ROBSON GREEN IS BACK !
Robson Green is back on our TV screens with an explosive new fishing series called ‘Ultimate Catch’.
From the backwaters of jungle rivers in Brazil and Bolivia to the mid-Atlantic islands of the Azores, the award-winning actor, who brought us Robson Green’s ‘Extreme Fishing’, scours the globe in search of fish, locations and people which are far more ‘extreme’ than ever before.
Fighting his way through thunderstorms, flash floods, high winds and drought, Robson takes on a number of exotic and hard-fighting species in every action-packed episode.
Filming the series for Quest TV, he became the first European to travel up a waterway in Bolivia used by the Guarani Tribe and he also got up close and personal with several caiman, piranha, wolf fish, payara and scorpion fish.
“Actors I’ve worked with recently be it a Hollywood star or a director have said to me you’re living the dream, doing a job that I’d die for, which is the fishing adventure with Quest – that’s the ultimate gig,” said Robson during an exclusive interview for Quest TV.
“My favourite destination has to be the Pantanal in Brazil - the largest wetland area in the world.
“I was surrounded by the most idyllic vegetation, the wildlife was off the scale, there’s jaguar just round the corner and there’s an amazing amount of caiman.
“The most challenging catch was made during the episode in Bolivia going after the golden dorado. “We had to push a wooden canoe 60km to get to the fishing grounds.
“If the Guarani tribe, which are an extraordinary group of people, hadn’t been there I wouldn’t have lasted five minutes.”
Each hour-long episode of Robson Green’s Ultimate Catch can be viewed on Fridays at 9pm on Quest TV.
The opening Episode in Bolivia aired on Friday, January 23 rd and the schedule for the next three shows are as follows:
Episode 2 – Hawaii. In the middle of the Pacific, Robson visits the islands for octopus, peacock bass, the fearsome Samoan mud crab and Opelu. His fishing comes to a dramatic climax in the deep volcanic trenches of the Kona Coast.
Episode 3 – Brazil. The Amazon basin is the setting as Robson’s 6,000 mile journey is in pursuit of the prehistoric-looking wolf fish, plus one of the most amazing fish he has ever tried to catch. He meets local legends and indigenous tribes.
Episode 4 – Azores. Robson is on an island-hopping odyssey for his largest ever amberjack, red scorpionfish and a huge pike from the crater lake of a volcano. On his last day he’s heading out to the Azores bank for a migratory giant.
Angling Times, 02 February 2015
ROBSON GREEN HAS ADMITTED THAT HE IS "LIVING THE DREAM" WITH HIS LATEST SERIES ULTIMATE CATCH.
The Grantchester and Strike Back star returns to Quest this week for his latest fishing adventure, in which he travels around the world in search of some of the most sought-after fish, such as the Golden Dorado in Bolivia.
He told Digital Spy: "So many people and professional anglers come up to me and say, 'You are the luckiest actor on the planet', and I just reply and say, 'I'm a hard working actor'.
I do a lot of prep and my father used to say, 'The harder you work the luckier you get', and 'Get a job you love, then you never have to work again in your life'.
"And I am a very hard-working actor, but yes I am the luckiest angler on the planet. I really am 100%, from the heart, living the dream. This is something I truly love, and makes utter sense to me.
"When you're working for a company like Quest, who send you on probably the most extraordinary angling adventures of a lifetime, every two weeks, you kinda got to realise the privilege and honour that comes with the whole adventure and never take any day, hour, second of that adventure for granted."
During his adventures, Green became the first European to travel up a particular waterway used by the Guarani tribe in Bolivia, and also spent time with the Wauja tribe in Brazil.
"They are so at ease with who they are and their identity and self-worth and self of belonging," he said. "It's really nice to be alongside, not just in front of the camera, but also as an audience, you think, 'Wow, what a place, what a set of people, and look at that fish !'
"I advocate to my son, he's doing great at school at the moment, but I say, 'Find that fire within you and what you love, and keep it lit', and fishing is that one thing.
I found it at a very early age. I thought, 'I'm gonna do this for the rest of my life, I know I am'. By design we're meant to eat them, and it's bloody good for you, and it's tasty."
Talking about when he had a nervy experience with a caiman, Green said: "How butch was I ? I thought I was about to be devoured by a 100ft caiman. It was only about 12ft long, and it was about 100 metres away.
