Line of Duty's Vicky McClure had viewers in tears with BBC documentary Our Dementia Choir
The actress formed the group to prove the value of music as therapy
Line of Duty star Vicky McClure may be used to interrogating bent coppers until they sing, but her moving BBC1 documentary has promoted the benefits of a different kind of music.
In two-parter Our Dementia Choir, McClure investigates the impact of music and singing on dementia patients, forming a choir and orchestra made up of people diagnosed with the disease.
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The film was inspired by McClure's personal experience, as she helped care for her grandmother who had dementia, and who died in 2015.
"I learned with my Nonna, who had dementia, that when we sang we were all on the same page," McClure says during the film.
"For me those were the best days because we were all communicating at the same time and she was smiling, and that's all I want you guys to do is just enjoy yourselves."
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Viewers found the episode "heartwarming yet heartbreaking" to watch, with many viewers praising McClure for bringing the effects of the disease to their attention.
"The power that music has is amazing @Vicky_McClure thanks for making such an extraordinary programme and offering an insight into living with dementia, it is both heart breaking yet really positive," Faye Eden wrote.
"The power of music is just amazing. It’s a rollercoaster watch but ultimately the joy is bringing a tear to my eyes," one viewer said of the show.
Members of the choir are also part of a three-year study investigating the impact of music on those with the disease — in one heartwarming moment music teacher Rae rediscovered her love of piano, after giving the instrument up ten years ago following her dementia diagnosis.
"Ray on the piano has me speechless, she's not played for 10 years and she's playing like a professional!," one viewer wrote on Twitter.
Our Dementia Choir with Vicky McClure continues on BBC1 on Thursday 9th May at 8pm
