In At The Deep End - opera singer, with Chris Searle and Eric Shilling 1986

[@Tenortalker]

Chris Searle did well , particularly in a role where the rhythm of the music is quite tricky to remember , add to that being on the pitch, projecting above the orchestra and the stage action. Operatic roles do require multi tasking. I thought the various people asked to comment at the end were quite negative. No - one could expect him to have a splendid , operatic voice unless he had followed years of training, but for an attempt at a role he deserved praise without endless caveats. It was a good idea for the TV company to give viewers an inside understanding of what opera entails and no doubt good publicity for the company. Such publicity / interest would be good now in the current company crisis.

[@alexanderbrown1954]

Well, the opera world is even tougher than that, including for well-trained singers with great voices! In fact , I thought they were quite kind to him, knowing they were on a TV programme.... In the real opera world, he would not have got past the audition. For every ten auditions a trained but unknown singer might get a couple of jobs. He did well, all things considered, but being asked to replace the great Eric Shilling was a very tall order! The film even made me nervous, and I've been in the business 40 years (mercifully retired now!).

[@alexanderbrown1954]

Where did you find all these marvellous videos? fantastic! Keep going!

[@gonzolagonda]

This one is from the VHS we taped when it was aired. We got the others by getting in touch with the broadcasters who had them in the archives. For a fee they provided DVDs!

[@stefanufer608]

This was when the BBC started to entertain kitsch TV, to the detriment of its superb reputation. Things got worse over the last 40 odd years and look at the state of it now. Why would Humphrey Burton et al even give a total beginner half a second of ear time?