BBC Four will be meandering down a new route of shows with programmes shot in real time, designed to relax viewers.

The channel has been inspired by the idea of slow TV for BBC Four Goes Slow, where three different programmes will dispense with editing, voice overs and music.

Viewers will be able to tune in to The Canal, a two-hour canal boat journey down one of Britain’s historic waterways that is made in the tradition of Scandinavian slow TV. It will feature the sights and sounds of wildlife and the tow path as the boat passes, giving facts about the canal as captions in the landscape.

National Gallery will be a three-hour behind the scenes tour of the gallery with Frederick Wiseman – again, with no voice over, but taking viewers from board room meetings to exhibition spaces.

The National Gallery
The National Gallery in London will feature in one programme (John Stillwell/PA)

Make presents three half-hour programmes showing traditional craftsmanship as skilled workers make items including a steel knife and a wooden chair.

Channel editor of BBC Four Cassian Harrison said: “BBC Four Goes Slow is another brilliant example of something only BBC Four would do.

“This surprising selection of programmes is the antithesis to the general direction much of television is going in.

“Slowing everything right down gives us the time to really observe things as they happen, and this series of programmes celebrates the simple pleasures of life in the slow lane.”