voices that are going to blend.

He was good. He's very good.

That is my choir.

The next day, Gareth's 30 hand-picked staff gather for their first-ever rehearsal

at head office.

Come on in. Welcome. My choir.

-All right?

-Good thanks.

-How are you doing?

-You all right?

Hi. Hi. Hello.

Hi, Gill.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you!

You're in the choir.

Very, very exciting. First day, first rehearsal.

There's a real buzz in the air. It's brilliant.

It is a contest - definitely, it is a contest -

and fundamentally, it's about putting the company's best foot forward,

so we're looking for quality.

So you, the choir, is going to choose its own song.

I think it's really important that you have a song that represents you,

your company, your personality as a choir.

Does anyone have any immediate thoughts?

-Liam?

-Cry Me A River.

-Oh, that's a good one!

-# Come on and cry me a river

-# ..cry me a river

# Cry me a river

# I cried a river over you. #

-I was toying with The Flood.

-The Flood?

-Who's that by?

-Take That.

-Do we all know it?

# Standing.... # Can I hear it? Two, three, and.

# Standing

# On the edge of forever. #

-That's a really good suggestion.

-But flooding's not a good concept.

I'm going to be a party pooper. I get the lyric that it's holding back the flood

but we have to be a bit sensitive to that.

We did flood a treatment works in 2007

and people work in sewer flooding and things like that.

Sometimes, people's houses flood,

so it's a bit of a hostage to fortune.

It was about Take That and the fans missing them when they're gone.

That's what it was all about.

Who is it that deals with complaints?

-Great.

-I'm with Andy. LAUGHTER

Any others? Yes - Neale?

-River Deep Mountain High.

-PEOPLE EXCLAIM

Is that # Do I love you, my oh my # ?

And it's great once you get to the chorus

but you will be stood there singing,

# When I was a little girl I had a puppy. #

Tina Turner, isn't it?

# Rolling like a river. #

-Who does that?

-Tina Turner.

# Rolling... Rolling

# Rolling like a river. #

Proud Mary. It's your choice. It's crunch time.

We've got to decide. Is it Cry Me A River?

-No.

-No?

Is it The Flood by Take That?

No.

Is it Take Me To The River or is it Rolling In The River?

Rolling In The River.

All those in favour say aye.

-Aye!

-Motion passed.

Your first song is Proud Mary.

So, # Rolling like a river. #

-I've printed off the songs. Does anyone know this?

-Only the chorus.

Let's just do the chorus. If we just get that...

-LOW:

-# Rolling...

-HIGH

-# Rolling

Sopranos, sing that for me. Three, and.

-# Rolling #

-Bit more energy.

-# Rolling

# Rolling on a river #

Altos' tune.

IN HARMONY # Rolling, rolling #

-That's it.

-# Rolling on a river #

Altogether.

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling on a river #

-Ah!

-THEY SING QUIETLY # Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling on a river #

-Stand up. Three, and.

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

# Rolling on a river. #

Good. I think that's got great potential.

Well done, everyone. Rolling On A River it is.

Let's leave it there. Thank you very much. Well done.

It was great. I thought we...

I was amazed at the noise that we made first time out.

I'm really pleased that there's a great mix of people.

It's really nice, if you think about it.

In a work environment, we would never have...

We would never have met each other, really, would we?

I've spoken to Neale on lots of occasions

during the day to day business of Severn Trent

and we've never met before.

It sounded great. As a first rehearsal from a group who've never sung together,

many of whom have never sung in harmony before, it was great.

What's really exciting for me here is that we've got a really good, strong men's section

and we've got lots and lots of singers who are naturally talented.

They've just got lovely voices.

There's some fantastic singing going to happen here.

A few days later, Gareth heads out on a job,

finding leaks with one of the workmen, Josh.

So there's Josh, my star tenor.

-Hi! I'm dressed for the occasion.

-JOSH LAUGHS

-How are you doing?

-All right, Gareth. How are you?

-I'm good.

Good to see you. I've come to see what you do.

Right.

-What's that?

-This is the listening stick. That's what you find leaks with.

-A listening stick.

-We'll go down there, see if we can hear it.

What does the listening stick say?

-It says, "I can't hear much."

-All right.

Do you need my ears? I've got a musician's ears.

That might be fantastic.

-No, there's no sound.

-There's no sound on there.

-So have you got kids or...?

-Yeah, I've got three kids.

