Bob Mortimer

The warming series continues as the comedians wend further along the River Wensum, catching the odd sprat, exchanging anecdotes - including one involving Chaka Khan - and giving vent to their anxiety about the onset of age. Tonight, they stay in a disused train station and Paul has a makeover to recapture his lost youth.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, episode 4, review

One of summer's surprise TV treats.

Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (BBC Two)

It's taken me three weeks to write this review because I wanted to give Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing a chance to bed in. Three weeks on, I really, really, really want to like it more.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing is getting into its stride, or at least getting into its amiably grouchy amble. The two friends, both with heart problems, drive around England: Bob arranges bunks and food, and Paul tries to teach Bob to fish. Not that unsuccessfully, if the beast of a barbel Bob netted this week was any indication. Along the waters they gas away: about death and music and miscellany; of cabbages and kings. It's reminiscent obviously of The Trip, but less mean; I was more reminded of the much-missed Detectorists, and truly England has seldom looked so beguilingly tranquil - long lazy shots of geese in early mists over the Wye, set to the likes of Liszt, Bach and Bellini, which seem somehow to have been written precisely for that particular Arcadia.

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If the opening episode of Bob and Paul's angling amble felt downbeat, this episode's opening ruminations on tombstone inscriptions might not immediately lighten the mood. And yet, as talk turns from the funereal to the finer points of fishing, the camaraderie continues to appeal.

Gone Fishing review

Comedy pals get to the heart of life the universe and stuff.

Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing review

There are no negatives to comment on for this first episode. It was a really enjoyable watch that had this lovely genuine feel about it. This coupled with the humour made it a viewing delight.

I'm hooked on gentle joys of Paul and Bob's tales

Both men enjoyed fishing as lads. But it is Paul who really loves sitting in meditative silence beside the water: 'When that float goes under, it's a magical moment and it takes me back to my childhood.'

Bob Mortimer is proving to be a comedy master

Away from his work with Reeves, however, Mortimer has carved out a considerable comedy reputation on his own more recently.