Kristin’s choir comes a-calling to your door

AWARD-WINNING star Kristin Scott Thomas is delighted that people will still get to hear her sing in the Military Wives feature film, even though its cinema release was cut short by the coronavirus outbreak.

Scott Thomas (left) plays Kate, the colonel’s lady who, with other wives on an army base — including fellow star Sharon Horgan — set up a choir.

The picture, a first-class weepie that will make you laugh as well, opened in cinemas on March 6, just as the country was getting jittery about Covid-19.

Inspired by Gareth Malone’s BBC documentary The Choir: Military Wives, it was due to have a digital release in the autumn. But that has been fast-tracked by producer Rory Aitken and distributor Lionsgate, and it’s available now for downloading on demand. Aitken told me that all the film’s artists gave their approval for the movie to be available in living rooms. ‘We’ve been in touch with Kristin and Sharon and, like everyone else, they’re at home. They’re very excited that the movie can live on, and that people can hear them sing,’ said Aitken, who produced Military Wives with Ben Pugh.

‘Perhaps it’s not living on in the way of having a really good run in cinemas,’ he added, ruefully. ‘But it can actually reach people all over the country at a time when they can’t get out.’

He dismissed rumours of a sequel. ‘At this point I think everything’s uncertain. We need to stay focused on this film first,’ he said.

When I interviewed Scott Thomas recently, she told me she could ‘carry a tune’ and was ‘eager’ for people to hear her hitting some top notes.

Producer Aitken also helped usher the Julian Fellowes series about the origins of football, The English Game, onto Netflix. All six episodes are available on the streaming service now.