TV lullaby: Tom Hardy was one of the celebrity guests at CBeebie's Bedtime Story Photo: CBeebies/PA in matted sheets. Distracting sounds coming through the open bedroom windows. Knowing that you are doomed to wake up at dawn, already exhausted by another energy-burning day. Sleeplessness during the heat is very little pleasure. So what role can television play in our restless summer nights?
Well, according to last year's YouGov sleep study, a whopping 82% of Britons watch TV an hour before bed, with 50% doing so right before bed. Meanwhile, insomnia is on the rise: 30% of adults have trouble sleeping, up from 23% a decade ago. So what to watch if you're struggling to sleep at night? Or if you wake up in the wee hours again and need a TV lullaby to distract you?
To celebrate the summer solstice, we've selected 10 undemanding, relaxed TV shows that will gently push you to sleep. Welcome to snoozevision: your eyelids are guaranteed to get heavy and your chins to fall on your chest. Sweet dreams.
1. Faith
ITV3/ITV X
Possibly the sleepiest detective drama currently on the air, this ITV adaptation makes The Midsomer Murders look like a full action, thrill ride. Charmingly disheveled Northumberland detective Brenda Blethyn has been solving crimes at the speed of an asthmatic snail for 12 episodes. The low-energy, 90-minute episodes are based on detective stories by Ann Cleaves, who also wrote the novels on which the equally yawn-inducing BBC One series on Shetland is based.
Brenda Blethyn in the sleepy detective series Faith. Photo: ITV 2. Slow TV
iPlayer
«Slow TV» describes documentaries that are deliberately slow-paced, often without voice acting or music. Described by BBC Four as «an antidote to the conventional grammar of television in which everything gets faster and faster», it was inspired by the success of ambient television in Norway, where hypnotic films about train rides and knitting marathons became unlikely hits. On iPlayer you can currently find Chorus of Dawn: Sounds of Spring and All Aboard: The Great Reindeer Migration. Relax, savor, snore.
3. Motion Art
Netflix
Escape to nature in somnambulistic style with this clean, serene and deeply relaxing nature series. Each episode features fluid, wide-angle footage of director Louis Schwartzberg's exotic locations, from river depths to high mountains. No narration, just meditative music. A spectacular intro to a show that puts you in a trance.
4. The joy of drawing
YouTube/PBS/Sky Arts< /p>
Oh, those «happy trees». Cult hero and online meme creator Bob Ross hosted this American educational series for more than a decade, spanning 403 epic episodes. With his signature perm and beard, our host gave stream-of-consciousness painting lessons, filling in a blank canvas—usually a folkloric, slightly kitschy oil-on-wet landscape. Loved by students, retirees, aspiring painters — plus Mark and Jez from The Pip Show who simply called him «God».
5. Barefoot Countess
Food Network
Who needs the menace of melting chocolate in a Bake Off tent or the bullshit of macho chefs when you can lean back on the level-headed cooking style of a wealthy Hampton woman? Like Nigella's house aunt, Ina Garten prepares French comfort food with calm efficiency and entertains «dear friends» in her enviable barn-sized kitchen. Notice how she «hand picks» herbs in her garden (though not the «cilantro» she hates), her florist friend Michael dropping by with fresh flowers, and the mention of her husband Jeffrey , an avid economist who is rarely around to eat Her Ladyship's drool-inducing creations. I'm ready to take a nap after eating just by thinking about it.
6. Night On Earth
Netflix
While we humans are sleeping, or at least trying to sleep, our furry friends are busy with all sorts of nocturnal activities. Narrated by Orange Is the New Black actress Samira Wylie, this beautifully filmed wildlife series lifts the veil of darkness to show how the species spend the night on gloomy plains, in moonlit jungles, and even on quiet city streets. Spoiler: hunting, mating, harm in general.
7. The Great Pottery Throwdown
All 4
The quietest of those wholesome amateur contests from Love Productions, the makers of The Great British Bake Off. It takes skill, patience, and time in the kiln to turn lumps of clay into pieces of ceramic art, giving it a more meditative feel than the Sewing Bee. In plump-prone Judge Keith Brymer Jones, he also boasts a breakout star who's a lot nicer than Paul Hollywood.
Siobhan McSweeney, Keith Brymer Jones and Rich Miller in «The Discarded Pottery». Authors: Marc Bourdillon. 8. Headspace: Guide to Sleep
Netflix
With a business model built around addictive binge-watching, Netflix isn't usually friendly with insomnia. Perhaps out of guilt, the streaming service created these soporific animated shorts in conjunction with the sleep app Headspace. Hypnotic narration explains the science of insomnia, debunks sleep myths, and gently offers advice. Each episode ends with a «driven close» meant to jump straight to forty winks. There are also spin-offs Unwind Your Mind and Guide To Meditation. Goodbye beckons.
9. Blue Planet
iPlayer
The acclaimed marine life series and its sequel, Blue Planet II, are among the most soothing science shows. Blissful underwater photography, George Fenton's impressive soundtrack, and Sir David Attenborough's reverent, authoritative whispering make for a soothing combination. Learn a few things as you drift and dream about the song of the whales.
10. Bedtime Stories
(CBeebies/iPlayer/YouTube
And they all lived happily ever after.Sometimes all you need to drift off to sleep is tell a hopeful tale in a velvet whisper.Go back to childhood (and then to the land of nods. ) by digging through the preschool channel's archive of celebrity readings from its star-drenched storytelling corner. Just don't worry about moms' favorites like Tom Hardy, Ryan Reynolds, or Rare-Jean Page from Bridgerton. Bedfordshire indeed.
Свежие комментарии