Are they old enough to know what's going on?

-Erm, I told them last night.

-What did they say?

They laughed. They thought it was quite funny, to be honest.

I can't sing. My partner, she's a singer.

She likes singing and doing things and she's really good.

-Do you sing with your kids?

-No.

-No?

-No.

-Not at all?

-No.

-So you don't ever do any singing?

-No, never, ever.

This is astonishing.

It's really interesting because I thought you got the ear test absolutely right

and you've got this really good range.

You seemed really vocally confident, actually.

Yeah, no, I don't ever - never ever.

-No? Football matches, nothing like that?

-Nothing, no.

-Well, I hope...

-Nothing.

-I hope you're going to enjoy it.

-I do, as well, yeah.

You've just got to be a graffiti artist.

You get to be a graffiti artist.

I'm going to have to have a sandwich now.

Well done. You deserve a break.

LAUGHTER

What a nice guy and how amazing that he's never sung before.

But he has just got a naturally high voice

and I think he's going to be a secret weapon for this choir.

Over the following weeks, Gareth arranges for the choir

to have a series of additional rehearsals

with a local choir mistress.

# Left a good job in the city

# Working for the man every night and day. #

Brilliant. Really well done.

But on his next visit, as staff gather at the Leicester water centre,

Gareth discovers all is not well with the choir.

-Hello, everyone.

-Hello!

-Hello. Good to see you all.

-Been working hard?

-Yes.

Got a couple of absenteeists.

-Am I missing Josh in the middle there?

-Yeah.

-Any ideas?

-Er, I believe...

-He's struggling.

-Struggling to find the time, I believe.

-Oh, no. You're kidding?

I think he has... Has he actually officially...?

-He's handed in his notice...

-I think so.

-..on the choir.

-Yes.

-My super high tenor.

-Yes.

-Oh, no.

-So we're a man down on the tenor team.

-Yes.

Erm... Oh, that's disappointing.

I think he just can't find the time.

Damn. OK.

Let's move on. We still have a lot of people in the choir.

Let's do it part by part. Let's start at the bottom and work up.

So can I actually just hear the tenor line

from the beginning. Tenors all the way through.

# Big wheels keep on turning... #

-Smooth here.

-# Proud Mary keep on burning

-Energy.

-# Rolling

-Sound.

-# Rolling

-There it is!

-# Rolling on a river

-Don't hang on "er" too much.

-# Rolling

-# Rolling... #

-Short "er"

# Rolling on a river

OK. Now we're going to do the alto line. One, two, three and one.

# Doo-doo doo doo-doo Doo-doo doo doo-doo #

It's like the confidence arrives ten minutes later.

It's got to be # Doo-doo doo doo-doo #

That's the sound I want. Two, three, and.

# Doo-doo doo doo-doo # Doo-doo doo doo-doo #

Yeah but now all the energy's gone. It's funny. Why...?

We can either have # Doo-doo doo doo... #

Or we can have # Doo-doo doo

# Doo-doo doo doo-doo # Two, three.

Yeah, please. Let's stand up. Let's try that again.

-# Doo-doo doo doo doo... #

-And down.

-# Left a good job in the city

-# Doo-doo doo doo doo

# Working for the man every night and day

# Doo-doo doo doo doo

# And I never lost one minute of sleeping

# Worrying about the way things might have been

-# Doo doo

-# Big wheels keep on turning

# Proud Mary keep on burning... #

Sit down. Thank you very much. OK.

We are getting there. No question. Let's take a break. Thank you.

I think it's disappointing that the first person

-has potentially left the choir.

-Yeah, that is sad.

I just hope... Cos that was quite flattening, wasn't it?

-I think it'll be all right.

-I'm going nowhere.

-I'm going nowhere, either. These chances don't come round.

-Exactly.

We're struggling to carry it a bit.

I'm finding it quite difficult at the top end of the register.

There are some quite high notes in there.

I'm gutted about Josh pulling out.

That is really bad news, bad news for them as a section,

because he brought a kind of ring and brightness,

that high voice that no-one else has got.

It really felt like those tenors are struggling.

Right. So, I wanted you to come here today

because I think what you need is to do your first performance...

of this right now.

Bring it on.

Right now downstairs are the whole workforce who work here.

They're all gathering and they've come to see you perform.

-You're joking!

-I'm not joking, no. I'm serious.

-I am serious. Who's up for a challenge?

-Yes!

-Yes?

