Enjoyed it, but it’s been a very bad year for Christmas specials where everyone pretends it’s December despite the trees being in full leaf. I think it spoils the authenticity of the experience.
Best episode for a while. Kind of like a greatest hits. Funny, melancholy, plenty of Ted, beautiful scenery, Bob on form.
Solarider Jnr is currently sat with me and Mrs Solarider watching it and he is 8. His exact words - "Daddy, isn't it funny that the 3 of us are sat here watching 2 old men fishing and having such a good time?". So true. Whoever commissioned this show was truly inspired. On paper it just shouldn't work, but for me its the best thing on the tellybox.
A nice, relaxing, TV experience on the back of 5 episodes of Reacher. Nice way to wind down.
As a person who fishes i love how they manage to encompass the anticipation along with the realism that you probably won't catch anything. If I went for a weeks fishing in Scotland I would be fully expecting a blank where the salmon is concerned.
At all levels this shouldn't work, but it does. I think we all want a friendship like that. Plus the posh glamping/B&B experience.
This, along with detectorists and the first few seasons of river cottage, is my TV based serotonin boost.
Great stuff, as usual
Am I the first only one left distressed by the (inevitable) agedness of Clare Grogan?
When she first walked in I thought ‘bloody hell, she hasn’t aged a day’, but the close ups showed a different story. Less of a comment about her as she still looks fantastic at 60, but more another balloon of my own youthfulness burst!
The rest of the band have aged well though (!).
Another enjoyable and relaxing episode. I’m lucky in that myself and my best friend have the same relationship, we go camping, walking and landrover tinkering, usually with our dogs, (nothing luxurious though). I’m sure that people who meet us often think that we’re married! We’ve often discussed fishing but without any hooks - just sitting on the riverbank with all the gear, occasionally having a few words and then drifting off again. There’s no cruelty to the fish involved, no lost tackle for the birds and the Derbyshire bailiffs wouldn’t be able to stop us! If Clare Grogan wanted to join us then she’d be more than welcome..
A snip at only £7.5-8.5k a week self catering, more at Xmas and New year 🤣
I’m just watching Ricky and Ralf’s Northern Road Trip on Iplayer, it’s of a similar vein with gentle humour and geographical insight. I would think perhaps a one off rather than a series, worth a try?
Excellent stuff.
I've been a little bit in love with Clare Grogan for over 40 years. Suspect that I still am.
I nearly turned it off after the first 25 mins but it got better.
I nearly turned it off after the first 25 mins but it got better.
I think I'd fallen asleep by 25 minutes and found it a little boring, so wasn't going to watch the rest. I will, now that I've read your comment (and others above).
Enjoyed it, but it’s been a very bad year for Christmas specials where everyone pretends it’s December despite the trees being in full leaf. I think it spoils the authenticity of the experience.
Yes, drives me up the wall. It may be a Xmas special, but they don't need to pretend it's actually Xmas when it's obvious that it's not to anyone who spends any time at all outdoors. Like fishermen, I'd guess? I caught some Xmas special about a zoo a while ago, showing the staff excitedly putting decorations up while zoo visitors were milling about in shorts and t-shirts.
It may be a Xmas special, but they don’t need to pretend it’s actually Xmas
I once excitedly bought tickets for the Central FM Hogmanay Party - thinking I'd solved the what-to-do-at-Hogmanay problem for me and my friends.
Party was recorded in September FFS. Guy at the radio station said it was traditional 😉
I got a refund 🙂
It'd not working for me anymore sadly. Which is gutting as it was a telly highlight in the past.
We've gone from heart healthy to not so much (lorne sausage!) and getting old fast. And clearly poorly and tired. It just feels slightly meloncolloy. And the accommodation has gone from quirky and aspirational that they looked thrilled to be in to very decedent and seemingly expected and taken for granted by the pair.
[quote And the accommodation has gone from quirky and aspirational that they looked thrilled to be in to very decedent and seemingly expected and taken for granted by the pair.
Add a celeb friend or two with very little to bring to the party, and a hilarious shot of Bob falling over...
Awesome! Thank you, will look forward to that. 🙂
I'll not be bothering with it. Last series was pretty downbeat and sad with overtones of two old and not very well guys circling the drain.
Yup,won't be watching.
As much as I have loved a lot of the shows,I would feel sad watching Bob .
The last series should have been Mortimer and Whitehouse Done Fishing
Enjoyed that one, seemed less melancholy than previous and they were clearly enjoying it
And more importantly a couple of cracking fish banked. Plus that pub looked well worth a visit whenever I'm next in Norfolk.
It's still one of the best things on by a way (to be fair the bar is set low by BBC and ITV these days, with all the reality bollox and contrived fake jeopardy of every other programme).
Might give it a watch then, the last series rather put me off.
There's a new season!? Wonderful.
Thanks for the heads up. I don't fish any more as I moved from the UK but I used to love carp fishing over a weekend. Lots of good memories.
I see an eighth season has been commissioned.
As ever, we really enjoyed it and I'm very glad to hear that another series is on the way.
Polar opposite to the Grand Tour and I'm more interested in cars than I am going fishing. 😀
A side note - if anyone hasn't done already, I suggest you read Bob's autobiography (or listen to it - its available on Spotify now!). Its superb. Read it about 18 months ago and am listening to him read it now which is even better.
Just caught up and it properly delivered, back to what it used to be.
Following on from this Paul Whitehouse, Our Troubled Rivers started to play automatically when the last of the series finished on iPlayer, a really enjoyable and informative look at the state of our rivers and seas and the amount of pollution being pumped in to them daily and what if anything can be done about it.
Plus that pub looked well worth a visit whenever I’m next in Norfolk.
The Brisley Bell is my local pub, its one loads of awards, but is a bit "red trousers" these days, as it is pretty much a fancy restaurant now, got ana amazing beer garden for the summer though.
Was gutted when i saw they had been in there and not known though.
Been listening to the Gone Fishing audiobook and it does capture the spirit of the programme well.
Just catching up on this series. Much the same but it looks like Bob has got the hang of fly fishing! They could pad it out a bit by at least explaining the basic tackle set up for their particular location/species to add a bit of variety, it may be of interest even for the non-fishing people who watch it. Ted-what a star!
It was a shame that the weather was so bad when they visited Blakeney Point. I have spent many hours on that beach in my youth and often sat where they were sheltering at the Watchhouse - we used to call it the halfway house as it was about halfway to the Lifeboat houses from Cley beach car park
Loved the Christmas special in France 🙂
Christmas special was a peach this year. Lovely party of France to suit in and pass the time. This year has been a return to form for the series.