Britain's Got Talent winners the Hawkestone Farmers Choir.
Last Saturday evening something pretty life affirming and morale boosting happened. No it wasn't an updated version of that vastly popular BBC quiz show the Generation Game introduced by the wondrously funny and versatile Bruce Forsyth. Nor did it mark the welcome return of Sale of the Century presented by the fabulously professional Nicholas Parsons, one of the great showbusiness after dinner circuit presenters and a hugely impressive orator on any given subject. The 1970s now seem like some golden generation for light entertainment on the TV and Saturday nights have never seemed quite the same.
Over the weekend though, TV switched on all of the right buttons and filled a gaping vacuum in the schedules more than adequately and succeeded in converting the hardened sceptics that there was life after public exhibitions of pottery and clay moulding, people dressing up in silly clothes and then acting out in daft plays with Bruce Forsyth. It all seems such a long time ago and on Saturday evening the tried and tested formula of the good, old fashioned talent show, a concept probably long since forgotten in the mists of time, returned once again to our TV screens.
On Saturday night, Britain's Got Talent reached another sensational and glittering climax. This is TV at its most redemptive and entertaining, a perfect remedy for the disillusioned, and an uplifting panacea for those who are fed up and sick to the back teeth of a constant diet of depressing documentaries, shocking investigations into the lives of savage murderers, and nothing but doom and gloom. The news is almost incessantly repetitive, tedious and enough to drive you to the local pub.
The winners of Britain's Got Talent were the Hawkestone Farmers Choir, inspired by the charismatic and sometimes controversial celebrity and former Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson. Now Clarkson has become one of the most engaging and likeable of farmers, a man so committed and besotted with his dramatic change of career that you almost feel as though he should be appointed to some prestigious position in political circles.
Maybe Clarkson would make an excellent Cabinet minister or something associated with the running of the country, a deeply influential figure who could definitely be the answer to Britain's enduring troubles. But then you probably wouldn't want to argue with somebody like Clarkson if somebody referred to him as incompetent and hadn't a clue what he was doing. But it was all very different on Saturday night because he was the man taking a vicarious pleasure in some triumph that he was responsible for. So we settled down for the evening and listened to the Hawkestone Farmers Choir because they had got it absolutely right. And they were outstanding.
They sung from the same hymn sheet, harmonised melodiously and must have restored your faith in humanity because we knew it would and did. You were convinced that one day a collective choir with the most musical and powerful of voices would warm the cockles of British hearts. We hadn't really seen anything like them because talent shows are normally dominated by magicians, comedians with a familiar line in modern banter and bonny badinage or singers with monumental voices who just capture our imagination for ever more.
A couple of years ago, a Scottish woman in the most ordinary looking of outfits, exploded into our consciousness like a meteorite from another planet. Susan Boyle walked onto the Britain's Got Talent stage and suddenly burst into a life changing rendition of a song I Dreamed a Dream from the blockbuster and epic, long running and record breaking musical Les Miserables, adapted from the Victor Hugo novel. Boyle proceeded to sing like an angel, an operatic voice from heaven that none of the audience could ever have hoped to hear again. But Britain's Got Talent had captivated TV viewers once again and who could ever question its right to entertain the multitudes of millions watching.
Throughout this year's variety of the barmy and barely believable were brightly lit drones creating remarkable patterns and bringing them to spectacular life. There were the visually stunning stunt acts of bravado and derring do, the lyrical poets extolling the virtues of Great Britain and of course the obligatory performing dogs who jumped through hoops and spent the whole act dancing. But the Hawkestone Farmers Choir will be travelling down to the Royal Variety Performance in November in front of King Charles the Third and Queen Camilla and deservedly so.
Some of us remembered some of those original talent shows from yesteryear. During the 1970s there was New Faces where the judges included music song writer Tony Hatch, comedian Arthur Askey and presented by Derek Hobson. Hatch was the honest, ruthless and uncompromising man who has often been regarded as the predecessor to the blunt and forthright Simon Cowell. A now distant memory of New Faces was of a fresh faced Victoria Wood, a brilliant exponent of word play and amusing anecdotes about people and places in song form. Sadly, the exceptional Victoria Wood passed away several years ago but now she remains one of Britain's national treasures and is fondly remembered.
And then there was Opportunity Knocks during your childhood. Opportunity Knocks was a trend setter, a ground breaking talent show that none of us had ever seen the like before. Among innumerable acts was the splendidly gifted poet Pam Ayres who came onto the show launching into a series of homespun verses about country life, the human condition and funny interpretations of everyday events and cultural British traditions. Pam Ayres set the bar to the highest standard and won Opportunity Knocks with the love of the nation showering upon her from every direction.
There was also one man who would leave an indelible mark on British TV. He was Britain's muscle man Tony Holland. Now Tony Holland was the most extraordinary of individuals, a muscular, athletic and Arnold Schwarzenegger look alike Mr Universe. On one incredible night, Holland stood before a transfixed audience as Holland flexed well honed muscles, now commonly known as a six pack, pulling his pectorals and then emphasising his now well defined chest with sharp, jerky motions. Opportunity Knocks would fade then disappear because Hughie Green, a hitherto unknown Canadian TV personality and precocious child film star, was exposed as a dubious and then unsavoury character with a troubled past.
But on Saturday in the present day, it was Britain's Got Talent that won all the garlands of praise, a talent show for the ages. Its latest winners the Hawkestone Farmers Choir was a major shot in the arm for the agricultural industry, one often taken for granted and always cast as one that always seems to be struggling and declining. But Saturday night was their chance to shine and they took full advantage of that moment in the limelight. We will remember where we were when it all happened and that it made us feel good about the current state of British TV. In isolation, it was both heartwarming and deeply enjoyable. And that's to be highly recommended.
