The Choir: Aylesbury Prison

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Gareth Malone tries to teach choral music to people with little singing experience

Choirmaster Gareth Malone attempts to teach choral music to people with little singing experience

Aylesbury Prison

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Gareth Malone

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The Choir: Aylesbury Prison: Episode 2

Episode 2

BBC Two - The Choir, Aylesbury Prison, Episode 2

With three weeks to go, Gareth has only seven performers and a handful of half-baked songs

With just three weeks to go, Gareth has only seven performers and a handful of half-baked songs. Gareth is still hoping to get a performance together but in prison things never go to plan.

In the second of this two-part series, Gareth Malone returns to Aylesbury prison, where he has been asked by governor Laura Sapwell to set up the prison’s first choir.

Aylesbury Young Offenders Institute houses young men serving sentences of between four years to life - among them are some of the most violent young men in the UK. 

Gareth has just weeks to recruit enough prisoners to form a choir. In the first six weeks, he struggled to get to grips with a prison system that has to deal with gang rivalries and daily incidents of violence to overcoming the logistics of work and education programmes run by the prison. Gareth managed to find ways to bring boys together without running the risk of them fighting and he even found a way to collaborate with boys who only wanted to perform drill music. He formed a small group on D wing who performed in front of their peers.

Inspired by that tiny ray of light, Gareth decides to go for broke and showcase individual performers and find some way of putting together a large choir for a concert in front of the governor. But he has only seven performers and a handful of half-baked songs, the boys keep getting into trouble and he has just three weeks to put on a show.

Gareth wants to pick up where he left off but he needs to recruit more performers. He reconnects with the only proper singer he found in the last episode, a young man who suffers with mental health issues. Sentenced to four years for armed robbery, Gareth is left wondering if he will ever truly get him to commit to the choir.

A new prisoner wants to work with Gareth. He soon learns that this young man had a steady job before he got involved in a petty crime and stabbing someone. He turns his story into a song. This method seems to open the door as other prisoners work with Gareth, revealing life stories that follow a familiar pattern of drugs, gangs, mistakes and regret.

He now has a small ensemble on D wing and other prisoners writing solo pieces, but he still has no actual choir to speak of. He decides to go after the prison officers but at first they seem as reluctant as the prisoners. However, after a seemingly lacklustre response to his recruiting, he is shocked by a turnout of almost 50 staff. 

On B wing, Gareth works with a charismatic musician who has been reluctant to get involved with the choir. Sentenced to life at 15 years old, he credits prison with changing the boy he was at the time of the crime.   

Gareth persuades this talented rapper to practice with the 50-strong staff choir - if he agrees, Gareth knows the other prisoners will follow. But he is deeply sceptical and very suspicious. 

In the final week, everything picks up pace. Gareth begins to see what a full concert might look like. He has some strong individual performances, bolstered by the staff choir and he even has his quartet on D wing. Gareth is still hoping to get a song and performance from his main singer but in prison things never go to plan.

In one morning, two alarms sound each signalling an incident. The first fight involves one of the boys from Gareth’s quartet. He is now locked in his cell and can’t work with Gareth until after an adjudication. The second incident involves his only and strongest singer, who is attacked while crossing the yard. 

A few days later, Gareth manages to get a session in with his best singer. He writes a song in 20 minutes perfectly capturing what it feels like to suffer from and cope with depression. Gareth is impressed but has no idea if this talented singer will show up for the final performance. 

As the day of the concert approaches, the governor is forced to pull another one of Gareth’s quartet out of performing. Gareth and the rest of the prisoners crack on with last minute rehearsals. Prisoners invite family members and friends to attend. The governor and local dignitaries file onto an empty wing where the concert will take place.

Gareth is poised - musicians, lights and sound are ready. The boys are brought into holding cells adjoining the stage and extra security are on hand just in case. The staff choir takes to the stage, the governor takes her seat, the lights go down. What follows is an event like nothing ever witnessed at Aylesbury before.

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Gareth Malone attempts to form a choir in one of the toughest prisons for young offenders.

Gareth Malone faces a challenge which will test him like no other – to form a choir in one of the toughest prisons for young offenders.

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