BBC4 feels need for less speed

BBC4 in the UK is getting into the slow TV genre by ordering a season of shows dedicated to programming filmed in real time.

NRK’s Slow TV

Norway’s NRK experimented with Slow TV in 2013, with US producers also showing interest, and now the UK pubcaster is joining in.

The BBC4 Goes Slow season will include an uninterrupted two-hour canal boat journey down a historic UK waterway and a three-hour tour around the National Gallery.

Make (3×30′) is being produced in-house and celebrates traditional craftsmanship, while ITV-owned The Garden is Behind The Canal (1×120′), which take viewers in real time along a waterway.

Meanwhile, National Gallery (working title, 1×180′) is being produced by documentary maker Frederick Wiseman, who explores the art museum without voiceover, music or sound effects.

Cassian Harrison, channel editor of BBC4, said the season “is another brilliant example of something only BBC4 would do. This surprising selection of programmes is the antithesis to the general direction much of television is going in.”