''BBC Four Goes Slow'' is a series of

slow television Slow television, or slow TV ( no, sakte-TV), is a term used for a genre of "marathon" television coverage of an ordinary event in its complete length. Its name is derived both from the long endurance of the broadcast as well as from the natural sl ...

programmes made for

BBC Four BBC Four is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It was launched on 2 March 2002

, each without

narration Narration is the use of a written or spoken commentary to storytelling, convey a narrative, story to an audience. Narration is conveyed by a narrator: a specific person, or unspecified literary voice, developed by the creator of the story to deli ...

underscore An underscore, ; also called an underline, low line, or low dash; is a line drawn under a segment of text. In proofreading, underscoring is a convention that says "set this text in italic type", traditionally used on Manuscript (publishing), man ...

. The channel's editor,

Cassian Harrison Cassian may refer to: Places *Cassian, Wisconsin People Historical *St. Cassian of Imola (4th-century–363), Christian martyr *St. Cassian of Autun (died 350), Christian bishop of Autun *St. John Cassian the ascetic (360–435), French Chris ...

, stated that the series is an "antidote ... to the conventional grammar of television in which everything gets faster and faster". Similarities have been drawn between the series and the Norwegian trend of slow TV programmes.

Programmes

''National Gallery: A Film by Frederick Wiseman''

Wiseman's film originally aired in December 2014. It is a three-hour tour of London's

National Gallery The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director o ...

, with no voiceover, underscore or sound effects.

''Dawn Chorus: The Sounds of Spring''

''Dawn Chorus: The Sounds of Spring'' is an hour-long composite recording of

birdsong Bird vocalization includes both bird calls and bird songs. In non-technical use, bird songs are the bird sounds that are melodious to the human ear. In ornithology and birding, songs (relatively complex vocalizations) are distinguished by func ...

at sunrise in

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

. The programme was made from three consecutive days' recording in three different locations. The programme has no voiceover or commentary, save for a few captions of historical information.

''Handmade''

''Handmade'' is a three-episode part of the series, and focuses on the production of three objects—''Handmade: Glass'' documents the blowing and shaping of glass to create a jug, ''Handmade: Metal'' shows a bladesmith using a forge to make a knife, and ''Handmade: Wood'' sees a whittler create a wooden chair.

''All Aboard! The Canal Trip''

''All Aboard! The Canal Trip'' is a two-hour

narrowboat A narrowboat is a particular type of canal boat, built to fit the narrow locks of the United Kingdom. The UK's canal system provided a nationwide transport network during the Industrial Revolution, but with the advent of the railways, commerc ...

journey along the

Kennet and Avon Canal The Kennet and Avon Canal is a waterway in southern England with an overall length of , made up of two lengths of navigable river linked by a canal. The name is used to refer to the entire length of the navigation rather than solely to the cent ...

from Bath Top Lock (lock 13) to the

Dundas Aqueduct Dundas Aqueduct () carries the Kennet and Avon Canal over the River Avon (the Somerset / Wiltshire border) and the Wessex Main Line railway from Bath to Westbury. The aqueduct is near Monkton Combe, Somerset, and is about southeast of the ci ...

. The episode features visual information but no spoken commentary.

''All Aboard! The Sleigh Ride''

''All Aboard! The Sleigh Ride'' is a two-hour real-time

reindeer Reindeer (in North American English, known as caribou if wild and ''reindeer'' if domesticated) are deer in the genus ''Rangifer''. For the last few decades, reindeer were assigned to one species, ''Rangifer tarandus'', with about 10 subspe ...

sleigh ride with

Sami people Acronyms * SAMI, ''Synchronized Accessible Media Interchange'', a closed-captioning format developed by Microsoft * Saudi Arabian Military Industries, a government-owned defence company * South African Malaria Initiative, a virtual expertise net ...

filmed in

Karasjok ( se, Kárášjohka ; fkv, Kaarasjoki) is a municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the village of Karasjok. Other villages include Dorvonjárga, Šuoššjávri, and Váljohka. The ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. It aired on 24 December 2015. It was repeated on 24 December 2016 and on 16 December 2017. The programme features two Sami women in traditional dress leading three reindeer, each with a sleigh, across the tundra following a traditional reindeer postal route from Karasjok north-westward to the sea, crossing frozen lakes and birch woodland, and encountering dog sleds, ice fishermen and other nomadic Sami people. The programme covers a two-hour period, over which time the light fades and the way is lit by flaming torches. The two Sami reindeer herders are Charlotte Iselin Mathisen and Anne-Louise Gaup.