This is what this is about. It's about getting out there and performing.

However this goes, let's learn the lessons.

Give it 100%, give it everything you've got and enjoy it.

Let's go and do this. Come on.

The guys downstairs are sort of like, "Uh. We go out and dig holes."

They're quite intimidating.

It's like, "I'm a real man."

And if you go down and sing in front of them in a choir,

it's a little bit daunting.

Good afternoon! Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

Mostly gentlemen, actually.

Good to see you.

This is your choir. There's most of your workforce represented here.

There's guys from head office, there's guys from all over the place

and this is their first performance.

I told them that they were going to perform for you about five minutes ago,

so there's some degree of nerves and tension

but we're going to man up and we're going to get on with it.

Here we go.

KEYBOARD GIVES NOTE

# Doo doo doo-doo-doo Doo doo doo-doo-doo

# Doo doo doo-doo-doo Doo doo doo-doo-doo

-# Doo doo doo-doo-doo

-# Doo-doo doo doo-doo

# Doo-doo doo doo-doo

# Doo-doo doo doo-doo # Doo-doo doo doo-doo

SOPRANOS JOIN IN HARMONY

# Left a good job in the city

# Working for the man every night and day

# And I never lost one minute of sleep

# Worrying about the way things might have been

# Doo-doo doo doo

# Big wheel keep on turning

# Proud Mary keep on burning

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

# Rolling on a river

-# Said we're rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

# Rolling on a river

-# Cleaned a lot of plates in Memphis

-Doo-doo doo doo-doo

-# Pumped a lot of 'tane down in New Orleans

-Doo-doo doo

# But I never saw the good side of the city

-# Till I hitched a ride on a river boat queen

-Doo-doo doo doo-doo

# Big wheel keep on turning

# Proud Mary keep on burning

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

# Rolling on a river

-# Said we're rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

-# Rolling

# Rolling on a river! #

CHEERING AND WHISTLING

What do you think? Pretty good stuff.

Well done, everyone. That's it. We did it.

-You are a choir!

-CHEERING

That was well slick. I was impressed.

That sounded professional.

The performance was really good.

They seemed really confident.

I thought it would be crap but they were quite good.

-We sounded better than what we have done.

-Better than we did all day.

-I really enjoyed myself in there.

-Yeah, it was wild, wasn't it?

-We're starting to sound like a choir.

-Yeah.

It was much better in performance than it had been in rehearsal

but it wasn't the finished product at all.

The real bitter taste in my mouth is

that we seem to have lost Josh from the choir

and without him, actually, they suffered a little bit,

so I'm a bit gutted.

-Later that evening...

-Josh should be somewhere around here.

..Gareth goes in search of tenor Josh.

I wonder whether I can persuade him back in.

There he is.

-Hello, Josh.

-Hi, Gareth. Are you all right?

-Yeah. You're a difficult man to find.

-I know, yeah.

-Have you been busy?

-Yeah, very busy.

-We're busy tonight, as well.

-OK.

-Really busy.

I'm just er... I'm sorry I can't make the choir no more.

-I'm a bit gutted, actually.

-I am as well, to be honest.

-Ah, no.

-But er...

-What's your reason?

-My partner was ill for quite a while with my daughter.

-She's been ill?

Yeah, she was in hospital for about two months, yeah.

-Is this following the birth?

-This was just before it.

-Oh, goodness.

-She was basically paralysed. She was in a wheelchair and all that.

-Oh, my goodness.

It was the baby pushing on her pelvis which then trapped some nerves

-which stopped her from moving.

-Oh, my goodness.

So we've had a bit of a mad one, so just trying to sort all that out.

-I completely understand that.

-It's been quite hard.

I think it's one of the difficulties of trying to create a choir in a workplace

is that people have got lives - it's very...

Well, look, stick at it. Do keep singing

because I think you should, I really do.

And I hope your wife's all right. Good luck with the baby.

-She'll be all right.

-All right.

-Thank you, Gareth. Take care.

-See you.

-See you.

I'm really gutted, I'm really gutted,

because he's such a lovely bloke, a really, really nice guy,

and has this really interesting voice.

But the show must go on.

A few days later, Gareth gets a chance to see a different side of the water industry.

What is in there?

HE SNIFFS

At one of the company's sewage treatment works,

he catches up with choir member Neale.

-Morning. Hello, Neale. How are you doing?

-Are you all right?

-Yes, good to see you.

