Meryl Streep has admitted to a secret love of banal British TV shows; Homes Under The Hammer, Grand Designs and Come Dine With Me are the Oscar-winner’s small-screen go-tos. And now we can’t help but picture the star of The Iron Lady shouting ‘you should’ve stuck with the soufflé you fool!’ at the telly, as a man in a bowtie whips up a lavender-infused blancmange in the hope of winning an envelope stuffed with cash.
Ever since TV got so bloody brilliant and 12-hour weekend binges on emotionally fraught, thrilling pieces of drama became de rigueur, there is a new appeal to less intellectually demanding TV formats, like the ones favoured by Meryl Streep (we can’t wait for her discover First Dates).
Indeed, in response to all the sex, political intrigue, murder and Tom Hiddleston currently on the box, we are now craving the happy plod of the diurnal from our TV viewing.
Norwegian broadcaster NRK is paving the way with the brand new trend for slow TV. This is the channel that has variously screened a seven-hour train journey across the country from East to West, live sheep shearing, 12-hours of knitting and now the latest must-watch – a live broadcast of a tidal current north of the Arctic Circle. What most intrigues us about this somniferous piece of television is that it has two, yes two, presenters who will be commentating on the (spoiler alert!) ebb and flow of the tide when the show airs on 20 May.
If you’ve just finished the new series of frantically funny Kimmy Schmidt, this could be just what you need.
