Comedian and actors Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer took to Herefordshire’s River Wye in a recent episode of the BBC Two programme, Whitehouse and Mortimer: Gone Fishing.
The fourth episode of the eighth series saw Paul and Bob travel to Herefordshire to catch a fish which had “frustratingly eluded” them for eight years: a perch.
The comedic pair, along with their accompanying dog, Ted, started their mission off at a private lake in the small village of Birley, which lies just off the A4410 heading from Hereford to Leominster.
Pausing any further actions on their “perch search”, the pair headed to their 17th-century cottage in an undisclosed location, where pampered pooch Ted was due to undergo a massage led by dog masseuse, Ruth McDonagh.
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The next day, after a healthy fruit platter breakfast and a good night’s sleep, Paul announced he’d be taking Bob to the banks of his “favourite river”, the Wye.
“It’s had a few lean years, hasn’t it? The Wye, but it’s always a joy to go there,” Bob said.
“It is glorious.”
Arriving at a picturesque spot of the Wye with glistening water, Paul and Bob had high hopes of stumbling across a school of Perch, but despite their best efforts, their first catch was nothing more than a common chub.
Moving downstream, the pair eventually caught themselves a “pretty” yet small perch.
Calling it a day, Bob said there was “an overriding sense of defeat, which we’ll only get over by going to the pub.”
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The programme, now in its eighth season, follows the comedians and friends as they share anecdotes about their lives on fishing adventures around the UK and Ireland.
The series began in 2018 and has been nominated six times for a Bafta TV award.
Paul, a Welsh comedian and actor, previously told PA News Agency that the show’s success is because of its origins being based “100% out of real life”.