Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing

To bring a cackling close to another collection of angling adventures, the comedians head to the Yorkshire Dales on a quest to lure "the lady of the stream" - the increasingly scarce grayling - from the shallows of the River Ure. Topics include "angling Subbuteo", plus we meet a surprise guest.

Installed on the banks of the Upper Tamar lake on the Cornwall-Devon border, the two chums josh joyfully as they await a bite from "Percy perch". Later comes a day of sea angling that yields a monster of the deep so magnificent it sends Bob's heart rate monitor through the roof. Endlessly funny.

Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing review

Bob Mortimer and Paul Whitehouse make a splash with this effortlessly funny, profoundly life-affirming meditation on friendship, leisure and mortality.

Review - Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing

There is a relaxing element to the series and shots of the countryside are undoubtedly beautiful, but that's not what I come to a show like this for. As much as I love these two men the gag rate just isn't high enough, and as I have absolutely no interest in fishing that side of proceedings doesn't work either, even on the rare occasion that they catch one of the bloody things. It's a real shame as there have been times that this series has been a delight, but due to the far too many banal moments it's something I can't really recommend, and I doubt I'll watch another episode after this.

Bob Mortimer interview

The co-star of TV's Gone Fishing remembers childhood diets, 'pocket meat' and getting married on the day of his heart op.

The pair pitch up at the wild lakes of Essex, armed with hi-tech fishing equipment ("Old men with modern methods: a lethal combination"). Bob shows Paul how to make perfect scrambled eggs and they visit a beauty clinic, amid much meditation on ageing.

Reviews: Gone Fishing, Herbert Clunkerdunk

Reviews of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing (*****) and The Mind of Herbert Clunkerdunk (***).

Happy to be back in their waders, Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer return for a second series of their mix of angling and homespun philosophy. They begin with a trout-fishing trip to the River Usk, where Whitehouse's father handed him his first rod. "You're fishing with a buffoon, aren't you?" asks Mortimer after getting entangled in tackle for the umpteenth time, prompting a retreat to the riverbank for a lamb lunch seasoned with reminiscences of first snogs. A gentle treat.