Robson Green au lancement presse de sa nouvelle émission sur Quest, Avril 2014.
Actor, presenter and angler Robson Green, 49, has been in a string of successful dramas.
Yet he’s arguably best known for his fishing programmes. Here he talks about the latest series, a new drama and what’s next.
TELL US ABOUT THE NEW SERIES OF ROBSON GREEN: EXTREME FISHERMAN
Well it was Extreme Fishing With Robson Green, but now it’s Robson Green: Extreme Fisherman – so a lot of fishermen will think, ‘Oh, you reckon you know a bit or two about fishing?’ So I’ve kind of put my title on the line. What I’ve learned over the past eight years of doing these programmes has come to bear in the new Discovery Quest show.
SO WHAT CAN WE EXPECT ?
We’re catching a lot of those ‘holy grail’ game fish this series. We kind of go to the ends of the earth, off the map, to catch some of the most extraordinary species in the world that most professional anglers only dream of.
ARE THERE ANY DESTINATIONS LEFT TO TICK OFF YOUR BUCKET LIST ?
Yes, they’re talking about the Andaman Islands, Easter Island, the Galapagos, maybe the Bahamas, also the Seychelles – there’s some great fishing opportunities there.
ARE THERE ANY SPECIES WHICH HAVE SO FAR ELUDED YOU ?
Yes, the swordfish. It’s called Xiphias gladius, the gladiator of the ocean. I saw one surface believe it or not in Okinawa. We tried to throw a line out and get it but we didn’t, so that eluded me. Also, I’ve never caught a haddock, my favourite tasting fish in the world.
DO YOU EVER GET SCARED WHILE FILMING ?
Not in this series – they’re really good at health and safety, and sometimes because of the angles of the camera, things look a lot more dangerous than they are. But when you’re fishing a billfish – say a 600lb marlin – and it’s coming at you, that bill can do anything. A lot of people have been impaled or terribly injured.
YOU HAVE A NEW DRAMA COMING SOON. TELL US ABOUT GRANTCHESTER
It’s based on the novels by James Runcie. It revolves around a very charismatic inquisitive member of the clergy played by James Norton and a no-nonsense detective called Geordie Keating, played by yours truly. On the surface, you think, ‘What, a vicar and a detective solving crimes? Please...’ – but the way it’s been adapted, it’s got a real quality edge to it.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU ?
I’m just about to start a new series of Tales From Northumberland, where I will be going under the ocean 30 metres to view an ancient wreck from World War Two. It’s going to be another great episode.
Catch Robson Green: Extreme Fisherman, Monday 18th August 2014
As we fail to catch any carp, Green shares some cracking fishing tales. Local knowledge is the key to a successful expedition, but sometimes the locals don’t know much.
There was a hapless Siberian who left them salmon-less in sub-zero temperatures for six days: “never visit Kabarovsk”.
Or the twitchy redneck in Tennessee “the wheel was still turning but the hamster had died” who made Green think his fate was to perish in a real-life remake of Deliverance.
He has genuinely feared death twice while filming the show, most of all at sea in a hurricane off Okinawa. “I thought if nothing else, Taylor will have a great story to tell his mates – that would have been an extreme death.”
The most breathtaking place he has fished, says Green: “has to be Mongolia. We went to a spot so secret and untouched we were forbidden from saying exactly where it was – we were after the taimen, which is very hard to find.”
And sometimes those locals see Green and his crew coming: “You know in Sri Lanka they do the stilt fishing for sardines ? Beautiful. We paid 40 of them a fiver to help us shoot. It was sunset, backlit, magical – I was the last one into the shot. But as soon as I arrived they all hopped off home.
They’d been paid and they knew there were no fish. It was the wrong time of year. That’s why you always seek local knowledge !”
Once I have found Quest TV of my Freesat box, I am very much looking forward to seeing Green’s new series. An episode in the Solomon Islands involving red ants and a local hallucinogen sounds especially Monday-night friendly.
On television (and as I have discovered today, in person too) Green is a great guy to fish with. He knows a lot, but wears the knowledge lightly: “I never have and never will present myself as an expert.”