''All Aboard! The Country Bus''

A two-hour bus ride along the

Swaledale Swaledale is one of the northernmost dales (valleys) in Yorkshire Dales National Park, located in northern England. It is the dale of the River Swale on the east side of the Pennines in North Yorkshire. Geographical overview Swaledale runs ...

valley in

North Yorkshire North Yorkshire is the largest ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county (lieutenancy area) in England, covering an area of . Around 40% of the county is covered by National parks of the United Kingdom, national parks, including most of ...

was broadcast on the bank holiday of 29 August 2016. The route 830 Dalesman bus operated by

Arriva North East Arriva North East operates both local and regional bus services in County Durham, Cumbria, Northumberland, North Yorkshire and Tyne and Wear, England. It is a subsidiary of Arriva UK Bus, which operates bus and coach services across the United K ...

, travels from

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the east to Ingleton in the west via the

Yorkshire Dales National Park The Yorkshire Dales National Park is a national park in England covering most of the Yorkshire Dales. Most of the park is in North Yorkshire, with a sizeable area in Westmorland (Cumbria) and a small part in Lancashire. The park was designat ...

. In the journey the bus passes through

Grinton Grinton is a small village and civil parish in the Yorkshire Dales, in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England. Close to Reeth and Fremington, it lies west of Richmond on the B6270 road. On 5 July 2014, the Tour de France Sta ...

Reeth Reeth is a village west of Richmond in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, in the civil parish of Reeth, Fremington and Healaugh. Historically part of the North Riding of Yorkshire, it is the principal settlement of uppe ...

Muker Muker is a village and civil parishes in England, civil parish at the western end of Swaledale in North Yorkshire, England, within the district of Richmondshire. The parish includes the hamlets and villages of Angram, Richmondshire, Angram, Kel ...

, Buttertubs Pass,

Hawes Hawes is a market town and civil parish in the Richmondshire district of North Yorkshire, England, at the head of Wensleydale in the Yorkshire Dales, and historically in the North Riding of Yorkshire. The River Ure north of the town is a touri ...

Ribblehead Ribblehead is the area of moorland at the head of the River Ribble in the area known as Ribblesdale, in the Yorkshire Dales National Park, England. Ribblehead is most notable for Ribblehead railway station and Ribblehead Viaduct on the Sett ...

and

Chapel-le-Dale Chapel-le-Dale is a hamlet in the civil parish of Ingleton, North Yorkshire, England. It is in the Yorkshire Dales and was previously in the West Riding of Yorkshire. History The hamlet is situated on the B6255 road between Ingleton and Ribble ...

. This episode of the series was the most popular with nearly a million viewers watching it at its peak with an average of 800,000 viewers, overtaking Channel 5 and a

Film 4 Film4 is a British free-to-air television network owned by Channel Four Television Corporation launched on 1 November 1998, devoted to broadcasting films. While its standard-definition channel is available on Freeview and Freesat platforms, it ...

showing of '' The Bourne Legacy''.

Reception

Michael Hogan, writing for ''

The Daily Telegraph ''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a national British daily broadsheet newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed across the United Kingdom and internationally. It was fo ...

's'' website, gave the series a 2/5 rating, describing it as "hypnotic", implying it is relaxing. A review for ''

The Independent ''The Independent'' is a British online newspaper. It was established in 1986 as a national morning printed paper. Nicknamed the ''Indy'', it began as a broadsheet and changed to tabloid format in 2003. The last printed edition was publis ...

'' said that the programmes were "oddly absorbing" and "soothing". Viewers took to social media to comment on the programme, with differing opinions; some described it as "the most boring TV show ever", and others "a proper elevisionprogramme".

References

{{reflist, 30em BBC television documentaries 2015 British television series debuts 2016 British television series endings Kennet and Avon Canal Slow television English-language television shows