Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
The number of people I chat with who, when I mention that I love fishing, tell me they’re fans of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing has surprised and delighted me. Mortimer and Whitehouse Gone Fishing is that rare programme that brings angling to an audience that wouldn’t normally touch it with a barge pole. Why? Because it is all about the experience and joy of fishing rather than catching fish. As Bob and Paul so beautifully demonstrate getting something into the net is simply a bonus.
The first thing that strikes you about the programme is how much they enjoy one another’s company, and in particular how fishing gives them the space and time to indulge one another, to reminisce, to share the present and to reflect on what the future holds. Time spent fishing with friends and family is often of a quality that is scarce.
The next thing I love about the programme is the locations. Fishing connects us to nature and Bob and Paul go to some wonderfully scenic, sometimes historic spots. There’s something about being in or beside water which many of us find therapeutic. And of course, the often quirky accommodation tickles the explorer in me too.
Then there’s the diet and the health chat. Men in particular are crap at opening up about mental and physical health. I think Gone Fishing could help shift attitudes slightly and if they do, that will be the most important legacy of this programme. Bob and Paul balance the need for life to be enjoyable with the need to look after themselves. They share the physical challenges of age and general tribulations of life with a lightness that make them more bearable.
And the catching comes last. The excitement of the anticipation, the resignation when the fish don’t materialise, the mourning of the ones that get away heighten the pure joy of the ones they catch and admire for a moment before returning them to their mysterious, underwater worlds.
Fishing is never time wasted, and catching always a bonus.
I look forward to the next series.