His enthusiasm, by contrast, is irrepressible. “Fishing just makes complete sense to me; that meditative awareness of where you are, what you’re doing there, and why you’re doing it.”
We return the tackle to our convivial Clapham hosts, and following a final selfie session prepare to skedaddle.
Green says: “I’ve visited nearly 90 countries now doing this show, and there are only 196 of them in the world ! But there are still plenty of places I want to fish that I haven’t; the Andaman Islands, Easter Island, the Seychelles, Bermuda ...”.
I, meanwhile, head towards the Victoria Line. That’s all I’ll be catching today.
Photo : Robson Green taking a rest on the shores of a tiny remote island in the western
province of the broader Solomon Islands, some 225 miles west of the capital Honiara.
Actor, presenter and angler Robson Green, 49, has a string of successful dramas to his name, yet he’s arguably best known for his fishing programmes. Rob Lavender baits his hook and reels in some info about the latest series, which began on Freeview channel Quest earlier this month
ARE THERE ANY DESTINATIONS LEFT TO TICK OFF YOUR BUCKET LIST ?
Yes, they’re talking about the Andaman Islands, Easter Island, the Galapagos, maybe the Bahamas, also the Seychelles - there’s some great pelagics there. So the more you look at the globe, the more you realise there’s so many places you can still cast a line.
ARE THERE ANY SPECIES WHICH HAVE THUS FAR ELUDED YOU ?
Yes, the swordfish. It’s called Xiphias gladius, the gladiator of the ocean. I saw one surface believe it or not in Okinawa. We were just going to have a snack, so we put a lamp on the ocean and the squid were attracted to it - we were pulling them out, frying them and having them sprinkled with lemon juice which was just delightful - and a swordfish decided to join the party. We tried to throw a line out and get it but we didn’t, so that eluded me. Also, I’ve never caught a haddock, my favourite tasting fish in the world.
DO YOU EVER GET SCARED WHILE FILMING ?
Not in this series - they’re really good at health and safety, and sometimes because of the angles of the camera, things look a lot more dangerous than they are. But when you’re fishing a billfish - say a 600lb marlin - and it’s coming at you, that bill can do anything. A lot of people have been impaled or terribly injured. I was caught in a hurricane a few years back off the Brooks Peninsula, on the west coast of Canada. That was very scary. That was the nearest to death I’ve ever been. Even the captain said, ‘I don’t think we’re going to make it’. And when the captain says that - woah. I’m not a religious man, but I did have a few words with the Almighty.
YOU ALSO HAVE A NEW DRAMA COMING SOON. TELL US ABOUT GRANTCHESTER
It’s based on the novels by James Runcie, and adapted by the wonderful Daisy Coulam, who I’m actually meeting in about 10 minutes’ time to talk about a possible second series. It revolves around a very charismatic inquisitive member of the clergy played by James Norton and a no-nonsense detective called Geordie Keating, played by yours truly.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU ?
I’m just about to start a new series of Tales From Northumberland, where I will be going under the ocean 30 metres to view an ancient wreck from World War Two. It’s going to be another great episode. Then I go straight on to Strike Back and finish that off in Budapest.
Photo : Star cast - Robson demonstrates perfect technique at Clapham Common Pond.
Luke Leitch and his hero Robson Green go in search of the elusive Clapham Common carp.
Sharks in Senegal, stingrays in South Australia, sardines in Sri Lanka, salmon in Siberia – and those are just the S’s.
In the company of Robson Green, I’ve seen some of the world’s most beautiful rivers and coastlines, and chased some incredible fish along the way.
Of course only Green was physically there: rod in hand and effervescent with the unadulterated enthusiasm for piscine pursuit that makes him such an engaging vicarious fishing companion. I, meanwhile, was sitting on my sofa, enraptured by Extreme Fishing With Robson Green.
This is a show that combines the fish-flavoured cosmology of Izaak Walton with the derring-do of John Buchan via the knowingly-knockabout howay delivery of its presenter. As you might have gathered, I’m a fan. And today I really am fishing with Robson Green.