-Yes, yeah.

-So how's the choir?

-It's great.

I have to say, I'm still in shock and awe about how good it sounds, I really am.

Apart from the camaraderie

and getting out to meet people that I've spoke to but never met

and the feeling that we're actually knitting Severn Trent together.

-Because we're a vast organisation.

-It humanises the company.

-Yeah.

-Show me around.

-Yeah, of course.

-I'm slightly trepidatious.

-Do you get used to this smell?

-You do all week

but you have the weekend off and you come back in

-and you go, "Oh, what a terrible smell!"

-Really?

I mean, we're looking at, now, quite a high flow.

Everybody's just had a shower,

been to the toilet in the morning, first thing.

It just looks like a river and then you notice the bits floating in it.

-Now, those are the bits we want to keep.

-That's the good stuff, is it?

-That's the organics.

-So it's bits of people's food.

-Yeah, yeah.

-Digested or otherwise.

-Oh, there's a pea.

-THEY LAUGH

-Oh, there's a bit of bread there.

-Yeah.

What's that?!

Bits of rag, cotton buds, things like that.

The sieves drop it into there, they're called screens,

into a conveyor and drop into the skips down below here.

-And what happens to that?

-That will go to landfill.

What's the worse thing that's come through?

The worst thing that comes through is pets.

-No!

-Pets, yeah.

-Oh, no.

-Little hamsters, things like that come through.

-Oh, you're kidding?

-Yeah.

-Oh, no.

-Oh, it's horrible that is, dealing with those.

-We had a man's willy come through once at Stratford.

-You're joking me?

It's a fascinating process. I'd never really thought about it.

Thank goodness for people like Neale.

I tell you what, I am going to be very careful what I put down my sink

and even more careful about what I put down my toilet.

Later that day, Gareth decides to sort out his own messy problem -

the missing tenor.

He hopes one of the workmen from his reserve list might get him out of a hole.

-Jamie.

-Hello.

-Hello.

-How are you doing?

-I'm all right.

-Have you got a moment?

-Yes.

As you've probably heard, I'm one man down.

-One man down.

-I'm a tenor down.

And you did a great audition and I'm wondering if you're interested.

-Yeah. Cool.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

-You're excited about it?

-Yeah.

-Yeah? Good.

-Beautiful. When do I start?

-You... er... This afternoon.

-Cheers, mate.

-Yeah?

-Nice one. CHEERING

-Brilliant.

-Well done, Jamie. Well done, mate.

I knew one of the lads had dropped out,

middle of the week, or last week,

but I didn't know whether I'd get called upon or not

but I have been, so, yeah, I'm happy.

HE HUMS

With his new tenor in place,

Gareth focuses on giving the choir a more challenging song.

HE HUMS ALONG TO RHYTHM TRACK

For me, this is the perfect song for this organisation

because ever since I've arrived, all they've talked about is being under pressure.

This has a bit more lyrical music in it,

so it's a bit more of a vocal challenge to sing.

That's tricky.

-# Change our way of... #

-HE HUMS

It's a step on from where they've been so far,

so this has got a couple of choral challenges

that will make them work at the level that they're going to need to be for the competition.

So, welcome, everyone.

-It's time to introduce a new song.

-Yay!

Now, I was thinking really hard about what song to do,

to do with you,

and, er, when I came here on the first day

I was walking around

and there was one phrase that kept cropping up

and it was like a joke

and the phrase is, "under pressure".

LAUGHTER

In a couple of weeks' time

I want you to perform for, basically,

your entire company.

CHEERING

So we're going to do Under Pressure.

Here we go. Let's crack on.

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

One, two, three...

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum # Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum. #

Watch there, basses, that the lower note is in tune.

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-That's it!

-# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-Altos. And.

-# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for

That's it. # No man ask for. #

Good. OK, now, tenors.

# Under pressure That burns a building down

# Splits a family in two Puts people on streets. #

I heard somebody move on "down".

-ON ONE NOTE

-# Building down #

-Does anyone want to own up?

-LAUGHTER

Can we do it with sopranos, please? Three.

# Under pressure That burns a building down

-# Splits a family in two Puts people on streets... #

-Good.

-# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum... #

-Two three.

-# Under

-# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for... #

Well done.

# Under pressure That burns a building down

# Splits a family in two

# Puts people on streets... #

-It's going to be good, right?

-Yeah!

It's really going to be good. OK, well done.