Honestly, there were thousands of them, and they were hungry, it's not a zoo ! They need to feed, and I was an easy target.
"One of them launched itself at the cameraman, that was in the middle of the night, that. This thing wanted to cause some damage, and John Chapel, our operator, was on the menu !
All comedy comes out of tragedy, I was well aware and out of the camera shot, and found it hilarious watching John, our butch and athletic cameraman, regress to an infant !"
Green added that his exploits have made his Strike Back co-stars Sullivan Stapleton and Philip Winchester jealous, saying: "The presenting is envied by every actor and producer I've ever worked with.
"Sullivan and Philip envy Ultimate Catch, they all say, 'That's a programme I want to do !'
It just was the strangest thing, where someone knew I liked fishing in an article, and it was picked up. I showed Sullivan the cut of Bolivia, and he wants to be in it ! He's really serious and wants to get his agent on to Quest to be part of it !"
The actor also spoke about ITV4's upcoming celebrity competition The Big Fish-Off, in which stars take part in fishing challenges.
"Peter Fincham [ITV director], what is he like ? So ITV are doing the Big Celebrity Fish Off ? Well, Peter saw my very first [fishing] series, rang me and said, 'Why didn't you tell us you like fishing ?'
"Fishing is popular and cool, I want people to know it's for everybody, and it's a really enjoyable pursuit. In enjoying that pursuit, you learn so much about your surroundings and in doing that you learn so much about yourself and what makes you happy."
ROBSON GREEN IS BACK WITH HIS NEW SERIES OF ROBSON’S ULTIMATE CATCH
Actor, fisherman, pop star, Robson Green’s done it all.
He tells Native Monster why, after 30 years in showbiz, he deserves a pat on the back
As careers go, Robson Green has had a blinder. As an actor, he’s notched up 30 years in the business.
He’s topped the charts with fellow Soldier Soldier actor Jerome Flynn, made a household name for himself in Casualty, and still graces our screens in shows like Grantchester.
And as if that’s not enough, he’s also got arguably the best job in the business; travelling to the furthest reaches of the globe to fish in some of the most remote waters.
The amateur angler has been on the hunt for all kinds of weird and wonderful fish in the seven years since his first series of Extreme Fishing.
Now returning to Quest in his new series Robson’s Ultimate Catch, the 50-year-old spends quite a bit of time in tropical climes in the blazing sun.
Sounds like a breeze, right ?
Wrong.
“Last year was my most adventurous year yet, and it was the toughest too. Contrary to what you might think, it’s not at all a constant holiday.
Viewers only see an hour of a huge journey, they don’t see behind the scenes.
“It’s called the Ultimate Catch, but it’s really an ultimate quest. We travel to the ends of the earth – pushing a canoe upstream or spending days travelling – and I really mean travelling.
“In the opening episode, we go to a place in Bolivia that no westerner had ever been before. We travelled extensively, with very little sleep. When we arrived we slept on a riverbank for eight days.
“People say that I must be the luckiest actor in the world, but I’m not. I’m a very hard-working actor, and I’m a very lucky angler !”
But the long-haul journeys, exhausting treks and grapples with some of the most powerful aquatic creatures on Earth has really paid off.
Not only does it make for captivating telly, but Robson is the envy of anglers all over.
“I come across very few people that ever get the catches I’ve made. I’ve been fishing all my life, but I don’t get bored. I can’t get bored – I’m very lucky and it’s a privilege to do things that even most professional explorers haven’t done, let alone accomplished anglers.
“A lady once asked me if I’d ever seen a whale shark. I’ve seen 17 ! To see one in a lifetime is awesome!”
And Robson means awesome in the very original sense of the word.
“Awesome is a very overused term. I was in a coffee shop yesterday and someone said that the coffee was awesome. Coffee isn’t awesome, Isaac Newton is awesome, and whale sharks are awesome !”
If we might say so, Robson’s job is pretty awesome.
It’s taken him in search of sharks, crabs, rays and more in almost 100 countries, seeing some awe-inspiring sights and breathtaking horizons.
“When we’re planning a series, the team ask where I’d like to go. They work really hard to send me to the best places at the best time for the best fishing. You have to make sure the run is right, so they’ll say ‘this is the time – the bite is on’.
The weather is an angler’s worst enemy, so it can sometimes be a washout. But if you hit the right spot, it’s perfect. "
“I have three passports I travel with because of all of my visas ! I’ve been to 93 countries, and every country in South America except for Paraguay.
