Leeds based percussionist, Roger Haslett has admitted succumbing to depression following years of musical assignments creating tense TV soundtracks. The 59 year old first recognised that he had a problem during the last series of Master Chef following a twelve year stint on Countdown.
“Banging a drum for a living used to give me a real buzz, especially when I was a sessionist on the violent northern club circuit. But when work dried up, the tense crescendo beats I had to churn out for TV shows finally got to me. After Countdown I thought Master Chef was a real break but the tension I built up in every programme finally got to me.”
It was during the filming of the Master Chef semi-final programme in 2011 that Mr Haslett kicked over his bongos, bass and kettle drums before beating out seven and two threes on the head of a nearby floor assistant. He then poked a drumstick up the rectum of a sweaty semi-finalist."
"Seeing the guy sweating over his Tarte aux Fruits just made me crack. I went from a gentle drum roll into a tense background soundtrack to produce a very worrying feel. It started off as a single track and grew into a loop that I couldn’t get out of. The next thing I knew I was flat out in an ambulance with the soundtrack to ‘999: What’s Your Emergency?’ ringing in my ears”
Following psychiatric reports Mr Haslett has been declared unfit to face trial for assault and attempted murder. Now, in a strange twist of fate his story is to be the subject of a BBC documentary on bi-polar disorders to the accompaniment of one of his very own drum beat compositions.
