Just came across this on the BBC Press Office

Joanna Lumley attempts to realise her life's ambition in a one-off special film for BBC One.



Travelling north across the Arctic Circle up through Norway and finally to Svalbard, Joanna takes viewers on a very personal journey as she hopes to see the spell-binding Northern Lights in Joanna Lumley: Land Of The Northern Lights (working title).



Joanna grew up in tropical Malaysia, yet dreamed of the winter wonderland she read about in books.



She says: "I had never seen snow and never felt cold. In the Far East, cold was a luxury and snow was only in pictures in fairy stories."



On this epic voyage Joanna uncovers the nature, history and culture of the region whilst taking in the rugged beauty of her surroundings.



Box of crayons in hand, Joanna's journey takes her from dog sled to snowmobile as she finds out about the region's rich and surprising folklore of snow-queens, trolls and Vikings and spends time with reindeer herdsmen from Europe's last indigenous people, the Sami.



Alison Kirkham, BBC Executive Producer, says: "It has been a privilege for the BBC to share with Joanna what is a very special voyage to the North.



"It has been a personal goal of hers to experience the Northern Lights and Joanna's immense enthusiasm for the project shines throughout the documentary."



Joanna Lumley: Land Of The Northern Lights is a one-hour documentary made by Takeaway Media for BBC One due for broadcast later this year.



The film's director, Takeaway Media's Archie Baron, says: "I've been lucky enough to film many journeys. But I'm sure BBC One viewers will agree with me that it's hard to find a more enjoyable travelling companion than the clever, charming, indefatigable and idiosyncratic Ms Lumley – a true one-off!"



As Joanna seeks her personal Holy Grail, a chance to see the mysterious and elusive Northern Lights, viewers follow her funny, touching and momentous expedition North and discover whether she finally realises her dream.

And a picture from the news article on the Telegraph site

OOOOOOHHH can't wait for this
and looooving the piccie

love to see this when it airs could some one please upload it because i dare say it wont air in australia for a few years the pic of jo is so lovely

i NEED to get bbc before this airs. i actually had a dream about this last night, and the documentary was fabulous, but i'm sure it'll be even better when i see it for real :heart:

OMG Ham, thank you so much for the info!!!!! :D:D I cannot wait to see this!!!

Jen, thanks sooooo much for the pic!! Joanna looks like she's ready for a Canadian winter!!

Oh wow, this will be a fun one to watch, I'm sure!!!

I nearly forgot about Joanna's interview on Richard & Judy today, but I managed to catch most of it (although without recording it, so if anyone finds it online please upload it - I haven't found it at the usual sources yet !).

Basically it was to promote this programme which airs - Sunday 7 September @ 9pm on BBC1.

Joanna looked fabulous in the interview. And they showed some brief clips from the programme - Joanna stayed in an ice hotel, very funny watching her trying to sleep on an ice bed !

Also, Joanna made a brief appearance in the programme "Maestro" on BBC2 last night - celebs learning how to become conductors. One of the contestants is Jane Asher, & there was a brief clip of Jane getting advice from Joanna's husband, Stephen Barlow, presumably at their home, with Joanna in the background saying how brave Jane was !

Since Maman refuses to marry me, (and Joanna obviously is already taken) will you? Please?

I'm already looking on the interweb for both programmes, so if I find them, I'll upload them

CurlyWurly wrote:I nearly forgot about Joanna's interview on Richard & Judy today, but I managed to catch most of it (although without recording it, so if anyone finds it online please upload it - I haven't found it at the usual sources yet !).....



.....some brief clips from the programme - Joanna stayed in an ice hotel, very funny watching her trying to sleep on an ice bed !....

Also, Joanna made a brief appearance in the programme "Maestro" on BBC2 last night - celebs learning how to become conductors. One of the contestants is Jane Asher, & there was a brief clip of Jane getting advice from Joanna's husband, Stephen Barlow, presumably at their home, with Joanna in the background saying how brave Jane was !

Have you guys found either of these yet and if so where can I find them!?

well you can find the 'maestro' bit in the media section, which I've just added you to because I think you're active enough
still haven't found the richard & judy one...

Yay! Thanks, I'm going to watch it now.
I really do hope we get to see this over here in the states. It'd be a shame if we didn't.

Though it may not matter for me anymore as I'm thinking of moving to London next summer. (If I can wait that long!)

