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Mortimer and Whitehouse - Gone Fishing - Series 3

Started by Brian Freeze, August 19, 2020, 06:35:35 PM

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Brian Freeze

Sunday 23rd August 8pm BBC 2. Thought you might like to know x

Think we will try and watch it live, which is very unusual for us.


Captain Z

Immediately followed by Harry Hill's new thing, didn't I read somewhere?

Small Man Big Horse

Quote from: Captain Z on August 19, 2020, 07:14:39 PM
Immediately followed by Harry Hill's new thing, didn't I read somewhere?

Yeah, I just checked the tv listings and it is indeed the case.

shiftwork2

Two series felt about right.  Unless it's supposed to be a form of meditation, like fishing.  Will watch with hope.  Feta cheese!

The audiobook was underwhelming.  Nice atmosphere but wafer thin.  In the heart-healthy food chapter Bob ploddingly reads out the ingredients for a recipe and I thought it was either a very dry take on filler material (like the wikipedia entry of technical material included on the first Partridge) or was just filler material.

Twit 2

I like it when they fish in bits of Norfolk and Cornwall that I know.

Lisa Jesusandmarychain

This is a dull series. I said it two years ago, and I'm saying it now.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley


the science eel

He's right. It's pleasant enough but I don't think I'll bother this time.

I.D. Smith

Nothing much exciting to add, except that I'm very much looking forward to this. Watching repeats of it on iPlayer during the early days of lockdown got me through some rubbishy times, so I have quite a fondness for it. Only slight niggle was they made it pre-watershed for the second series, which cut out some of the funnier swearing from the first series, but it didn't make too much difference in the end.

One thing that has puzzled me, with regards to the audiobook that was mentioned earlier, was that it was more like a podcast with them both chatting and talking over each other, in conversation. Yet, there appears to be a paper version of the book. How on earth does that work? Are the chatty bits in the audiobook the extras for getting the audio version, and stuff like Bob reading out recipes and Paul describing a Pike are what make up the actual paper book? If that's the case, then it must be a very thin book as the majority of the audiobook seemed to be made up of the chat.

Brian Freeze

I can try and answer your book questions as I was bought it as a present but haven't heard the audiobook.

The book is fairly thick and is written almost like a transcript of a conversation for the most part of it but with each of them speaking in paragraphs rather than short and snappy back and forth.

It was fairly enjoyable, I actually ended up reading it as bedtime story for the kids and they bloody loved it seemingly despite my attempts at doing accents to differentiate between Paul and Bob.

I skipped the recipe and heart sections but we have trapped potatoes as camping food nowadays.

The Mollusk

For me, this show feels like Mark relationship with Sophie in Peep Show. Mark is enamoured by Sophie from afar; she is after all a beautiful woman who appears to possess all of the qualities Mark needs in his life. But the closer they become, the more he realises there's not really much there. He merely fell in love with the idea of Sophie. Her childhood pet gerbil was called Gerbil. She loves "Dancing in the Moonlight" by Toploader. It's all quite insubstantial and, well, boring.

I love warm, comforting telly like Repair Shop and Detectorists, and this show has two of my biggest childhood comedy icons, one of them being the funniest man I've ever encountered and someone I'd actually consider to be a hero, but... I dunno, I just have no real desire to ever watch this. I've seen maybe four or five episodes in total across both series and it's nice enough I guess, but is it actually compelling enough to draw me back? Unfortunately not.

Of course I am in no way implying that they have to be "on" for this show or that my complaint is that it isn't funny enough. That doesn't bother me at all. I love these two men enough from their rich comedic history to allow that to take a back seat here, but there's something else that's lacking. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I am leaning towards feeling as though it's a little bit stiff for something so supposedly laid back. There's a somewhat rigid atmosphere to the whole thing which makes it feel more laboured and less natural. Not massively so, but it's enough to stop me from properly sinking into this show like the pile of cushions and cup of camomile that it deserves to be.