Unfortunately, Robson has a meeting with ITV at midday. I have fashion pages to proof. So time is of the essence. Yet the nearest sailfish (“they’re 250 pounds, they go at seventy miles an hour: they’re hydrodynamically perfect”) is flashing through the briny somewhere off Costa Rica.
Extreme Fishing is extremely hard to find in central London – so this morning we are fishing for carp on Clapham Common.
We are here because after five years broadcasting 'Extreme Fishing’, Channel 5 has unfathomably allowed this whopper of a show, its most entertaining by far, to get away.
Blessedly, the Discovery Network has swooped like a seagull chasing a chip and commissioned Green to make a slightly tweaked version called “Extreme Fisherman” – which is currently being broadcast in the UK on Quest TV.
Beggars can’t be choosers, and yet Green confesses as we approach the pond that he is unsure about carp fishing.
It’s not the fish – “I’ve eaten carp in India, Thailand, China ... oh, they were massive, big-eyed carp in China. Huge ! Beautiful ! The quality of the water is fantastic ! ” - but more the people who fish for them.
Some catch-and-release anglers have criticised his catch-and-consume penchant for game fishing.
Green, though, insists “if you are fishing with rod and line you are not putting a dent into numbers – we are not pillaging the oceans. If anything it is the anglers who care for the rivers and oceans. We are the ones who pay our rod licences and who check the environment is intact and healthy ... but that feeling when you get when the float goes on the line !
A huge rush goes through your body. I swear it is your forefathers calling – that is the hunter-gatherer in you. By design we are meant to eat fish, they taste bloody good and they are superb for you.”
At the pond our prospects seem bleak. The sun is already high in the sky – it’s definitely not carp o’clock. But the locals are enchanting. Dr Iain Boulton, the park’s officer, a 22-year-old named Jack Moss who has been fishing here for years and who keeps the pond clean, and anglers Paul Tubby and Andrew Pearson are almost as eager to lend us their tackle as they are to take selfies with Green.
The flushed proprietress of a nearby sandwich van gives him a free cup of tea. As we circle the pond in search of effective camera angles, Green casts effortlessly. With his direction I try one, left-handed – my first cast in over a decade – and try not to look too chuffed as the line arcs towards Clapham North.
Green was taught to fish from the age of seven by his uncle, Matheson.
“He had a beautiful ballet-like action, fantastic. Fly fishing is about feel, and he got me into that. Once you catch a fish on the fly it is very difficult to go and use a different method.”
Green duly passed Matheson’s lessons “to 'think fish’, and understand the light, and the water temperature” on to his son Taylor (there is a family tradition of using surnames as givens). Taylor used to fish quite a bit but, at “14 going on 15”, understandably has other interests at the moment.
As an actor, Green has had a highly successful career most often playing handsomely approachable heroes after the template of Soldier Soldier. There was also the pop career with Jerome Flynn, that saw Robson and Jerome’s cover of Unchained Melody become the biggest selling single of 1995.
Between casts, one of the Clapham anglers matily (with an undertow of something less so) inquires when their next release will be – “you could do Fog On The Tyne !” - and Green winces. “That,” he says: “was my Vietnam.”
Extreme Fishing – now Extreme Fisherman – started when a producer named Hamish Barber read an interview conducted with Green while on location in Texas, in which he mentioned in passing his love of fly fishing.
“The Texan thought I meant catching flies,” but Barber thought Green should do a fishing show. Green demurred, but Barber explained the concept – travelling to incredible places in search of incredible fish – and the actor was (sorry) hooked.
Robson Green Extreme Fisherman, Luke Leitch, 10/08/2014
Photo : Robson Green caught a spiny Lobster with a lasso.
He’s about to turn 50 but there’s no sign of Robson Green taking his foot off the gas.
“I’ve never been busier, which is a really good problem to have,” Geordie star Robson told The Sunday Post. Everyone asks how I do it. I go to the gym five days a week and try and look after my physical and mental health."