“There are still so many places I’d love to go, such as the Galapagos Islands, the Bahamas and still loads of parts of Europe. There are great places to fish in Spain, Norway and Denmark. I’d also like to revisit places I’ve already been to.”
The new series of Robson’s Ultimate Catch started a couple of weeks ago, with the actor first travelling to Bolivia on the quest for the golden dorado.
“Being in Bolivia reminded me why I love fishing so much. It just feels utterly normal – everything around me was alive.
“I’m sitting here in an office and there’s a telephone and a computer. But being there, among the wildlife and the people of the Tsimané tribe, was just astonishing.
“We saw jaguars, tapirs and incredible bird life and I met some extraordinary people on the journey.”
The most recent episode saw Robson in Hawaii on the search for shape-shifting octopi and the elusive sea comet.
Elsewhere in the series, the actor and the team face thunderstorms, droughts, high winds and flash floods in the quest for the Ultimate Catch.
From fishing for huge predators in the mid Atlantic to hunting from a canoe in a mysterious deep jungle river, he learns local techniques from indigenous fishermen and local legends to net his prize.
A million light years away from life on an acting set.
“As actors, we work in a very insecure industry. Fishing is not escaping that or from life, it’s just a greater adventure.
“Actors spend a lot of time pretending to be other people, so when I work with actors now they envy my job. I go to places that they can only imagine, or that they can’t possibly imagine.”
Robson’s fishing journey started when he was just a small boy, fishing in his native Northumberland.
“I started fishing when I was seven. You have to find something that you love to make you happy. My dad’s brother took me fishing as my dad was down the mine and slept in the day to provide for his two daughters and two sons. His brother was a jockey and a hairdresser! And he taught me everything that I know.
“I loved the whole thing, the excitement of getting up, the idyllic surroundings. I saw things I’d never seen before, right there in the north east. I saw a barn owl, a red squirrel, an otter.
We caught a four-pound brown trout and ate it. It was great. I think maybe I secretly just want to remind myself of that time every time I go fishing.”
And every fishing journey is different. From the lowly brown trout to some of the most powerful killers of the ocean, Robson has had to hone his angling skills to keep his head above water – quite literally.
“You do have to be really careful. When I was in Bolivia I hooked a golden dorado, and because I’m not an expert, I thought ‘wow, this thing is going to really embarrass me’, and it did. I felt I might be out of my depth.
“On another occasion I was in Hawaii where I caught a three-hundred-pound bigeye tuna that almost pulled me in with it.
Some of my critics might be happy about that actually. But I know my abilities and I know my limits; if I felt I was in danger I know when to stop.”
But it’s not complex angling skills that Robson had to practice to get his Ultimate Catch. If there’s one thing he’s learned from the indigenous fishermen he’s spent time on the water with, it’s that the simple methods can often be the best.
“This series I’ve travelled further and pushed harder than ever before. The method with which I caught the golden dorado was pure, basic and simple – and I caught it with the first cast.
I was in the wilderness in the true sense. You have to fend for yourself, so me and the whole crew work out. You need athletic abilities, so we take the right people who know their stuff.”
Last year, Robson spent nine and a half months out of the country working.
At 50, he feels he’s at the peak of his career. We asked how he was feeling now he’d reached his half-century.
“Thanks for reminding me,” he said. “I feel really great – I’ve been in this business for 30 years so I’ve got to give myself a pat on the back for that. And you know what they say, everything gets better with age. Well, except a banana !”
As well as taking to the water in his fishing quest, a new series of ITV detective drama series Grantchester has been commissioned, in which Robson plays grumpy Detective Inspector Geordie Keating.
It’s been 20 years this year since Robson & Jerome’s self-titled pop album hit the charts, with the single Unchained Melody staying fast in the number one spot for seven weeks.
And it’s not only Robson that has been enjoying success.
Jerome Flynn has been making waves across the world with his role as Bronn in HBO’s Game of Thrones.
But the old friends still talk, and plan to catch up soon. Fishing, however, won’t be on the agenda.
“I spoke to Jerome just last week, as he was filming Game of Thrones in Ireland. We’re going to meet up soon as he’ll be in the area.
“I don’t think I’ll take him fishing though. I don’t think Romy is much of a fisherman, he’s more of a ‘swimming with dolphins kind of guy’ !”
Native Monster, 20 Feb. 2015