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My wife and I caught the Boxing Day show by chnce - what a lucky chance! We thought it superb, hence my looking up the website. More similar events please - and bah, humbug to the BBC - just get on and transmit the live shows the public obviously enjoy.

it was brilliant exciting a treat.
send us some more soon

Flashmob from Paddington was by far the funniest,
most brilliant offering from the Beeb over Christ-
mas. Apart from its intrinsic merit, it must have
brought a number of people to opera who, mistak-
enly, thought that it was 'elitist'.
More power to Flashmob - let me know when and
where the next performance is to be found.
opera who, mistakenly, thought that it was '

Probably talking it down so they can do more of them before ITV realise what a great idea it is... it was brilliant!

It was hideous/an embarrassment. Do it on cable.

The presenter was appalling, and dragging the two gay guys on camera was the pits. Do we really want a follow-up opera, `Boy Meets Boy`?

What we should have got was some decent opera from La Scala; the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden (and perhaps a tour of the new building)

I run local history walks, and did a couple of Xmas day/Boxing day. A tour with me of parts of London would have been infinitely more refreshing.

I loved Flashmob the Opera- found it inspiring, brave, bold and the best thing I have seen this Christmas. More please BBC!!

Found it purely by accident- made my day. great pleasure.When will you repeat it? More notice required.

Flashmob - The Opera was by far the best programme on the box over Xmas! The half-time analysis and action replay was something most punters could relate to. I hope the Beeb show this again.

My husband and I also found it by accident and couldn't believe our luck, coudn't wait to see the website for more info
pure serendipity
one of the best things on TV this Christmas
more please, and soon
the fact that it is live and therefore liable to unexpected clunkiness is one of the joys
I would love to have a Tenor singing his heart out when I am traveling, so there, BBC !

We came across this because everything else on the tv was so bad, we loved it, more please, and more publicity, so that we may either join in or chill the wine, sit back and wallow in the fun

I think saying the BBC have branded Flashmob - The Opera a "failure" is a slight exaggeration and misinterpretation of the report. Unless I've mis-read it, where does it state that Flashmob - The Opera was a failure? Anyway, I thought it was brilliant! It was by all accounts - from what I've read on this forum - a success!

Found this by accident. It was one of the best things I saw on the TV over Christmas. More please BBC.
If the suits at the BBC think it was a failure, then I'm afraid they are not good judges of what is good television.

More More More,this is what We pay a licence fee for ,not before keen on opera I was spellbound,oh yes ,more.
Seumas and Barbara Leahy
Oxfordshire

Caught this halfway through but was riveted! A brave idea to bring marvellous music to more people and perform it in everyday settings. A great way to take the perceived stuffiness out of opera. More, please. A failure? Never!

After some dismal and boring TV offerings over xmas, I switched on by accident and found myself watching a soprano singing on the concourse of Paddington Station! Glorious music, fascinating setting (wish I'd been one of the commuters), in English and with absolutely contemporary text. A bit rough around the edges - yep, part of its charm, making it absolutely compulsive viewing.

I looked in the TV pages afterwards and was really diappointed to find that there was no pre-publicity for it. I am sure that there are many other potential viewers out there.

Overall ***** verdict: More please!!

A first class entertaining experience - let's have more!

Well ... we cried a bit when they got together ... it was great .. do more

As said many times by many people, this was to my mind the best programe shown over the xmas, and to think I only switched on by pure chance. Why don't they advertise this type of ground breaking programe instead of bombarding us with details of boring soaps. More soon please a great success!
This is how opera should be seen by the masses instead of being restiricted to thoses who can afford
the excessive prices.

Brilliant. So glad I came across it and was able to record it. More! more!

Flashmob the Opera was an electrifying experience. i am only saddened by not having had the sense to hit the record button as soon as I chanced upon it. Please Auntie Beeb will you issue it on VHS or DVD?

We are currently learning the duet from Don Giovanni and this was being sung when we tuned in - it was great and the change of words brought the sentiment alive to a real life setting for today, as well as being very funny. Keep up the good work and how do we find out more about being involved with flashmob?
Surely the BBC's best-kept secret this Christmas - we know plenty of people who would have tuned in if we'd known it was on, and more who probably would have if it was "trailed" well. Beats all the "soaps" and "alternative comedy" for our money.

Thoroughly enjoyed it!! when is the next one???

