Gone Fishing’s Bob Mortimer is just wild about the BHWT

Bob Mortimer is a household name. He got his big break in the early '90's with Vic Reeves as part of their Vic and Bob comedy act, and since then he's graced our televisions with his wonderful sense of humour and dry wit.

Both Bob and artist wife Lisa are animal lovers and, as our supporters already know, they kindly designed our 2020 Christmas cards raising thousands of pounds for the charity. So when we asked Bob if he would consider becoming a patron we were thrilled with his response!

In mid-July, Jane sat down with Bob on a set break from filming “Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing” and asked him a few questions. Here’s what he had to say:

JH: Growing up it seems you took a serious tone to your education, was this something your family expected of you?

BM: To be honest my two brothers and I (one brother didn’t go to University) were the first generation to have the opportunity to go to Uni; my mum was on her own as my dad had died when I was 7 so she had little time for and interest in our school work and career. In any case it was an era when the big employers came to schools to recruit so there was not the same pressure there is these days to achieve results at school prior to finding work.

JH: You studied law and practised in the Welfare & Public Health sectors, what was it about these areas that attracted you to this type of practice?

BM: I’m not sure really, I can’t quite put my finger on it; I wasn’t super ‘woke’ or anything but suppose I had a little more empathy than others and the idea of helping the underdog appealed. I saw that 80% of those at law college were career driven, but I had started out as a bin man in Middlesborough and was a big football fan and almost felt part of the underdog set. When I became an Assistant Probation Officer and went to a stranger’s house and saw extreme poverty for the first time I saw there was an extraordinary need for a little bit more cash for so many people. I then got a Masters in Welfare Law and focussed on landlord responsibilities, making sure benefits were forthcoming for those who qualified and oversaw housing improvements where landlords were negligent. I worked for a few years in law centres in Middlesborough and Manchester and eventually went into private practice in London where I worked for 5 years. Initially I enjoyed it, but then realised I wasn’t really making a big enough difference even though I got more pleasure from helping a client with a cockroach infestation than I ever would from writing a Will or conveyancing.

JH: Jumping from law to comedy is a huge leap of faith. Not everyone would leap, why did you? And did you have a fallback plan if it didn’t work out?

BM: It was a huge leap of faith when at 28 years old I was approached by Michael Grade and asked if I’d like to be on TV! At the time I was actually living in a hostel for the homeless working for Southwark Council on the ‘Take on the Tories’ campaign, I stayed for approximately two years until a resident burnt it down. I’d already met Vic Reeves and worked for just 12 weeks on a Thursday night with him in a local pub when Michael Grade came calling. I had a little hesitation initially, my mum being so proud of me being a lawyer etc, but my boss at the time agreed to give me 12 weeks off to trial it and I never went back!

JH: Compassion, empathy, kindness: Wordynumnum was born from you selling imaginary cat names on Twitter and then creating art to raise funds for an animal charity. Have you always considered animal welfare to be of paramount importance alongside human welfare? And do you see an intersection of human/animal welfare improving human wellbeing, i.e. therapy animals, as being something vital and important?

BM: Even though I was enjoying the legal work, I realised that it didn’t really help in the bigger picture and I think it’s easier to do more in the animal welfare world. When reading about the British Hen Welfare Trust it made me reflect, your messaging didn’t shout out at me, but it did make me reflect which was good. Deborah Meaden helped me better understand the difference between free range and organic hens, I hadn’t realised that organic eggs were generally higher welfare until then and I want to buy the best. As for the link between animal and human welfare, it’s about balance I think, for example the River Wye (my favourite river) is under pressure ironically due to chicken waste run-off with nitrates causing problems; the river provides the public connection with nature through fishing so sometimes it can be complicated to find the right balance. Enforcement is vital, we have the regulations to ensure that balance between animal and human welfare happens, but it only works if we have the enforcement.

JH: You supported us last year with chicken themed Christmas artwork, do you have/ have you ever had hens? And if so, what has it been like? Hens are the true comedians of the animal world, what would you, as Wordynumnum, name your hens? Would you let a hen sleep on your bed?

BM: I don’t have hens now, but we used to have some when our boys were younger; it was the first time I tasted real egg if you know what I mean and I didn’t realise that hens like to come into the house and ours certainly did! As for names, let me check with my wife … we think one might have been called Big Foot, our boys named them and we can’t remember! As for sleeping on my bed? Hmm, I’d give it a go although I think there might be hidden dangers … like them waking up early!

JH: Becoming a patron of the British Hen Welfare Trust has some pretty eggstra special benefits, like the uncanny ability to be able to talk in poultry-related puns all day long, so what would you hope to gain and share through your patronage?

BM: I think the BHWT is a really worthwhile endeavour and to be able to help is a very nice thing. If me being a patron leads to someone somewhere giving some hens a good home, that’ll be nice.

JH: …and lastly, will Middlesborough ever win the EFL championship?

BM: Yes! In 2029! Because I believe these things are cyclical and I’m hoping to be there to see them hold up the trophy!!

Season 4 of "Mortimer & Whitehouse Gone Fishing" is currently in production, although air dates have not yet been confirmed at time of going to press.