Half-joking here, but perhaps they could have held my interest by making it even more laboured and scripted, like The Trip. Get Winterbottom in, slap some Philip Glass on it, and have some melancholic shots of Bob alone in his yurt past bedtime, having a sad bite of some pocket meat and going "Ooh I do miss me wife a bit actually" while Paul's snuck off to the master suite of the nearby rustic hotel to fuck the face off a brown trout. Just a thought.

I.D. Smith

Quote from: Brian Freeze on August 21, 2020, 12:30:16 AM
I can try and answer your book questions as I was bought it as a present but haven't heard the audiobook.

The book is fairly thick and is written almost like a transcript of a conversation for the most part of it but with each of them speaking in paragraphs rather than short and snappy back and forth.

It was fairly enjoyable, I actually ended up reading it as bedtime story for the kids and they bloody loved it seemingly despite my attempts at doing accents to differentiate between Paul and Bob.

I skipped the recipe and heart sections but we have trapped potatoes as camping food nowadays.

Thanks for the info! Sounds like it was initially recorded as a conversation, then, and then transcribed into a book later and maybe edited a bit to make it more reader-friendly, rather than the other way round.

I stuck with the first series right to the end, hoping that it was cleverly disguised as sunday supplement soul rot, but was slowly going to get weirder and more unhinged as it unfolded.

That didn't happen so I didn't go back. It's not for me but I'm glad it has an audience and it keeps getting recommissioned, it looks like they both find it relaxing and fun to make.


neveragain

What you question-marking about?

There were some nice little moments in the series opener, but it's not really a show that needs weekly analysis. Watch it and relax if you want to, don't if you don't.

the science eel


neveragain

That wasn't meant to be a dig by the way. I just meant it's lightweight, throwaway stuff (though beautifully shot and often very funny).

jamiefairlie

I think it's a lovely little oasis of calm. I do wish I could spend my life living like this.

thugler

Loved seeing their sheer childlike delight at catching the salmon.

Ballad of Ballard Berkley

Quote from: jamiefairlie on August 24, 2020, 05:29:43 PM
I think it's a lovely little oasis of calm. I do wish I could spend my life living like this.

Me too. If only for 30 minutes each week, it makes the world looks like a beautiful place populated by benign, funny human beings. 

Jockice

I don't watch it (seeing two comedy greats being boring isn't my idea of fun) but according to a member of That Petrol Emotion on Facebook, Whitehouse auditioned to become their singer before they found Steve Mack. And the rest of the band had forgotten about it until now.

Fuck my hat!

neardark

Quote from: The Mollusk on August 21, 2020, 08:33:59 AM
For me, this show feels like Mark relationship with Sophie in Peep Show. Mark is enamoured by Sophie from afar; she is after all a beautiful woman who appears to possess all of the qualities Mark needs in his life. But the closer they become, the more he realises there's not really much there. He merely fell in love with the idea of Sophie. Her childhood pet gerbil was called Gerbil. She loves "Dancing in the Moonlight" by Toploader. It's all quite insubstantial and, well, boring.

I love warm, comforting telly like Repair Shop and Detectorists, and this show has two of my biggest childhood comedy icons, one of them being the funniest man I've ever encountered and someone I'd actually consider to be a hero, but... I dunno, I just have no real desire to ever watch this. I've seen maybe four or five episodes in total across both series and it's nice enough I guess, but is it actually compelling enough to draw me back? Unfortunately not.

Of course I am in no way implying that they have to be "on" for this show or that my complaint is that it isn't funny enough. That doesn't bother me at all. I love these two men enough from their rich comedic history to allow that to take a back seat here, but there's something else that's lacking. I can't quite put my finger on it, but I am leaning towards feeling as though it's a little bit stiff for something so supposedly laid back. There's a somewhat rigid atmosphere to the whole thing which makes it feel more laboured and less natural. Not massively so, but it's enough to stop me from properly sinking into this show like the pile of cushions and cup of camomile that it deserves to be.