Adding to the voice of praise for this opera, It was the first time I've seen anything as brilliant & genius as this. I watched it & also thought it was one of the best programmes transmitted this Christmas!

also stumbled on this on Boxing Day, with my 9 year old daughter - we both were riveted. A failure? If holding a 9 year old spellbound for the duration can be described as a failure, then I guess the BBC's got it right. We both want to be at the next one!

Absolutely wonderful viewing - as previously said - best programme on during the christmas period...loved it and would request more please

By far the best and most original programme over Christmas; much better than the usual drivel we get at Christmas. Why wasn't this advertised more?

I don't understand how this can be deemed a failure. If this is not public service broadcasting, what is? It was funny, beautiful and ground-breaking, and brought opera to a new audience. This is just the sort of thing the BBC should be doing -- no commercial station would take the risk of doing something so original.

I wish I'd been at the station!

It was fantastic.Excitingly new, rivetting,creative,inspiring.One of the best programmes on the box this Christmas.Congratulations to all concerned.More please.

From a 29-year-old male with barely a cultural bone in his body, I like many others turned over by accident and actually enjoyed it.
Maybe it was due to the football influence but if I was passing through a railway station and saw it going on, I'd have to stay and watch.
Would be good to see when the next one will be done - they did advise a BBC website address to find this out but I can't seem to find it.

I thought the Flashmob opera was great! I agree with the positive comments that most people have voiced. I have recently started singing...all sorts of things... and would love to get to see the lyrics used. Updating the words used into modern language brings the beautiful music to new generations. I thought it was fab!!!!! although my Mum did sit aghast so you cant please everyone!!!!

Why can't we have more of this type of programme? PLEASE advertise them next time instead of people just switching on by chance. By far the best programme over christmas

The program was an absolute joy. Just wish I'd recorded it. Why wasn't it publicised more in advance? Looking forward to the next one.

Fun, delightful, exciting and surprising - what Christmas should really be about. Thank you Flashmob for such a lovely gift.

A fantastic breath of fresh air in an otherwise dull Xmas period (from all channels!). Like so many others, we chanced upon it just as it was starting and couldn't believe the mix of music and amusement. We should have recorded it but that's hindsight now. Will it be released as a DVD and is the libretto available anywhere?

I thot this was a great success. Thank god the hotel did not show many channels, or else I would have missed this. It was great. Hoping to see more in future.

A terrifically enjoyable programme, and there is plenty of room for this sort of thing as well as productions from Glyndebourne or the Royal. Look forward to the next one... from a shopping centre maybe... like the one we have here in Reading perhaps?

Flashmob the Opera, This was a stunning inovation and the BBC must be congratulated for taking the risk and putting it on on Boxing Day. The BEST event or programme on TV at Christmas. A stunning performance and it really showed that Opera is known and liked by all, as long as the critics don`t get at it first.
pleaseshow it again.

Like many others, found this by chance and started watching out of pure amusement, but found that i just couldn't turn over! It was fantastic and imaginative.. definitely one of the best things on telly this Christmas!

I'm another one who found this purely by accident ... which maybe says something about the way the progrmme was advertised. It really was the best prog. on television over the Chrimas period ... can it be repeated? ... can we have more please?

Fantastic programme that my wife and I came across by accident but were hooked on until the end. Found ourselves both humming along to the great music and laughing out load to the witty lyrics (thought the chelsea fans and police mobs were especially good !). Definitely our favourite piece of Christmas viewing.

My mother (83) myself and partner - all traditional opera fans - watched this, thrilled to see it was being repeated after having caught half of it by chance earlier in the year. No, it wasn't a great piece of original invention by a musical genius - but it was a very entertaining, inventive, witty, musically accessible adaptation with its own innate creativity. Yes, it would be even better if the BBC continued to give us some mainstream opera ,and indeed dance, not to mention theatre productions, all of which have been lamentably lacking this festive season (re comment from the critical Sandra Shevey) but that doesn't take away from the pleasure of this - which maybe could have been marketed better to get to the many people, who, as when they discovered The Three Tenors, would have loved it if they'd given it a chance.

Yet another one who found this programme by accident brilliant however i only caught 20mins of it. Please Please repeat it again and step up the advertising. When is the next one? Not a success bah humbug, computer says Yeeees for once!

