TV REVIEW

James May: The Christmas Reassembler; Jonathan Creek

James May is a natural for slow television, but is he slow enough?
James May reassembles his Tri-ang Hornby Flying Scotsman, which he has had since he was a boy
James May reassembles his Tri-ang Hornby Flying Scotsman, which he has had since he was a boy

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James May: The Christmas Reassembler
BBC Four
★★☆☆☆

Jonathan Creek
BBC One
★★★☆☆

There was a moment in James May: The Christmas Reassembler when he showed us something really brilliant. We knew this because he told us: “I’m going to show you something really brilliant.”

It would, frankly, have been a bit hard to tell otherwise. This is “Slow TV”, a form of television that began in Norway with unedited films of seven-hour train journeys and got a bit less exciting from there. There was Bergensbanen minutt for minutt about the train journey from Bergen to Oslo. Flåmsbana minutt for minutt (as above, but to Flåm). And of course the memorable classic, Hurtigruten minutt for minutt — a breakoutt hitt.

With a speed that defies