“I very rarely touch the sauce and live a healthy life, which means I can get up early and stay up late. I occupy my mind and, for me, an occupied mind is a happy one.”
Part of his packed schedule has been filming Robson Green: Extreme Fisherman.
It’s seen him visit over 90 countries in the past five years. And he’s convinced he’ll easily see 100 not out.
“I’m one of those anglers who is living the dream,” said Robson of the series which has just started a new run on Quest.
“I’m able to balance my acting with this extraordinary angling journey. I’m doing stuff that most professional anglers only dream of. I never lose sight of the privilege and honour and I think that comes across."
“When I sit down with fishermen they say what they really like about the show is they can see it’s people who truly love what they do.”
A previous trip to Canada nearly cost him his life when he and his crew were tipped overboard from their boat.
This time he’s looking for the biggest, weirdest, most aggressive fish in Venezuela, Japan, The Solomon Islands, Mongolia, Madagascar, Borneo, Guatemala and Ecuador. He admits sometimes his quarry bite back.
“I caught a largemouth bass which took a dislike to me and impaled a hook into my hand. It definitely hurt but it’s the fish getting its revenge. It’s TV gold !”
The Hexham-born star is also working on a new series of his, Tales From Northumberland. It was a big hit for ITV and a fresh batch of episodes are on the way.
“It’s a real labour of love,” he confesses. “It’s a place I thought I knew very well as I live here. But I’ve learned so much and it’s great to be able to share that, to let the nation know how beautiful it is to visit."
“The first series was my proudest six hours and I loved every minute of filming it. To get another commission really is the icing on the cake.”
Robson also has a new run of Sky1’s Strike Back coming up and has just finished work on big ITV detective drama Grantchester.
Robson Green: Extreme Fisherman, Bill Gibb, 10/08/2014
ROBSON GREEN LEARNS SURVIVAL SKILLS AT SOUTH TYNESIDE COLLEGE FOR NEW SHOW
Actor and presenter Robson Green takes diving course in South Shields as he gears up for new Extreme Fisherman show
Actor and angler Robson Green at the Marine Safety Training Centre (MSTC) in South Shields.
Some people go back to school to climb the ladder . . . but Robson Green is hoping it will help him plumb the depths.
Actor and presenter Robson has been taking the plunge to learn survival skills for his new TV shows at South Tyneside College.
The Extreme Fishing star was at the college’s Marine Safety Training Centre (MSTC) in South Shields to train in open-water diving.
Hexham-born Robson, 49, donned a wetsuit, goggles and breathing apparatus for some of his training . . . but just his swimming trunks for other sessions.
Robson, who grew up in Dudley, Northumberland, was brushing up on his skills ahead of his new show Robson Green: Extreme Fisherman, which is on television channel Quest on August 4.
He’s also gearing up to film a new series of Tales from Northumberland, in which he will examine shipwrecks off the North coast.
Robson said: “The training was hard but tremendously interesting and of great value to my current work.
“The conditions you are put through in the pool are tough but really prepare you for the worst of what may happen.”
He added: “I was surprised by how sophisticated the facilities are, it’s state-of-the-art stuff, and the staff who put me through it were very professional from the word go.
“Being here actually brings back many happy memories because I filmed the Gambling Man at a site next door in the mid-1990s.
“I’m very much looking forward to using all my new survival skills for my new programmes.”
Robson, who made his name in BBC show Casualty and also starred in Soldier, Soldier and Wire in the Blood, underwent five confined water sessions and four open water dives in the 12ft-deep pool at the marine and offshore training centre, which is owned and operated by the college.
The Professional Association of Diving Instructors (PADI) course, was run by Aquanorth Diving Centre based on the Coast Road in North Tyneside.
Aquanorth boss and PADI course director Gary Mawston said: “It was a privilege to help Robson with his training.
“I’m really pleased to say that he passed with any problems. He’s ready for anything now.”
The MSTC, based by the River Tyne in Wapping Street, is one of the UK’s longest-established providers of marine and offshore safety training, attracting around 3,000 students each year from more than 100 offshore and marine companies.