Change of tune needed.

Byline: Paul English

The Choir, BBC2, Tuesday

The IF YOU live in a "socially deprived" area, then rest easy.

There'll be a TV crew along any minute - no doubt with a duchess, a very rich family with precocious brats or a choir master in tow.

Between them, well, they'll sort out all your problems.

Social clubs might be dying, but those few old men who still go along for a quiet pint and a game of dominos should be able to do it without worrying that a camera crew might burst through the door.

It seems to be the current fashion for observational documentaries to descend on working class areas with an agenda to fix up some poor scheme or other.

Why doesn't presenter/ choirmaster/ singer/Doctor Who lookalike Gareth Malone rather target somewhere like the south of England, where he comes from?

It must be full of depressed folk who can't afford their pricey houses and big cars any more.

If this really is about lifting the spirits of the socially beleaguered - and not about patronising an easy target - then let's be having a wee singsong down the high streets of Kensington and Chelsea, choirmaster.

And leave grandad to his pint in peace.

CAPTION(S):

SNOBBY: Gareth