Big performance in the atrium is very nerve-racking, actually -

in front of the whole company, as well.

Because we're based here a lot of the staff from this building

will be there watching us, so that's difficult.

-I haven't thought about that.

-I have.

-Thanks. Great.

-That's worse now.

-So that's going to be the difficult thing.

The performance in the atrium will be great.

It will sound great in there, lifting it up to everyone.

Really high up there. Brilliant. That's got to go well.

I'm really up for that.

Really looking forward to it, definitely.

For the company performance, Gareth wants a lead soloist

and decides to hold auditions on executive floor seven.

It's quite intimidating to come in here. This is their board room.

Most of them won't ever have been in here

and I think that's a good thing

because if they can't come in here and stand up to this challenge

then how are they going to do it in front of the whole company

and how can they represent the company?

It's very important the soloist can do that.

I never thought I'd be on the seventh floor, singing.

I probably thought I'd be up here on a disciplinary.

But not singing.

-Hello, Mick.

-Morning.

-How are you?

-I'm very well. How are you?

-Good, thanks.

Nervous?

-I wasn't.

-But and then you come in.

-Yeah.

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for

# Under pressure That splits a family in two... #

-No.

-"That burns a building down."

-I'm going to leave it, I think.

# Pressure Pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for

There's a lack of connection with the words.

This is about pressure, you know, that splits a family in two.

It can't feel bland.

It can't feel, you know...

I was going to say it can't feel corporate.

I haven't found anyone yet and I'm almost halfway through.

Come on, man. What are you waiting for?

Still waiting to audition is office worker Charlotte.

SHE SIGHS

And new tenor, workman Jamie.

A little bit nervous, actually, now, yeah.

Erm, I weren't on the way here.

I was thinking, "Yeah, easy,"

but now I've seen where I've actually got to go into

I'm cacking it a bit.

-Hi, Jamie. How are you doing?

-How are we doing?

Only been in the choir for a day and you're already going for a solo.

That's very impressive.

Apart from audition pressures, what sort of pressures do you have in your life?

Er, you know, pressures at work

and pressures... You like to look after the people you love

-and you know what I mean...

-Yes.

-Just...

-Mostly, the pressure's now.

-Yeah, mostly pressure now.

-But I think that's what the song's about. Let's try it.

-OK.

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for

# Under pressure That burns a building down

# Splits a family in two

# Puts people on streets.

-Thank you, Jamie.

-OK.

-Well done.

-Cheers, mate.

Very impressive that he came in as a reserve yesterday.

I'm seriously impressed with him as an individual

and actually his voice is not bad at all

and he's got something about him.

He just seems quite kind of robust.

-Hello!

-Hello, Charlotte. How are you?

-Not bad.

-How are you feeling?

-Nervous but all right.

# Pressure that builds... #

Oh, no, that's the last one.

# Pushing down on me. # Pressure - pressure's a big word.

Make it bigger.

# Pressure

-# The... pushing... #

-Again. Ready.

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for

# Under pressure that burns a building down

# Splits a family in two Puts people on streets

Let's do it one time and get the words right, from memory.

You've almost got it.

# Pressure pressing down on me

# Pushing down on you No man ask for

# Under pressure That burns a building down

# Splits a family two Puts people on streets. #

-Thank you, Charlotte. Well done.

-Thank you.

-You may go.

-Thank you.

Charlotte has a great voice. She's a contender.

I think she could do it but can she remember the words,

can she get right through it?

Hmmm... Yeah.

OK, come on in.

So, very big morning

and thank you very much for turning out to do the solo audition

and you all did very, very well.

I've made my decision and the soloist is going to be...

-Charlotte.

-CHEERING

Well done, Charlotte.

Charlotte, you are the soloist. How are you feeling?

My heart is like nearly like... Oh! It's nearly out my chest.

You will do, I think, a great job for the company,

so very, very well done.

Let's get ready to sing.

Two, three, and.

# Under pressure That burns a building down

# Splits a family in two Puts people on streets

-Big sound!

-# It's a terror of knowing what this world is about

# Watching some good friends screaming "Let me out!"

# Pray tomorrow takes me higher

# Pressure on people - people on streets... #

I think it's time to put the solo in.

From the beginning. One, two, three.

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-# Pressure...

-# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-Oh, sorry.

-That's it, yes. That's you.

-Oh, right.

-Three and.

-# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for... #

-CHOIR SINGS HESITANTLY

-Hello!

