Britain's always had talent

6:31pm Wednesday 20th June 2007

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I REALLY should have loathed it by rights. But I have to admit I was hopelessly hooked to the TV show Britain's Got Talent.

Maybe it was because it reminded me of what might have been for my family - but I'll come on to that later.

I didn't own a telly for years, mainly because I detested programmes such as this.

But, for some strange reason, I couldn't stop watching it all last week. Perhaps it was because, by and large, the contestants were a bunch of normal eccentric people who were being given a break for the first and possibly only time in their lives.

You had to admire their guts in standing up to be counted in front of a severe panel of celebrity judges including Simon Cowell and Piers Morgan.

But I also liked it because it wasn't just the standard Pop Idol song routines. There was a boy who twirled batons brilliantly and two barmen who had a sensational cocktail drinks juggling routine.

Even the singers were a bit bizarre with the winner being an opera performer and a runner-up being a six-year-old girl who gave a stunning rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow.

Now, before you ask, I will not be appearing myself on any future show. I have no talent whatsoever, apart from some dodgy old jokes and a three-ball juggling trick that sends people to sleep.

However, my family can boast of some considerable talent in the long-distant past.

My late uncle, Louis Almaer, was indeed Britain's number one harmonica player in the 1930s. He was the very first act of legendary showbiz agent Sir Lew Grade, he graced London's Prince of Wales Theatre and was billed as Britain's answer to Larry Adler.

Uncle Louis, who was my dad's half brother, was a member of Stars in Battledress, the World War II concert party which also included Charlie Chester and Arthur Haynes.

Sadly, my uncle gave up touring after the war, went into business and I never ever heard him play.

He died a few years ago and we thought that his legendary skills would be lost in the mists of time. Only a few people I knew could recall seeing him play and there was no chance of ever seeing him in action again.

We were wrong. My brother stumbled across an archive of film footage on a website called www.britishpathe.com and there we found a stunning tribute to Uncle Louis.

British Pathe, which was established in 1902, was famous for its newsreel, the Pathe Gazette. These films appeared in the cinema and provide amazing footage of the early 20th century.

By the time Pathe stopped its newsreel in 1970, it had 3,500 hours of filmed history and 90,000 individual items.

Incredibly, this material has been used for a website archive. And even more incredibly, there is a film on that site from June 29, 1936 entitled "Louis Almaer in a Persian Market".

It is a magnificent short movie showing my uncle playing harmonica brilliantly, to the backdrop of film of an authentic Persian market.

Even my dad didn't know this existed and it caused a sensation in our family.

So Uncle Louis' harmonica playing is on the web for all the world to see free of charge, providing you follow a few simple instructions.

Yes, it's pretty obscure in the scheme of things, I suppose, but for my family it meant a lot.

And it shows that Britain's always had talent.

Wonder what Simon Cowell would have thought of it?

* To see my uncle play harmonica in 1936 go to the British Pathe site at

Once you reach the site, you have to click on download video. You have to select United Kingdom as the country from the tab on the left. You will be asked for your name and address but will then be allowed to download the film for free as long as you are not publishing it professionally.