Retreat: Meditations from a Monastery

BBC FOUR, 9.00PM

 The channel’s latest foray into slow TV is a treat, discreetly steered by Luke Korzun Martin, who was

behind Sleigh Ride and Canal Trip. The cameras follow the Benedictine monks of Somerset’s Downside Abbey, who have silence central to their lives – the only noise here is either ambient, or spoken or sung during prayer or mass. Here we watch them going about their business, while subtitles explain their lives in more detail. The premise could hardly be simpler, yet the effect is profound. Two more episodes, each from a different abbey, follow over the next two nights.