-Oh!

OK, we'll take a break there. Thank you very much.

I'm ecstatic but my heart is just pounding.

I'm really, really overwhelmed. I just can't believe it.

I just can't believe it.

Charlotte, she's slightly under-confident, I think,

and I need to build her up a bit but she's got the right sound.

She's musical enough to make something of that little moment.

QUIET SINGING

That evening, Charlotte practises her solo at home with her mum.

I don't think I know the other bit.

It's the first time I've ever done anything like this before.

I'm going to be like leading the choir for a slight bit,

which is pretty scary.

# Pressing down on you No man ask for... #

-You'll be all right.

-Yeah.

I suppose my confidence will be all right when I get there.

I used to get asked at school, "Sing for me, sing for me,"

and I'd stand there and I'd do it.

I did used to get laughed at

and I think it has bothered me over the years.

# Puts people on streets

-That's all we've got so far.

-That's wicked!

The choir makes me feel comfortable

because I've not been with Severn Trent for a long time.

I felt part of something and it's a nice feeling.

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-# Under pressure

# That burns a building down

# Splits a family in two

# Puts people on streets

HE WHISTLES

The company performance is just a week away.

# ..that burns a building down

# Watching some good friends screaming "Let me out!" #

We are all starting to bond together as a family, really.

It's nice to see, especially when we've not known each other for long.

# This is our last dance... #

Can you feel how it's beginning to be musical?

I find it really energising. I go out, I've got so much energy

and it's the highlight of my week.

# ..tomorrow takes me higher

Because the sound is suddenly much richer.

I find I get a lot less stressed.

I plod along at work, looking forward to Wednesday's rehearsal,

but I buzz off that until Friday time.

# This is our last dance

# Under pressure. #

Excellent!

MUSIC: "Zadok The Priest" by Handel

-How's work?

-Er, all right.

-What floor are we going to?

-Seven.

'It's less than 24 hours until the workplace performance.'

-Do you ever normally come up here?

-No. No.

'Gareth wants to prepare soloist Charlotte for the challenge

'of singing in front of hundreds of work colleagues.'

FINGERS CLICK THE BEAT # Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for

Note-wise, it's fine. I'd just like to see a bit more personality.

-Yeah, of course.

-One, two, three, and.

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for. #

Charlotte, you're such an engaging speaker

and such an engaging personality and you're full of energy

and yet as soon as you sing it's like you're in an exam setting.

You know, when you speak you're really animated

and I want that in your singing as well.

-Can you do that?

-Yeah.

-Right.

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man ask for. #

That's... That's better.

You've got to forget that you're surrounded by senior managers

and there's going to be the whole company in the audience.

You've got to think "I've got something to tell you

"that you don't know about

"and it's my story, it's my version of your company

"and you are all going to listen."

-It's not easy. I'm not saying it's easy.

-No, it's not.

-I thought it was going to be a doddle.

-No, it's not.

-It's not.

-Let's go and look at the space.

-Yes.

It's quite a big space.

Mm.

Yeah.

I always think it's good to have sort of pre-match nerves,

think about what you're going to have to do

and try to imagine your voice filling that space.

I think you need to think about your performance really just like that.

It's a big old room to fill.

It is.

-So hopefully that will be full tomorrow.

-Yeah.

I never thought when I got this job at Severn Trent,

I never thought that I was going to be singing

in front of near enough everybody that works for the company.

I'm not that nervous, really, but it will be different tomorrow, I think.

The day of the workplace performance has finally arrived.

-A little bit nervous, a little bit flustered but...

-I'm petrified.

My heart's starting to beat fast now

because I'm thinking about all the people that are coming in.

My colleagues are going to be up there watching.

I just feel like it's all on me at the minute.

I've got to make sure I hit the notes.

Because I don't want to let the choir down, you know.

As they prepare, what the choir don't know

is that Gareth has invited one of the judges

who'll decide which choir will win the overall contest,

renowned conductor Manvinder Rattan.

I'm hoping that we're going to hear a really tight team.

How together are they?

Are they singing as a team or are they singing as lots of individuals?

In addition to that, I'm looking for a sense of engagement with the audience,

so they're not just standing there performing to themselves,

they're performing to someone else.

'Manvinder will be hidden in the audience of family and work colleagues.'

OK, everyone, let's gather round, please.

I can feel the nerves descending.

It's now time to go out and enjoy it and make a performance.