I live in Istanbul but by chance was in England and saw Flashmob on Boxing Day. It was the highlight of my Christmas holiday. Only complaint was that all the trains had gone from the tracks at the end! BBC please change your mind - it was highly entertaining. Let's see more - Westminster or Canary Wharf Stations in London would be good venues; ditto Terminal 4 at Heathrow. Or maybe the Natural History Museum? Madame Tussauds would be fun as well... Endless possibilities. Let's have a series.

Blatantly not a failure! It's only the old stiffs who're used to serious unflexible music who could dislike something new and refreshing like this hehe

Not only does it breathe life into the classical operatic side of music, but it was also damned funny watching the people in the sushi bar thinking "what the hell" as the people next to them started singing ultra loud

And long live the flash mob football crowd!

Found it by chance, flicking through the mountains of RUBBISH and repeats on all the other channels...I had missed the beginning, so no idea what it was all about to start with, BUT was instantly MESMERISED. Never been to an opera in my life, but loved this. It was SO different! Sensing history in the making,I grabbed the nearest video, recorded it and can report that it has now been seen in Australia and Canada. Lets have LOTS more, we have some fantastic venues here for this...Trafalgar Square, Tate Modern, Millenium bridge, the London Eye...come on go for it!!!

Without doubt the most entertaining program over the Christmas period or for that matter any time. fresh, new totaly enjoyable. If the BBC stuff shirts didn't like it TOUGH, we your wage payers DID. so get your fingers out and lets have more of this type of event.

Saw the following webpage and thought it was a but harsh - here's the link: http://www.manchesteronline.co.uk/christmas/s/140/140225_tv_guide_boxing_day.html

I saw the original screening on BBC3 (or was it 4) back when and was delighted when I foundout it would be repeated

Missed the start due to too much Christmas Fayre but it is still the best thing by far on TV this year

Even without the Flashmob element, the BBC should experiment more to bring opera & classics to the masses - who knows, the next one could be set in a football ground with the fans taking the choral parts

Failure? Let's have more such failures! My husband caught a bit of it when it was first shown on, I think, BBC3 in October and we kept looking out for it to be shown again. We watched it on Boxing Day with my sister who isn't remotely into opera and we all loved it. More importantly, it's exactly what the BBC is for and what it's good at: exciting, innovative ideas that the boring old commercial channels wouldn't risk trying.

Saw this originally on BBC3. The repeat on BBC2 Boxing Day enabled my wife and daughter to see what I had been talking about. So three people in this household were thoroughly entertained by this excellent production.

The BBC bods think it was a failure Just shows how they listen to the veiwers. Always knew Points of View is a waste of time as regards comments from the viewing public. The Beeeb's comment reagarding this performance only re-inforces my opinion of them.

Get your heads out of your backside BBC and listen for a change.

Never seen anything like this before. Astonishing how good these performances were in such unusual circumstances. A revolution that will ruffle some feathers among those who fear change. But a genuinely new concept. "No new thing under the sun" we are always told. Not so, this is new.

It would be great if someone who recorded the show, could create a .torrent file of it, so this gem could be spread to the unlucky ones who missed both BBC3 and BBC2 Transmissions

I thought the railway station opera was fantastic. Please send me information on your next operatic event.

absolutely brillant - missed first few minutes as it wasn't advertised well, found it by chance but thoroughly enjoyed it, Can't wait for a re-run and the next production. How can the BBC say it was a 'failure'??!

We were on Christmas holiday in Europe and found Flash mob by accident while in a hotel in Brussels. Our original plan was just have a quick bite and rush off for more sight seeing. We were both totally captivated and drawn in to your wonderful opera. Please put this out on video (Zone 1) so that we can share this with our friends over here in the States. Your production makes “opera” accessible. Thank you!!!!!!

Found Flashmob the Opera by chance and at some desperation with the fare on other channels. An hour of pure enjoyment; the beautiful singing, realistic and warm acting, the amazing 'theatre' managed so well. Could not resist a few tears with joy at the end. Would love to come to the next one.

Like many others found the Boxing Day performamce by accident and missed half of it. Will it be repeated. Please please.

Phil Dooley

Fantastic! Please repeat as we missed half of it. This is superb television and gets us away from the drivel. The soaps are on far too much now and often a double showing in one evening. The opera was so inspiring! When is the next one, I want to be there!

A triumph! This is what BBC should be showing (and, unfortunately, is not). I cannot understand why they say it was not a success, the comments surely refute this.