IT'S NEXT WEEK!!!!!
:squee::squee::squee::squee:

I hope we get to see it here in the states!

Well unfortunately I won't be able to record it, but I'll try and look for it on the interweb after it's been broadcasted.
And if I find it, I'll definitely upload it

Fantstic! Thank you!!

IT'S TODAAAAAAAAAAAAY
only about 70 minutes to go.
I'm so excited :squee::squee:

A review of the programme already !

Melting hearts amid snow and ice
DAVID BELCHER
The Herald

Celebrity travelogues: you wait ages for one, then two turn up together. Fulfilling a girlhood ambition to see the aurora borealis, Joanna Lumley braved Norway's wintry minus-26-degree Arctic chill wrapped in eight layers of clobber, plus face-obscuring hats, but still entranced every man she met.

Her relentless flirting was hot yet subtle, thereby charming blokes' metaphorical pants off. After this programme, Norwegian tourism will doubtless increase by 12000%. Demand for excursions round Joanna Lumley may never be sated, however.

In the land of the Northern Lights, the ageless grandmother dazzled native reindeer-herders, fish-dryers and husky-drivers with her forthright 1000-megawatt grin, tumbling golden mane and saucer-sized eyes' inviting pools. If none of that incited instant drooling, Joanna inquired coquettishly as to whether a chap was a Viking or a bachelor. Gulp. Perspire.

Sailing further northwards from a snowy town in the Lofoten Islands aboard a boat skippered by a bloodless-looking local called Otha, Joanna the bold explorer allowed herself a delicious shudder of anticipation. "Otha whisks me away into a world of romance!" she breathlessly oozed. This prompted an impulsive hug from Otha, a fellow not readily given to such sudden embraces, I'd wager. Resistance to Joanna Lumley: it's futile.

Oiling about the tundra with her Lumley Patent All-Blokes' Heart-Melter turned up to 11, Joanna gasped seductively, clad in assorted elfin hats and declaiming eccentric observations in a throbbing post-coital purr. "I used to yearn to be cold," she huskily confided of her childhood in Malaysia's steamy heat. "Putting on a cardigan was a huge treat." And so Joanna Lumley succeeded in making the act of adding extra clothes seem sexy and alluring.

Removing her clothing before night-time slumbers in a hotel made entirely of ice was a different matter. She staged a curious self-deprecating striptease shimmy with the camera. She implored us to avert our eyes. We couldn't. She carried on disrobing. Decency prevailed by the narrowest of margins. Phew.

What was learned during Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights? Personally, I learned that A is the last letter of the Norwegian alphabet. We all learned that Joanna Lumley is as swoonsome as she used to be all those years ago as Purdey in The New Avengers.

Joanna Lumley learned that the aurora borealis is a rapturous green phenomenon caused by Earth's magnetic field attracting multiple curtains of electrically charged particles. She lay down on her back in a snowy field somewhere near Tromso to see it, gasping: "This is the wonder of the world!" Ditto Joanna Lumley.

Link

OH GOSH...
That article makes it seem.... well....
I don't know how to describe it. I do hope that some loving person records it so we can see it here in the states....

Make sure you're ready to give like in depth reviews after its finished!!!! I want to know everything!

OMG IT WAS SOOOOOO FANTASTIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I absolutely loved it. Isn't it one of the most beautiful corners of the earth?!
This is definitely going on my 'things to do before I die' list!
And Joanna was just utterly gorgeous and fabulous as always :heart:

I'm soooo jealous!

here's a short video: Clicky clicky


prepare to be spammed:
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READY???!!!

PHILIPPA.
MY DEAR.
I adore you.
WOW.
That was incredible...
I want to see the northern lights more than anything in the world now.

MY GOD.
Seriously INCREDIBLE.
You should have heard me squeal when I started to watch the video... and by the end (I still am now!) was crying like a baby...
Thank you so much!

Okay Philly boo....I just died That pink hat on Joanna is just pure love!!! Ahhh, thank you so much baby cakes!!

And while I'm at it, thanks again SOOOOO much for the little clip you posted on YouTube! Hopefully someone will be able to post the entire show either on here or on the Jen forum, coz I would just love to see it!

oh believe me, I'm hunting down every torrent site on the interweb as we speak!
And it's great that you love the pics and the video, I'm quite surprised how it all turned out. The quality is quite good, considering I just held my camera in front of the tv

Edit:
IT'S DOWNLOADING!!!