Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing, S6, review: This Beckettian bromance should go on and on
The 1990s threw up some wonderful comic pairings. In the blokeish corner you had Harry and Paul, while the surreal madcappery of Vic and Bob came from quite another place. Their work was so different you could never imagine any of them meeting, let alone collaborating, and yet we are now into a sixth series of Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing
(BBC Two).
Why does it work? TV arranges plenty of marriages between celebs, then sends them along canals or on road trips or off DNA sleuthing. None would happen if the cameras weren’t there. This feels as if it would, and the song would remain the same. Bob and Paul both started out as the less famous junior partners in their comic duos. On the riverbank, although Whitehouse is the superior angler, they otherwise come together as equals. It’s a caring bromance between beta-males, a Vladimir and Estragon who wouldn’t mind if Godot never came. Compare and contrast with The Trip, which was all about hierarchy and contest.
It helps that they are also capering ad-libbers. Bob: “You could have been a model when you were young.” Paul: “Now hit me with the gag.” Bob: “For a length of rope?” Perhaps some material fetches up on the cutting room floor. But the stuff that makes the grade – about being married to a robot, or the difference between small talk and large talk (“MORNING!”) – is premium. And then there’s the physical banter, manifested here as they essayed a period of contemplative silence.
They fished for chub on the Irfon (mispronounced by the Welsh-born Whitehouse), then moved on to the Wye. Gone Fishing is a peaceable show, so there was just a nod to the river’s scandalous status as a cesspit. “You name it, it’s got it,” said Whitehouse.
Their guest was Dave, whose charity Tackling Minds helps salve those with mental health issues by taking them fishing. “The fishing is secondary,” he explained. “Everyone goes away with a huge smile.” He might have been reviewing this lovely show, which could go on and on till Godot turns up.
