# Hidden Talent
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> Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Talent
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> License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/)
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2014}}
{{Infobox television
| image =
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| genre =
| creator =
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| presenter = [Richard Bacon](/source/Richard_Bacon_(broadcaster))
| starring =
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| country = United Kingdom
| language = English
| num_series = 1
| num_episodes = 5
| list_episodes =
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| channel = [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4)
| first_aired = {{Start date|2012|4|24|df=y}}
| last_aired = {{End date|2012|5|22|df=y}}
| related =
}}
'''''Hidden Talent''''' is a [British](/source/Television_in_the_United_Kingdom) television series broadcast on [Channel 4](/source/Channel_4). It is presented by [Richard Bacon](/source/Richard_Bacon_(broadcaster)) and features members of the public demonstrating specific [skills](/source/skills). Each week ordinary members of the public take tests in certain [fields](/source/fields_of_study) or skills to identify any previously unidentified talent, and those that test highest in each area are trained by experts to maximise their potential in that skill. 900 people applied and were tested for the show.[{{cite news | first=Zoe | last=Williams | title=TV Review: Hidden Talent | url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2012/apr/24/hidden-talent-tv-review | location = London | newspaper=[The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) | date=24 April 2012 }}][{{cite news | first=Ceri | last=Radford | title=Hidden Talent, Channel 4, review | url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/tvandradio/tv-and-radio-reviews/9224337/Hidden-Talent-Channel-4-review.html | location = London | newspaper=[The Daily Telegraph](/source/The_Daily_Telegraph) | date=25 April 2012}}]
== Episode 1 ==
Air date: 24 April 2012
Maggie Reenan, 45, a nurse and grandmother, is found to have a talent for [rock climbing](/source/rock_climbing). She climbs the 200 ft [Old Man of Stoer](/source/Old_Man_of_Stoer), a [sea stack](/source/sea_stack) which can only be reached by swimming or a [Tyrolean traverse](/source/Tyrolean_traverse) across the sea. Meanwhile, Brenda Chamberlain, 63, a former [bridal](/source/bridal) [boutique](/source/boutique) owner, has the highest test results in [lie detection](/source/lie_detection), with an 80% success rate. After a two-day course in [interrogation](/source/interrogation) techniques run by former [FBI](/source/FBI) agents in America, she detects which one of five people is not telling the truth, despite each being adept at lying.[{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-talent/episode-guide/series-1/episode-1 |title=Series 1, Episode 1, Hidden Talent |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=15 June 2012}}]
==Episode 2==
Air date: 1 May 2012
[Roxanne Messenger](/source/LadBaby), 28, an art director at an [advertising agency](/source/advertising_agency), is selected to master the skill of [freediving](/source/free-diving). Trainer [Emma Farrell](/source/Emma_Farrell_(freediver)) tested the 900 applicants on their natural abilities to [equalize](/source/ear_clearing) the pressure in their ears and to hold their breath while walking and maintaining a normal [heart-rate](/source/heart-rate).[{{cite news | title=Emma dives into TV stardom on Hidden Talent | url=http://www.thisisbath.co.uk/Emma-dives-TV-stardom-Hidden-Talent/story-15933078-detail/story.html | location =Bath | newspaper=Bath Chronicle | date=27 Apr 2012}}] Messenger was then sent to Egypt to train under free-diving instructor Marco Nones. Meanwhile, tractor factory worker Lee Yenson, who had no formal art training, was chosen to learn how to identify [forged](/source/art_forgery) [masterpiece](/source/masterpiece)s. He tests extremely well in the area of [aesthetic](/source/aesthetic) appreciation, and is trained by Professor Matthew Kieran. In his final test he is asked to identify a genuine [Monet](/source/Monet) from a room of fakes, some of which were painted by famous forger [John Myatt](/source/John_Myatt).[{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-talent/episode-guide/series-1/episode-2 |title=Series 1, Episode 2, Hidden Talent |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=15 June 2012}}]
== Episode 3 ==
Air date: 8 May 2012
A [homeless](/source/homeless) 19-year-old, James Whinnery from [Birmingham](/source/Birmingham), learns the [Arabic](/source/Arabic_language) language in 19 weeks. Whinnery has been living in a homeless [shelter](/source/homeless_shelter) since an argument with his mother, and has failed to complete his [A-Level](/source/A-Level) exams. However, after a test involving working in a [Turkish](/source/Turkish_language)-speaking [restaurant](/source/restaurant) for a day after only a day's training in the language, he is identified as having a natural ability to learn foreign languages. His training includes learning 100 new Arabic words per day as well as a new alphabet, driving around [London](/source/London) using an Arabic [satellite navigation](/source/satellite_navigation) system, and ordering in an Arabic restaurant. He then travels to [Jordan](/source/Jordan), where he is interviewed on Jordanian [breakfast television](/source/breakfast_television).[{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-talent/episode-guide/series-1/episode-3 |title=Series 1, Episode 3, Hidden Talent |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=15 June 2012}}]
== Episode 4 ==
Air date: 15 May 2012
Adele Reah, 26, a [science](/source/science) teacher, is chosen by [neuroscientist](/source/neuroscientist) Dr Hugo Spiers from 500 people for her natural ability to [navigate](/source/Orienteering) in the [wilderness](/source/wilderness) without a [map](/source/map) or [compass](/source/compass). Despite ambitions in her earlier life to join the [RAF](/source/RAF), Reah had been rejected both from a flight career and a navigation career on the grounds that her arms were too short, and so missed out on a career where her natural ability would have been particularly useful. Meanwhile, Jayson Khun-Dkar, a 34-year-old [charity](/source/Charitable_organization) contracts manager, is selected by [musical director](/source/musical_director) Stuart Barr as having the potential to become an [opera](/source/opera) singer. He trains for five months to become a [baritone](/source/baritone), taking singing lessons and learning [Italian](/source/Italian_language), in order to audition for a production of [La Boheme](/source/La_Boheme).[{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-talent/episode-guide/series-1/episode-4 |title=Series 1, Episode 4, Hidden Talent |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=15 June 2012}}]
== Episode 5 ==
Air date: 22 May 2012
Cassie Gledhill, a 27-year-old [track cyclist](/source/track_cyclist), is found to have the highest test scores ever seen by tester Professor David Strayer in the area of [multitasking](/source/human_multitasking). Over three days she undertakes an intensive course in [ambulance](/source/ambulance) dispatching, a course that usually takes three weeks to complete. She must then co-ordinate [emergency calls](/source/emergency_calls) and ambulance crews on a busy Friday night in Birmingham. Meanwhile, three people are selected as having an exceptional ability for [facial recognition](/source/face_perception). They are taken to [Liverpool Street Station](/source/Liverpool_Street_Station), where they must memorise the faces of 15 identically-dressed actors amongst the crowds. They then have to pick them out from an [identity parade](/source/identity_parade) afterwards.[{{cite web |url=http://www.channel4.com/programmes/hidden-talent/episode-guide/series-1/episode-5 |title=Series 1, Episode 5, Hidden Talent |publisher=Channel 4 |access-date=15 June 2012}}]
== Critical reception ==
Hidden Talent received mixed reviews. Zoe Williams in [The Guardian](/source/The_Guardian) praised its premise, saying: "I think Hidden Talent (Channel 4) may turn out to be a rare – possibly unique – instance in which a programme started out as a high concept in a meeting room, and then ended up being much much better than the idea." and "...there is in human nature this unshakeable joy in watching other people be good at things." She also praised presenter Richard Bacon, who she says is: "quietly charismatic, with his solemn manners, salt-and-pepper hair and whatever the opposite is of a poker face."