‘I think people with their own problems really identify with it’
Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse tell Georgia Humphreys why their returning BBC series is about so much more than catching fish
Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing is a therapeutic show to watch for many reasons – the beautiful scenery, the emotive music, the sense of being immersed in nature.
But what is particularly comforting is how it shows “two fellas being open with each other”, something the stars themselves – comics Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse – have realised viewers really appreciate.
It’s because they’re talking about topics which resonate with people, from overcoming serious illness – Mortimer had a triple heart bypass in 2015 – to getting older and how it changes you.
“I was out in the street last night; this woman came up, who was walking her dog, and she said, ‘Oh, sorry, I recognise you – my husband, who suffers from depression, really loves your show’,” says 62-year-old Whitehouse.
“They [viewers] are very candid about their lives. Because the subject matter is so real and was so difficult for us – certainly Bob anyway – I think people with their own genuine problems really identify with it.”
In the first episode of the new series, the pair travel to the River Tweed to continue their quest to catch a salmon.
We also witness Mortimer, 61, talking about the loss of his father, who died in a car crash when he was a toddler.
“I think, for this third series, we probably open up even more than we did in the first two,” says Mortimer, famous for his work with Vic Reeves.
“People say, ‘You open up and you talk about very serious and personal things’, but we’re not ‘those sort of blokes’; we just happen to be at that time of life and we had the opportunity to do it in a very naturalistic way that is obviously going to help other people as well,” reasons Whitehouse, known for co-creating BBC sketch show The Fast Show.
With a chuckle, he adds: “So, we’ve had to become slightly better people.”
The pair are very jokey throughout our chat but when I suggest that younger generations are becoming more accepting of men talking about their feelings and showing emotion, they agree – and take on a more earnest tone.
“The last show of the new series we did try and address specifically what you’re talking about and we got a doctor who specialises in men’s health to come and just give some guidance to us that, hopefully, people can take something from as well,” recalls Mortimer.
“We talk in another episode about how we would never have hugged our parents or told our parents that we loved them or whatever, but I think that happens now.
Asked what else the doctor covered in their chat with him, Mortimer explains: “Well, he was amazing at just really practical things. Men are a bit reluctant, especially to go to a doctor about emotional problems.
“We probably open up even more than we did in the first two series”
“So, he suggested an opening sentence you might like to use if you’re approaching your doctor. I think it was something like, ‘I’ve been feeling low for a while, and I didn’t know who to talk about it to’.”
Another interesting point they discuss is how, when it comes to heart problems, “females are terribly misdiagnosed”.
“They have pain in their chest, or some breathlessness and the doctors don’t immediately think it’s a heart problem.
“And even when it’s a crisis moment, the average time from a man thinking something’s wrong to them being in hospital, is about one hour 40, apparently. But with a woman, it’s nearly seven hours, because it doesn’t cross a 55-year-old woman’s mind as much that this could be a heart attack.”
Serious topics aside, there is plenty of fishing in the series too.
It was inspired by the fact that Whitehouse has been a keen fisherman since he was young.
After he had a procedure to insert arterial stents in 2010, he found regular rehab exercise has helped his recovery – and one way to get out of the house was to teach long-time pal Mortimer how to fish.
It would seem Mortimer still has plenty of mishaps on the river – not just missed fish and missed opportunities, but a lot of falls too.
“So much we haven’t used because some of them – oddly enough, perfectly genuine falls because I’m terrible on my feet but when I’m on camera – they look a little bit contrived.”
The first half of the series (Episodes 2 is on the River Lea, and 3 is in Norfolk) was filmed pre-lockdown, in autumn 2019.
The remaining three episodes (covering the River Test in Hampshire, Wiltshire and Wye) were filmed once lockdown had been lifted for angling.
On what it was like shooting with social distancing measures in place, Mortimer says: “I should imagine it would be a nightmare for most shows. But we’re so lucky because fishing, it doesn’t cause too many problems.”
● Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing returns to BBC2 on Sunday at 8pm