Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas special 2022: when and where is it on TV, where do they visit?

With the arrival of Christmas 2022, most people across the UK are about to head off for the bank holiday.

While the coming days are going to be a time of giving and family - not to mention eating copious amounts of Christmas dinner - the UK festive season has also become a key time for TV.

This time of year often sees our favourite shows return for one-off Christmas specials. Strictly Come Dancing, Call the Midwife, Doc Martin and Mrs Brown’s Boys are just some of the major programmes that will be gracing our TV screens at prime time over the coming week.

Christmas Eve in particular is set to have a barnstorming schedule, with ITV set to broadcast ‘Royal Carols Together At Christmas’ - a 65-minute special co-presented by Catherine, Princess of Wales - and Channel 4 bringing us a one-off episode of family favourite ‘The Dog House’.

We will also get a chance to watch a special edition of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. But when and where can you catch it - and what are the comedians set to get up to? Here’s what you need to know.

What will happen in Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas special 2022?

The BAFTA-nominated show has been appearing on our screens since 2018, with Bob Mortimer, 63, and Paul Whitehouse, 64, having already embarked on two Christmas specials.

For the 2020 festive edition, the pair fished in the River Esk and River Tees close to where Bob Mortimer grew up. And in 2021, they travelled to the River Eden and River Tyne in a bid to catch a salmon - an episode that also featured keen fisherman Paul Gascoigne.

In 2022, the pair will leave the shores of the UK and Ireland for the fishing paradise of Scandinavia. On what has been labelled as the “ultimate fishing adventure”, the comedians will search for cod in Norway.

Things will get particularly chilly as they head into the Arctic Circle - visiting the islands of Vesteralen and Lofoten. These (freezing) fishing idylls are marked by massive snow-topped mountains, stunning fjords, beautiful beaches and tiny fishing villages that have interesting histories.

The Christmas special will also see Mortimer and Whitehouse take on a legendary whirlpool near the city of Bodø, where they will attempt to catch coalfish (also known as ‘coley’ or ‘saithe’) - a species that is known as the ‘cheetah of the water’.

Will Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing have special guests?

Regular viewers of the show will have become accustomed to the occasional special guest appearing on Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing.

But the personalities appearing on the Christmas special may surprise you. Ex-England cricketer and Top Gear star Freddie Flintoff, as well as Bob Mortimer’s former Shooting Stars co-star Ulrika Jonsson will both be interviewed as part of the programme.

When is Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing Christmas special 2022 on TV?

You will be able to catch the one-off festive special of Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing at 8.40pm on Saturday 24 December.

The hour-long special will be broadcast on BBC Two.