Art of Scandinavia, BBC4 - TV review: Scandi-noir without the grisly bits

In the first engaging instalment of this three-parter, Andrew Graham-Dixon gave Norwegian art the Jackanory treatment

In full cry: Andrew Graham-Dixon with Edvard Munch's 'The Scream' in ‘Art of Scandinavia' (BBC)

In TV land, we hear a lot about “Nordic noir”. The likes of The Killing, Borgen and The Bridge, set in Europe’s far north. Conditions up there are good for these atmospheric, murder shows. It’s because the scenery is stupidly dramatic and inhospitable – mountains, ice, water with nothing on the horizon. It’s dark a lot of the time and sparsely populated, so there are lots of places to bump people off and so on. This programme looked at the impact that same environment had on the countries’ art from the Viking age until now – and it was a surprisingly gripping watch, despite the lack of grisly crime.

The amiable Andrew Graham-Dixon was at the helm. He started by dutifully telling us that Scandinavia is “not a single country, but three neighbouring nations,” I think for a minute he forgot he was on BBC4, but after that, it was authoritative business as usual. This first episode concentrated on Norway; its paintings, architecture, literature, theatre and a rather splendid Viking ship.

If there was anyone I would like to go to a gallery with, it’s Graham-Dixon. His Jackanory-worthy storytelling skills combined with academic nous make him an engaging tour guide: “storms rage and seas churn under skies without memory of morning or hope of night,” he said of one of landscape painter’s Peder Balke’s works. He fed us little interesting gobbits of art history that would be known to some viewers but were delivered in a way that felt fresh. Segments on Edvard Munch bookended the hour and in between we saw Graham-Dixon bundled up in a parka getting up close with those epic vistas. The whole thing left me feeling pretty pleased that there are two more counties to go.