The Choir: Gareth's Best in Britain - Season 1

Gareth Malone launches his exciting singing contest to find Britain's most entertaining amateur choir.

This week, Gareth is looking for a choir to represent Scotland and the north of England, in a tour that takes him from the rugged beauty of the Scottish Highlands to the rolling hills of the Peak District. From the hundreds who applied, the groups Gareth has chosen to audition include a cancer care choir from Manchester, a troupe of singing mums in Durham, a bluff bunch of Yorkshire pensioners and some soulful singers in Edinburgh. All are hoping to secure a place in a sing-off that could put them through to the national stages of the contest, but who will Gareth choose? And will his expert advice and tuition be enough to help them pull off a performance in their own home town, designed to get them match fit for the later stages of the competition?

This week, Gareth is looking for a group to represent Wales and the Midlands. His audition tour features a Leicester gospel group, a Telford community choir led by the local vicar, singing students from Nottingham and an all-female choir from a Welsh mining town, plus an eyebrow-raising surprise at a countryside garden party.

But who will Gareth bring back to the sing-off? And will his chosen choir rise to the challenge of a public performance in their home town?

This week, Gareth is on home turf as he scours the south west of England for a third regional champion to put through to his nationwide contest. Pit stops include hay barns, harbours and a high tea, on an audition tour that features a Bristol sea shanty band, a cake-loving WI group, a Guernsey church choir and some tuneful young farmers from Devon.

To top it all, Gareth umpires a Pitch Perfect-style song battle between Exeter University's two top a cappella acts. But who from among these hopefuls will Gareth select for the sing-off? Success at this sing-off will secure a place in the national stages of the competition, but also comes with a challenge - ahead of the national contest, the winning choir must work with Gareth to pull off a performance in their home town.

Gareth Malone aims to find Britain's most entertaining amateur choir. In the last leg of his tour of the UK, Gareth scours the south east, looking for a fourth choir to fill the last semi-final place. Contestants include members of a Battersea beatbox academy, a choir comprised of NHS staff and a gifted group of Reading sixth formers put together by their maths teacher.

Gareth Malone aims to find Britain's most entertaining amateur choir. It is the semi-final of Gareth Malone's contest to find Britain's most entertaining, undiscovered amateur choir. The four groups Gareth has handpicked from across the country are being brought together for the first time at bootcamp, before they go head to head to stay in the contest. They face intensive mentoring as part of a challenge designed to target and overcome their musical weaknesses. Two choirs grapple with picking the perfect soloist, while another must tackle their lack of self-belief. It is a race against the clock to perfect their semi-final performances before the groups sing live in front of an invited audience and a jury of musical experts. The jury's votes decide which groups will go through to the grand final and which choir will leave the contest for good.

The grand final of Gareth Malone's contest to find Britain's most entertaining, undiscovered amateur choir. From the hundreds who applied, and the many groups Gareth auditioned across the country, just three are left standing. All that now stands between them and the title of series champion is one last challenge - one that comes with a twist. While the loss of their leader poses a problem for one choir, another group decamps to the country to focus all their energies on victory. The choirs have just ten days to perfect their performances before they compete one final time, in front of a 2,000-strong crowd and a jury of musical experts, at London's prestigious Central Hall Westminster. To emerge triumphant, the choirs must impress the jury, whose votes decide who will be crowned Gareth's Best in Britain.