Two-hour boat ride least likely of hits for BBC

It should have been the most boring TV show in the world – a two-hour boat ride down a canal without commentary, music or presenters.

But BBC’s no frills Canal Trip – aired yesterday - proved to be an unexpected smash hit, doubling the channel’s usual audience of 340,000.

More than half a million viewers were mesmerised by the journey down the Kennet and Avon Canal, filmed in real time with a camera strapped on the front of the barge, The Telegraph reports.

The hypnotic show also appears to have won the approval of commentators on social media. 

The episode was part of BBC Four’s “Goes Slow series” which offers viewers ''the chance to sit back, unwind and watch some very unhurried television''.

The concept of slow TV has been a hit in Norway since 2009 when public broadcaster NRK aired an eight-hour train journey.

A program featuring nine hours of Norwegian knitting was another notable success in 2013.