Radio Times: Review by:; Jane Rackham

Andy, one of the executives who works up on the seventh floor at Severn Trent Water Authority, is a little bit worried. The workforce choir that Gareth Malone has put together is keen on singing Take That’s The Flood, which Andy feels may not be too popular with those customers whose homes have been inadvertently submerged by a burst water main. Sensibly, they decide Creedence Clearwater’s Proud Mary is a safer option.

Gareth is feeling especially confident about this choir because there’s a strong male section. “There’s some fantastic singing going to happen here,” he predicts gleefully. And he’s right. As well as an uplifting first performance (even the lugubrious Andy admits it gave him a “tingly” feeling), Gareth once again proves that music can make a massive difference to people’s lives.

About this programme

5/6. With all of his workplace choirs set up, Gareth Malone pits them against each other for the first time. The four entrants - Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust, the Royal Mail, Manchester Airport and Severn Trent Water - are each given a new song and have less than four weeks to prepare a distinctive performance routine to be assessed by expert judges Manvinder Rattan, Ruby Turner and Ralph Allwood at Bristol's prestigious Colston Hall. Only the best three will make it through to next week's final.