Love chilling in front of the TV for hours? This will sleigh you

With BBC's slow TV special, viewers can experience a sleigh ride with reindeer from the comfort of their living room. Photo / iStock

Chilling in front of the TV will take on a whole new meaning on Christmas Eve for British viewers.

Rather than the usual festive diet of blockbuster movies, comedy specials and soaps, the BBC is devoting two hours of prime-time TV to a reindeer-eye view of the wintry wilderness of the Arctic Circle.

Viewers will be invited to relax with two hours of snow, snow and more snow, all filmed from a camera mounted on a reindeer-drawn sleigh. There will be no commentary, music or presenter, just the sound of hooves and runners crunching through the icy crust, and the soft tinkle of a reindeer bell.

The show, inspired by the Scandinavian craze for 'slow TV' - which has made unlikely hits of uninterrupted views of log fires, seven-hour railway journeys and a jumper being knitted - will give audiences the sense that they are on the sleigh as it glides along a three-mile trail in Karasjok, Norway, 200 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

Magnus Temple, the show's executive producer, admits he likes the fact that the idea is "a bit bonkers".

"Some people will never get a chance to experience a real sleigh ride so this is the next best thing. I don't expect people to be glued to their screens for two hours, but as families wrap up presents on Christmas Eve, this is something they might like on in the background."

The programme will be screened on BBC4, the same channel which earlier this year had a surprise hit when a show featuring a two-hour canal boat journey attracted more than 500,000 viewers. BBC commissioning editor Clare Paterson says: "What could be nicer than a trip to Lapland at Christmas? We're always in such a hurry. Slow TV makes us relax, breathe deeply, look and listen. Watching in real time in an unhurried way is a treat."

When it came to filming, there was no dashing through the snow - reindeer have a tendency to stop whenever they spot a bit of moss they fancy for a snack.

The journey was filmed on an old postal route used by the indigenous Sami people, and takes in frozen lakes, dense forests, and hills.

"The hills were challenging," admits producer Luke Martin. "I had to coax the reindeer up while trying to keep the sleigh camera steady.

"We were also trying to keep our batteries from freezing in minus 20C temperatures, so it was a less tranquil journey than it appears."

- Daily Mail