‘We might drop dead at any moment!’
Comic Bob Mortimer, 59, and Paul Whitehouse, 60, go on a fishing adventure together...
How did this come about? BOB: The chance to have one last adventure together before we snuff it was irresistible. PAUL: We thought it would be funny – two old idiots behaving like children, and the jeopardy was that we might drop dead at any moment on the riverbank.
Bob, we’ll see you cooking “heart-healthy food”?
BOB: My mum taught me how to cook and I’ve always wanted to be a TV chef… PAUL: Bob makes pizza with a cauliflower base in episode two, which looks like a disgrace, but actually tasted really nice. I’m not sure about the black bean stew however; there was a bit of oversharing on that night…
What would you say to people who think fishing is dull?
BOB: I actually think fishing programmes are very dull…
PAUL: I sold the programme to Bob by saying fishing is long periods of boredom punctuated by short sharp periods of intense boredom.
As a Middlesbrough fan, he lapped it up. BOB: [Laughing] this show makes England look gorgeous.
PAUL: The episodes in the Peak District are stunning.
We did want to showcase England… What happens to the fish ?
PAUL: We put all the fish back apart from one. We go sea fishing off the Isle of Wight and catch a very big bass – it was a proper specimen and everyone got very excited – although the sea was very rough and Bob was moaning about feeling sick.
BOB: I had a sea sick pill that I was licking all through it…
You cover a lot of topics in the show when you’re chatting (such as your childhoods, getting older, and eulogies...)?
BOB: We always wanted the show to be “this is what two old blokes being friends is like”.
And it’s nice for two older fellas to chat about health because that’s all you talk about when you get older!
PAUL: We do speak about our own mortality, but when you’re told you’ve got heart disease, it is there lurking at the back of your mind…
BOB [who had a triple heart bypass operation in 2015]: Three of my six arteries were 95 per cent blocked.
It came completely out of the blue for me. I was about to go on tour and I had the tiniest pain under my rib – four days later, I was being sewn open.
It was a shock! Do you think it’s changed your outlook on life?
BOB: I adjusted my diet.
I was very good for about three months, but I do love cheese.
What was the biggest thing you learnt about each other?
BOB: I hadn’t realised that Paul was a nice fella…
PAUL: I loved Bob’s enthusiasm for it.
I couldn’t get him off the f***ing river – I was bored sh*tless! Joking aside, it was a real joy.