A performance, for me, is a gift, it's an act of generosity

and it's reflecting the spirit of your company back to the rest of the company

and it's important that you feel that whilst you're singing.

Really put heart and soul into this.

OK, very good. Could we line up, please?

WHOOPING

Good afternoon, everyone.

It's really good to see so many of you, even you up on the top floor.

It gives me great pride to introduce you to

the Severn Trent Choir.

APPLAUSE AND CHEERING

The choir you see behind me represents your company

because they're going forward to a contest

where they will be competing with other British workplaces.

So I would encourage you to support your choir, get behind your team.

We're going to sing for you.

PIANO GIVES NOTE

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

# Pressure pushing down on me

# Pressing down on you No man asked for

# Under pressure That burns a building down

# Splits a family in two

# Puts people on streets

# It's the terror of knowing What this world is about

# Watching some good friends screaming, "Let me out!"

# Pray tomorrow takes me higher

# Pressure on people People on streets

-# Da-da da

-# Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum Dum-dum dum da-da dum dum

-# Da-da da

-# Ooh

# Cos love's such an old-fashioned word

# And love dares you to care for the people

# On the edge of the night

# And love dares you to change

# Our way of caring about ourselves

# This is our last dance

# This is our last dance

# This is ourselves

# Under pressure. #

CHEERING

CHEERING

-Well done. You did a fantastic job.

-Thank you.

-Yes!

-Yes!

-I don't think anyone thought they would be as good as they were.

-No.

-It was amazing! I loved it so much.

-Brilliant.

It just echoed all the way through and it was fantastic.

I think this building is meant for singing.

-It was just a fantastic performance.

-I've never done something like that before

and it was really quite a sort of tingly feeling

with everybody smiling - whoa!

You seemed really confident and you socked it out, you really did.

-Definitely.

-They will have heard that on the seventh floor.

I'm going to cry!

-Hey!

-Hi, Gareth.

-Well done. How was that?

-Thanks.

-Brilliant.

-It was good, wasn't it?

-What did you think?

-It was OK.

-OK?

-That means a lot to me.

Yeah, yeah - that OK speaks volumes.

Very, very well done. Really. I was really happy with that.

-How did you feel?

-Yeah, good.

-Really happy.

There is one thing that you didn't know

about today's performance.

There was somebody in the audience

who is a conductor of national repute,

a very highly regarded conductor, called Manvinder Rattan.

But more importantly he is one of the judges from the contest.

THEY GASP AND GROAN

And he's going to come and give you some feedback on your performance

right now.

-This is Manvinder.

-APPLAUSE

-Hello.

-Come and stand here.

Well done, everyone. That was an astonishing performance.

I was blown away by the commitment that you all showed to that

and clearly the immense work that you've put into it.

I start judging a choir the moment it starts walking.

I started judging you the moment you walked past me onto that stage

and I was looking at the way you were walking.

What did your body language tell me?

Because part of singing is about projecting the sense of enjoyment

and the story and the spirit that we want to convey to our audience.

So when I'm supposed to be singing something happy and I'm looking really miserable,

there's a problem there - so thinking about that presentation.

So that's one thing I'd like you guys to work on.

So good luck for the next part of this process and well done.

-Thank you so much.

-Thank you.

The feedback that the judge gave us was really surprising.

Seeing him has kind of helped us to think,

-right, we need to up our game even more now.

-Yeah.

He's impressed with us already,

so in a few more weeks when it comes to the actual contest,

you know, we'll have a good chance of winning it, I think.

-We want to win it.

-Yeah.

Right from the beginning - we want to win it.

And we're going to go hell for leather to win it.

What a fantastic day and what a moment for this company.

It felt like it really came together under one roof.

It was really exciting.

You know, really actually very moving in a corporate environment,

which is just a wonderful thing to see.

It really had soul, that performance.

They have work to do but I think now that we're at the contest stage,

it's going to get competitive.

-Next week...

-I've got some new music for you.

-Oooh!

All four workplaces prepare to compete.

# For the rhythm of life is a powerful beat... #

# Sing, sing, sing, sing

# Everybody goes... # This way.

# Don't mess with Mister In-between... #

Oh, God!

A panel of judges will hear them perform.

-They've been together for two months? Listen to that.

-Fabulous.

Absolutely gorgeous.

And one choir will leave the contest.

Someone's about to be knocked out and it's really painful, actually.

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