Just found the site we also found the programme by chance, best TV over Christmas need more of the type of entertainment will there be more and when.

Just found the site we also found the programme by chance, best TV over Christmas need more of the type of entertainment will there be more and when.

maybe the BBC could have improved viewing figures by actualy advertising it! didn't know about the october one at all and only just saw the boxing day repeat by chance. when i looked at the TV guide all that was said "Flashmob- The Opera" and no more. by far the best thing i've seen on TV in months!

Dear BBC

Flashmob Opera - Christmas showing.

I didn't see any pre notice of this programme. What a delight it was - I thoroughly enjoyed it. It was true to life and very enjoyable. I have enjoyed opera all my life thanks to my Grandfather taking me to Sadlers Wells opera house at a very young age. So to see this opera being performed, I presume for free, on the Station amongst travellers was great and when can we expect to see another one in London??

Sincerely
Pam Murray

if this was a failure, WE WANT MORE FAILURES!!!

this was wicked, please repeat it!
can i be involved in the next one?!?!?!

I'm just shocked that this sites still running over a year after the flashmobs died into obscurity.

Mr Evil - I have to say that I am shocked myself - people keep coming here in floods. I though I would shut it down by the end of 2003 but the interest in Flashmobs is still going strong all over the world. Amazing.

I currently work in tellie and am ashamed of much that is passed off as 'entertainment' at the moment. if the Beeb genuinely believe that this was a failure, then they can only be basing it on viewing figures and ignoring their own complete ignorance in failing to advertise it at all.

Like most, I stumbled across this, was almost turned off by David Gray's appearance, but was captivated by the male lead's singing, accompanied by some beautiful music played in an amazing and unusual setting.

Congratulations to whoever commissioned this production, shame on whoever brands it a success and makes sure we have another few programmes about selling old tat at auction/car boot sales/ etc.

Oh and I obviously meant David Grant... i was just VERY tired when I posted that!

We videoed it and only just watched it this evening and what a blessing we did. It was wonderful. I never knew it was on in October. Such a fantastic innovative idea should have been properly publicised, heck it should have made the bbc news headlines. More interesting than the usual delayed trains. Come on bbc, lets do another one and this time don't keep it so hush hush...

This was the best thing I've watch on the beeb for years, come on BBC why not play it on a mainstream channel

I was cained, watched this thing and thought it was absolutely beautiful, so much so i went and bought six opera CDs. I want to watch it again

I was cained, watched this thing and thought it was absolutely beautiful, so much so i went and bought six opera CDs. I want to watch it again

Flashmob - The Opera was innovative and exciting to watch - I can only reiterate what others have said - best thing on tv over Christamas!!

Simply stunning and what's more, on the TV twice. Christmas 2004 was on target to be the worst one I could recall as I underwent the consequences of an RTA (me/bicycle, him/car) on Dec 14, but Paddington station brought such joy. In my 60's now but was privileged to experience the intensity and dynamism of the 1960's in life, politics and art - the Opera took my wife Jeni and I back to that exciting time and, once more, everything is possible. Thank you from us both.

I have to say that I have never had an interest in anything close to Opera. That has now changed thanks to the excellent Flashmob The Opera. I, like other reviewers, came across it by accident and was totally fixated right up to the final note being played. It was my television highlight over the Christmas period and has encouraged me to explore Opera further. The only thing I felt let the performance down was the inclusion of vocal coach David Grant, but on the whole it was a most enjoyable experience.

We just saw Flashmob at a packed theatre in Plano, Texas, USA and thought it was delightful. Everyone in our group thorougly enjoyed it and was calling friends on the way out of the theatre to tell them about. Refreshingly new and creative.

I just saw Flashmob: The Opera on Ovation in the US and enjoyed it. I love opera and music in general regardless of time and place of origin. So, I could approach this with an open mind.

When I first heard of this, the concept seemed misguided but I was surprised to see how well it all went. There were a few minor problems for me-- a couple of the lines were hackneyed and the plot twists had to be sped up. Yet, it was a very memorable experience. The singing (except I think that David Grant could have done better), the touches of humor, the various choirs, the setting, and more came together well.

Why BBC 3 would consider this a failure I do not know.

I am not a computer expert but, all that I can find on the net, seems to be copy protected!? Has anyone produced a DVD yet please?

For me, it was simply good enough. And also thought Maybe I could show this to my friends who doesn't feel comfortable with opera. - From Seoul, Korea