Half-joking here, but perhaps they could have held my interest by making it even more laboured and scripted, like The Trip. Get Winterbottom in, slap some Philip Glass on it, and have some melancholic shots of Bob alone in his yurt past bedtime, having a sad bite of some pocket meat and going "Ooh I do miss me wife a bit actually" while Paul's snuck off to the master suite of the nearby rustic hotel to fuck the face off a brown trout. Just a thought.

Totally agree with this. There's simply no chemistry between them at all.

thugler

Quote from: neardark on August 26, 2020, 10:26:26 PM
Totally agree with this. There's simply no chemistry between them at all.

Nah, don't agree. I think their relationship is a little awkward, particularly as there is a dynamic of Paul being the grumpy experienced fisherman and Bob being constantly afraid of screwing things up and receiving scorn. But there is a genuine friendship and ease there. The chemistry is more evident in the non fishing scenes where they bounce jokes off each other without having to concentrate on landing fish or whatever.

Shit Good Nose

#24
Quote from: neardark on August 26, 2020, 10:26:26 PM
Totally agree with this. There's simply no chemistry between them at all.

I also disagree.  I'll accept that they possibly have a..."different", shall we say, way of communicating that friendship, but little moments like when they've talked about losing their dads and their respective reactions, Bob genuinely giving a fuck about Paul's health and Paul's appreciation of the meals that Bob knocks up for him, the little glimpses of familiarity (such as calling each other "darling" and "babes" on occasion), and, in the most recent episode, Paul handing his rod to Bob when he hooked that big salmon (which was verging on a once-in-a-lifetime size salmon) - that gesture alone says more than anything else (in equivalent terms, that's akin to being in the lead in a 100m sprint at the olympics and then just stopping before the finish line and letting the next person win) - and Bob's sheer joy at landing it, hugging Paul tight and Paul being genuinely happy at being part of that moment.  Just cos they're not calling each other mate every ten seconds, or walking around with their arms around each others shoulders doesn't mean that there's no chemistry. 

There is also the fact that Paul has never been entirely comfortable in front of the camera as himself (I remember reading an interview with John Bailey - their fishing guide - just before the second series aired, and he said that they often chose to film with remote cameras and/or from a distance less because of avoiding spooking the fish and more because they captured the relationship between Paul and Bob better when there weren't loads of people around), and their slightly different senses of humour, but neither of those things mean anything when you've been close friends with someone for 30 years.

Custard

Two episodes in, and I'm still greatly enjoying this. Light, warm hearted, funny.

They have great chemistry, what youse on aboot kidda?

Glad they've stopped going on about heart healthy food, mind

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

I think it would be infinitely better if they killed and ate the fish they caught. If they don't catch anything, they don't eat. Fish is pretty heart healthy isn't it?

shiftwork2

They make great play of putting the fish back don't they?  In the earlier series there was always a very cool underwater shot of it swimming away.  I have no idea whether this is what most anglers do but it's hard to imagine a light TV show where they whack the fish's head on a rock and shout 'AVE SUMMA THAT (no idea if they do this either, sorry anglers).

Elderly Sumo Prophecy

I dunno, maybe it's classed as poaching or something. I bet the thought of eating them has crossed both of their minds at some point though. I'd rather eat a lovely fresh salmon than one of Bob's rather crap looking burritos.

Shit Good Nose

The only "eating" freshwater fish are really just trout, salmon and eels.  Although you can still land trout and salmon for the table, more and more anglers these days tend to opt for the American style catch and release (there are also huge restrictions on taking wild salmon and eels now).

Some of the coarse fish (carp, pike and perch) are edible, but carp and pike aren't particularly nice and once you dig out the bones from a perch there's fuck all left. 

Grayling - another game fish - is edible, but it's a protected species so you're not allowed to take any home.