Where Joanna Lumley first saw the northern lights

Joanna Lumley first saw the northern lights at Lyngen North in the 2008 BBC documentary “Joanna Lumley in the Land of the Northern Lights ”.

The documentary was shot long before Lyngen North offered glass igloo accommodation and had built the restaurant onsite at the peninsula Spåkenes in Northern Norway. Lyngen North were in fact not involved in any way with the documentary, but learned afterwards that the famous British actor had been here.

In the clip where she first sees it, she points to the northern lights shining above the Lyngen Alps and says “Look it’s starting. Just behind those little cottages”. Those cottages are in fact the Lyngenfjord Houses at Lyngen North.

In the documentary they mixed in clips from a few different locations around the region, so not all the footage is shot at Lyngen North. The clip where she mentions the painting of “Polly the Penguin” while the aurora is dancing above Uløya, she is actually standing exactly where you’ll find the glass igloos today.

Is the clip of Joanna Lumley seeing the northern lights fake?

No, there was in fact a beautiful display of northern lights this evening and the clip is very realistic with regards to how a beautiful full moon night with aurora looks like. As to her reaction, it is impossible to say what is acting for the camera and what is genuine excitement. I suppose you’d have to know her personally to tell the difference.