Naked City (1992)
Since she became hugely successful following the release of Debut in 1993, most of Björk's chat show interviews have revolved around her "otherworldliness". On Clive Anderson in 1995, most of his early questions paint her as an alien-like creature, just beamed down from Mars. Jokes are made about her name (it's hard for English people to pronounce), the British supermarket chain that shares a name with her native country (hilarious!) and that country's culinary delicacy involving eating fish that's been buried in the ground and pissed on (to be fair, that is pretty weird). In this 1992 interview from Caitlin Moran's Channel 4 show Naked City, we find a much more relaxed-looking Björk, gamely prodding at a Pot Noodle she has just been handed while Moran carefully nudges her towards revealing bits about her life without going: "So, Björk, you big weirdo, why do you sing in that funny voice?" We learn of her obsession with David Attenborough ("he makes it all seem very simple"), her opinion of U2 (her dad's a big fan) and, most revealingly, her views on the British: "They think all the other people in the world are sort of pretty to watch and something to play with or listen to. Sort of exotic experiences. I think it's a bit out of order really."
Tony Ferrino, Comic Relief – Short Term Affair (1997)
Perhaps the biggest misconception the general public have about Björk (who once wore a swan dress to the Oscars, of which more later) is that she doesn't have a sense of humour. And yet there's a huge wealth of it, not only in her music – I Miss You's cartoon-ish hyperreality, the joke about Scandinavians in Hunter, calling a B-side Sod Off – but also in her TV appearances. Appearing on Popworld in 2005, Björk riffs gloriously with host Simon Amstell, revealing how she once peed on some rocks during a long walk, got rip-roaringly drunk with Take That at an MTV awards show in Germany and that her favourite Wham! song is Club Tropicana. Perhaps her greatest comedic moment, however, is her duet with Steve Coogan's Portuguese Eurovision Song Contest winner Tony Ferrino during 1997's Comic Relief lol-athon. Delivering lines such as, "I was barely 18, what you did was obscene, but to me it felt clean," during the touching duet Short Term Affair, she hams it up brilliantly, playing it straight enough to allow the ridiculousness to blaze through.
South Bank Show – Unravel (1998)
If you have a spare 51 minutes you really should watch all of Björk's 1998 South Bank Show. Featuring rapturous character references from the likes of Bono and former president of Iceland Vigdis Finnbogadottir, as well as footage of Björk recording her album Homogenic in Spain, it's a brilliant portrait not only of how she creates her art, but of how her home country has influenced her independent spirit. One of the defining moments comes during a live version of Homogenic highlight Unravel. Filmed in what looks like someone's gran's living room, Björk – accompanied only by a harpsichord – passionately delivers lyrics about the devil stealing the love she and a partner have created with her eyes clenched shut, arms and hands sketching out the words as that voice sweeps and soars with a delicacy that's utterly breathtaking.
Top of the Pops – Cocoon (2002)
In total, Björk appeared on Top of the Pops 11 times, even performing at the TOTP Weekend at Wembley in 1996 during the commercial peak of Post, an album that produced three top-10 singles. So while the performance of Army Of Me is notable for Björk's bin-liner skirt and It's Oh So Quiet features a chorus line of adults in animal costumes, the oddest performance has to be that of Vespertine's delicate ode to loved-up, clammy sex, Cocoon. Opening with football stadium cheers, the heavily edited version of the song only lasts for 90 seconds – oddly the lyric, "He slides inside, half awake, half asleep … gorgeousness, he's still inside me," is missing – but manages to be compelling nonetheless, highlighting Björk's odd relationship with the mainstream.
The Oscars – I've Seen It All (2001)
Nominated for an Oscar in the Best Original Song category for Dancer In the Dark's I've Seen It All (she lost to Bob Dylan), Björk thought she'd have some fun with the usual "who are you wearing" tomfoolery that comes with any award show's red carpet parade. Rather than rock up in double-denim, or perhaps a slogan T-shirt and flip-flops, she came wearing a dress made to resemble a swan. As the cameras clicked away she promptly laid an egg on the red carpet. Somewhere nearby a young Lady Gaga was taking notes. The dress wasn't just for the red carpet though – the swan head lolled lazily around her neck during the performance in front of an estimated US audience of 43 million. Obviously nervous, she seems inhibited at the beginning before some of those trademark wordless ad-libs soar over the grandiose string arrangement and the whole thing takes off. Angelina Jolie is clearly impressed.
Later ... With Jools Holland – So Broken (1998)
Written in the same week Björk was sent a letter bomb by disturbed fan who later killed himself, So Broken – the B-side to 1997 single Jóga – is almost comedically dramatic. "The only way for me to write a song about it was just to take the piss," she told Raygun. "I wrote it in my house hitting the table singing, 'I'm so broken, ole!'. I was going to have the sound of washing dishes and three kids screaming; it would be a soap opera." In the end, the song became an odd hybrid of distorted vocals and flamenco guitar courtesy of Raimundo Amador. For diehard fans, however, the live reading is the version of choice and it's this performance on Later … that really brings the song to life. With Amador joined by Juan Luis on guitar, Björk – forehead painted bright white and seemingly wearing some sort of pinny – flits around the stage, skipping forwards and then retreating back as if attached to some sort of invisible bungee chord. All the while the lyrics tumble out of her mouth, with each chorus giving way to frustrated, wordless yelps and guttural screams that seem to be on the brink of implosion before being reined in at the last second.
• When Björk Met Attenborough is on Channel 4 on Saturday 27 July at 7pm. What are your favourite Björk TV moments? Tell us below.
