All Aboard! The Country Bus on August 29th

Update 24th October 2017: All Aboard! The Country Bus is repeated on BBC4, commencing midnight tonight (00:00 Wednesday, during Tuesday night). Thanks to Richard in the Slow TV Fans Facebook group for the heads up.

Update August 2016: All Aboard! The Country Bus arrives on BBC4 on Monday 29th August, 8-10pm British Summer Time (Bank Holiday for England, Wales and Northern Ireland). Trainspotting Live aired in July. Also starting on 29th August from 9am BST - 12 days of cows in a barn in Norway with NRK Fjos. More here.

The next lot of UK Slow TV happens in a right grand county

We've had a canal trip, an amble around the National Gallery, peeps at craft making, three glorious dawn choruses and a reindeer trip into the snowy wilderness of northern Norway. Have we had enough of Slow TV in the UK? Thankfully, no. The BBC have commissioned another two bouts of Slow TV, both transport oriented but different in presentation.

The first will be a pre-recorded bus journey from Richmond, Yorkshire to Ingleton. Unlike the reindeer journey which picked us up somewhere in the wilderness and left us not entirely sure where we were - in order to fit the constraints of a TV schedule, or The Canal Trip which was a few miles of the segment of the Kennet and Avon canal which is 87 miles long, All Aboard! The Country Bus has a sense of completion to it in that it takes in the broadest part of The Yorkshire Dales by road.

All Aboard! The Country Bus at The Market Place, Richmond

This sense of completion is important. Slow TV is another way of telling a story on TV. Would you watch a couple episodes of Game of Thrones to consider you've seen the story of the season? Does following the progress of The Fellowship of the Ring from Rivendell to Lothlorien give a sense of completed journey of The Lord of The Rings? Obviously, no. In the same vein it is my contention that much of what is getting made of Slow TV is not getting the story-telling framing of the format right. It needs to be the whole story.

So, this bus journey looks promising. Leaving The Market Place at Richmond and ending up at Ingleton Community Centre a couple hours later, The Northern Dalesman route takes in some breathtaking natural landscapes and a wonder of Victorian engineering, the Ribblehead Viaduct.

The Ribblehead Viaduct
on the route of The Country Bus Slow TV

One assumes there will be an element of surprise as to who gets on the bus. Depending on the time of day or week will there be hikers looking to rest their feet? Will the bus get stuck behind bicycles on the country lanes? Could we even get "the nutter on the bus" of Jasper Carrot's comedic eulogising? Part of the joy of Slow TV is the unfolding unexpectedness of what might happen. Not that someone getting off the bus has quite the same shock as an important character's elimination in Game of Thrones... but hopefully you get what I mean. Drama is more subtle and microcosmic in Slow TV.

As the BBC continues to build its portfolio of All Aboard! Slow TV transport shows, this is a welcome production and I'm hopeful this framing of its content shows promise of a stronger conceptualisation of telling the whole story. Like previous journey based Slow TV productions, it will be made by ITV owned The Garden Productions for BBC4.

Thacking Lane, Ingleton
It may be Slow TV but there's no need to swear about it

Now, if this were to be like buses (you wait ages for one then three come at the same time), we need another Slow TV show announcement from the BBC (or another UK broadcaster would be welcome). A second Slow TV production with trainspotting as its subject has been announced, and it's live.

This liveness is very important, too. It has that sense of 'now', that we're witnessing something unfold at the same time as we're watching it. Yes, there has to be the expectation of what trains will be coming through and when courtesy of timetables. What if there are delays? Cancellations? What type of locomotives? Which carriage numbers? Diesel - steam - electric?

Based at The Didcot Heritage Railway Centre, veteran broadcaster Peter Snow will be joined by a mathematician, Dr Hannah Fry with a rail-roving reporter, Dick Strawbridge (with probably the most amazing moustache on UK TV) over three (simultaneous?) evenings on BBC4. Friday, Saturday, Sunday, maybe? Would give a very different pattern of train timetable, different types of passenger and reasons for travelling, with more time for the dedicated trainspotter and the Slow TV curious viewer to tune in.

Trainspotting is like a box of chocolates...
...you never know what you're going to get

This extended series of live events will allow greater interaction with the show, online and maybe in person, too. Could Dick Strawbridge's appearing from different locations allow unexpected interactions? (Probably welcome and unwelcome interactions! I am continually delighted at how well behaved the uninvited interactions on the Norwegian format are - even if the last one from Saltstraumen included a group of men and women running in their underwear across a bridge). Unstaged behaviour helps populate a Slow TV production with an added element of surprise for viewer and producer - and in the case it is unsuitable, hopefully cutting to another camera would be an option.

