It takes a very good television producer to be able to draw the fine line that separates genuine appreciation for a quirky all encompassing passion, from the wide eyed gaze of the freak show voyeur: Especially when it comes to brass bands.

Thankfully, John Moulson did just that with, ‘Greatest Little Britons – Brassed Off’ on Sky 1.

Search

As with the other documentaries in the six part series, the underlying narrative was about the search for perfection.

Moulson shone an affectionate and at times subtlely penetrating light on the individual dedication and commitment that results in communal excellence, without straying too far into the lazy stereotypes that all too often blight these genres of programmes.

Musical progress

It was helped enormously by concentrating on the musical progress of four Yorkshire bands (Dinnington, Horbury Victoria, City of Bradford and Grimethorpe) as they attempted to qualify for the 2012 National Finals in Cheltenham and London.

They proved to be inspired choices – ensuring that by the end of a well paced hour, the viewer cared about the eventual outcome of their labours.

Determination

In particular, the determination shown by MDs Lee Skipsey and Duncan Beckley of Bradford and Horbury as they prepared their bands for their Second Section battle at St George’s Hall made for engaging viewing: The ‘new kid on the block’ up against a man with ‘bags of experience’.

Their displays of passionate competitiveness were distilled into a respectful rivalry, whilst Dinnington’s famous banding sisters Kay Brookes and Joan Herdman were thankfully not reduced to grotesque caricature as they had been by Sue Perkins in ‘A Band for Britain’.

Grimethorpe, being Grimethorpe, did their best to raise a few Guardian reading eyebrows along the way.

Gentle humour

There was a well observed seam of gentle humour underpinning the storylines too (helped by Jim Carter’s excellent voice over), with the appearance of a pair of over excited pensioners at a Grimethorpe concert that could have come out of a sketch by Harry Enfield and Kathy Burke.

That said, the sight of a framed copy of the band’s equal opportunities policy was a perfect example of people not knowing when television’s cold eye can also quickly transform smug self awareness into ironic self parody.

Spit the Dog

Old Bob Carrolgee fans may have though they had found ‘Spit the Dog’s’ new female owner in the home of Bradford’s tuba player, whilst an eagle eyed cameraman found the perfect shot of an evangelical Lee Skipsey imploring his band to take his lead to ‘the promised land’ (of Cheltenham) whilst conducting in front of a church banner proclaiming, ‘Follow Me’.

Thankfully, and despite the obvious opportunities to poke a stick into a soft stereotype underbelly, the programme concentrated on finding out a little more about the people with a genuine desire to enjoy making music together – from the husband and wife team at City of Bradford to the laconic bass trombonist with Horbury Victoria.

Respect

As a result, by the time the final credits rolled Moulson’s programme had treated the brass band movement and the people in it, with a considerable amount of respect for their obvious display of passionate commitment and dedication.

And that’s a fine line well worth watching being drawn again.

Iwan Fox