Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
BOXSET
You definitely don’t need to be a keen angler, or even know anything at all about fishing to enjoy this delightful series.
Old friends comedians Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer spend time together exploring various rivers and lakes around Britain, in each episode setting themselves the challenge of catching a particular type of fish.
Now in their sixties (“the autumn of our lives, let’s face it,” quips Whitehouse), both men have undergone major heart surgery in recent times. After Mortimer’s close call with death, Whitehouse, a keen fisherman, invited him to try out this gentle pastime. The joy of the series is in how much the pair delight in each other’s company. Cracking jokes, doing silly voices, giggling like schoolboys and generally larking around, they have a great time. And so does the viewer. But they take the fishing seriously – and Whitehouse is a wise and patient teacher.
There may be a lot of barbed banter, but the genuine affection between these two men is abundantly clear. It is frequently laugh out loud funny – they are extremely talented comics who have been entertaining the nation for decades, after all – but it is often also very moving and profound.
Their enthusiasm for what they are doing – and life in general – is boundless and infectious. They really savour the little things, perhaps in the way that only people who have had a taste of their own mortality can. And that is extraordinarily affecting. Let’s just say you won’t always be shedding tears of laughter.
Cast off and reel it in. You will not be disappointed.