Trainspotting Live obviously is not a journey from A to Z (or F to M), but embraces a good principle or two of Slow TV. It is a surprising thing to put on TV, a novelty - therein lies a hook to attract viewers, besides any core audience attracted to its subject. It also allows a sense of waiting and expecting something interesting to happen. Maybe it will, maybe it won't. If it doesn't, then the viewer will find interest in the picture somehow, if the producer will refrain from cutting from something quickly if they feel 'nothing' might be happening.

All Aboard! The Country Bus Slow TV goes across the broadest
part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park

Scenes need to be allowed to speak for themselves. Think of the slowness in Slow TV like an old friend. You don't need continual chat and information, just being in each others' presence is good enough.There will be moments for saying things, imparting information - when the time's right - but not some nervous chit chat in case that awkward-silence-thing happens. Slow TV is about allowing things to have their time. Not prolonging, not artificially reducing speed but having its own innate speed.

So, these two productions from the BBC should play out in the next few months. Trainspotting Live while we still have light evenings, perhaps The Country Bus as the evenings draw in as a memoir of sunny days past as Christmas twinkles on the temporal horizon and maybe another festive Slow TV offering comes from a UK broadcaster.

Early morning near Ingleton - perfect for Slow TV

Did you hear about the Russian Slow TV? Have a look at What was so right with Russia's War and Peace Slow TV?

Slow Down - a dedicated Slow TV and Slow Radio show starting on RedShift Radio from 8th September.

New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...

Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog

Flying Scotsman on BBC4 Live Blogging

More BBC Slow TV for Christmas 2016

Thursday 29th December on BBC4, 21:00

The Beeb are once again treating us with some Slow TV for Christmas as The Flying Scotsman gives us an hour of The Severn Valley Railway:

"BBC Four viewers can sit back and enjoy a sixty minute trip from the driving seat of the Flying Scotsman, with a signal-by-signal guide to life on the footplate of the nation's favourite steam engine. In a special one-off slow tv treat for Christmas, the crew take locomotive 60103 down the Severn Valley Railway, cutting through stunning landscapes on a journey from Bridgnorth to Kidderminster, in the midlands of England.

Commissioned by Clare Paterson, Commissioning Editor, Documentaries. It is being made by Roger Keech Productions Ltd."

Some footage from 2009 of The Flying Scotsman by Roger Keech Productions Ltd at this link here.

Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog

Slow TV: Train journeys, Mental Health and Mindfulness

Virgin Trains have launched a Slow-TV-style service. Instead of Slow TV being just about a train, you can watch it ON a train. Furthermore, you can even watch a train journey ON a train journey. Even during the 2011 5-day-broadcast of the Norwegian ferry service 'Hurtigruten' passengers found themselves watching the broadcast of the vessel they were onboard.

Potential for an application of the effects of Slow TV has been evident since it started, in that it can bring the viewer to the very focussed here-and-now; if you've ever done meditation, counselling or therapy, you'll likely know this as 'midnfulness'. 

The Norwegian Slow TV original isn't designed to evoke mindfulness - it's designed to be a story shown on TV, a broadcast-event - but mindfulness happens as a very organic by-product of a long broadcast with a relaxed editing pace.

Of course British Airways purchased the rights to the film of the Bergen to Oslo Norwegian train journey for use on selected long-haul flights, back in the summer of 2014, as way of calming passengers who opt to view the film into their journey after the rigmarole of checking-in, security or even just flight-nerves. This, though, is the first deliberate production to evoke calmness on a journey.

Their press release reads:

"

• First travel company in the world to launch dedicated mindfulness channel to mark World Mental Health Day on 10th October 2016
• The channel features exclusive meditative videos and ‘real time’ footage of the West Coast and East Coast routes
• The content is available exclusively on Virgin Trains on-board entertainment system, BEAM

To mark World Mental Health Day, Virgin Trains has worked alongside the Mental Health Foundation to become the world’s first travel company to launch a dedicated channel promoting positive mental health.

The new ‘Be Mindful’ channel showcases the UK’s first real-time video of a train journey, taking a cue from the Scandinavian trend for ‘slow television’. It also features six specially shot videos of calming locations from across the UK including St Margaret’s Loch, Lake Windermere, the Yorkshire Dales and Loch Lomond.

The mindfulness channel has been curated to inspire a more relaxed and positive state of mind for travellers across its entire routes, and has launched exclusively on BEAM, Virgin Trains’ complimentary on-board content platform.

The real-time, slow films have been filmed from the driver’s cab, running at over four hours in each direction. The West Coast route films run between London Euston and Glasgow Central, whilst the East Coast route runs between London King’s Cross and Edinburgh Waverley.

The six meditative films focus on areas of outstanding natural beauty as chosen by Virgin Trains staff, and will aid passengers to relax and unwind, whether they’re on a short journey or travelling the whole route. The six locations are St Margaret’s Loch, the Yorkshire Dales and Berwick-Upon-Tweed on its East Coast route, and Alderley Edge, Lake Windermere and Loch Lomond across the West Coast.

Patrick McCall, Co-Chairman for Virgin Trains, said, “We know a lot of our customers lead busy and stressful lives, so we wanted to launch an exclusive channel to make their journeys an even more positive and relaxed experience. Here at Virgin Trains we pride ourselves on continuously improving our customers’ on-board experience and that includes their positive mental health. Teaming up with the Mental Health Foundation, we’ve worked hard to curate a fantastic range of mindful content for our customers to enjoy.”

Mark Rowland, Director of Fundraising and Communications for Mental Health Foundation, said, “We’re delighted to be working with Virgin Trains to launch the world’s first mindfulness channel on-board. A train journey can be a great time for reflection – a perfect excuse to dedicate some time to yourself, disconnecting from the pressures of modern life and taking a step towards becoming more mindful. We want this to be the first step in equipping Virgin Trains’ customers with the tools to manage their mental health and wellbeing successfully.”

The ‘Be Mindful’ channel is available exclusively on BEAM across both the east coast and west coast routes.  "

The Mental Health Foundation is the official charity partner for Virgin Trains West Coast in 2016 and 2017.

New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...

Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog

Trainspotting Live arriving on Platform BBC4, 8pm, 11th July.

Between 8 and 9pm on the 11th, 12th and 13th July, BBC4 will be screening "Trainspotting Live". 

There will be times of waiting to see what happens - live, in real time - a core dynamic of Slow TV. It will be good to see how much it is a mix of a live news event, traditional 'information' film and to what an extent it is an experiential Slow Television celebration of trains and rail network, minute by minute. 

Will they include any delayed services? Even the very first Slow TV from NRK in Norway was lengthened by about 10 minutes due to a signalling problem between Bergen and Oslo!

There will an official live blog on the BBC website (some of it already being coupled together HERE). There's an invitation to get involved via Twitter (#TrainSpottingLive) and on Facebook from the page.

Also keep an eye on tweets from Plum Pictures and Didcot Railway Centre HERE and HERE, respectively.

New to The Slow TV Blog? Have a look around...

The BBC Press release reads:

"Trainspotting Live will bring three nights of spotting, joy and excitement to BBC Four as Peter Snow, mathematician Dr Hannah Fry and engineer Dick Strawbridge along with a team of rail train enthusiasts revel in the tantalising intricacies, trade secrets and true pleasures of trainspotting... live!

Live from the historic Didcot Rail Museum, Peter Snow will be asking the audience to join the spotting by recording the most frequent to the most elusive trains on the tracks all over country during the three days of live broadcast. Our team of expert spotters will also be waiting in anticipation to catch the full range of British rail stock on camera - from classic steam, to diesel locomotives, to high-speed electric and our rarest beauties - explaining how they did it and delving into their importance in our British heritage.

Mathematician Hannah will be breaking down the mind-bending equations that go into keeping the thousands of trains on the network every day, while engineer Dick will explore the historic hidden marvels of rail engineering and surprising, rich history of trainspotting as trains whizz past his trainspotting location in the north of England, live.

As the train spots come in thick and fast from our presenters and the Great British public, Peter will be joined in Didcot by collectors, photographers, record holders and poets.

This is not just a show for the thousands of trainspotters out there; this is a show for anyone with a passion for British history, travel and engineering. This is a love letter to trains told by trainspotters – the custodians of our train history.

Trainspotting Live was produced in partnership with The Open University."

Slow Television - The Slow TV Blog

At Bergen Train Station

In some ways the omphalos of Slow TV - Bergen station where it started back in 2009.

Slow Television -The Slow TV Blog