Fishy Tales (Trawlermen)

Member Name: kenjohn

Product:	Trawlermen
Date:	17/10/09 (133 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Well produced highly interesting documentary series.

Disadvantages: Not a lot!

Over the past few years there seems to have been a plethora of reality TV programmes hitting our TV screens about everyday people going about their everyday jobs.

Some are more interesting than others but a series I have followed with great interest is called "Trawlermen", and was first shown on the BBC back in 2006. It shows fishermen from Peterhead on the north-east coat of Scotland heading out in all sorts of weather conditions to fish for prawns, cod, herring and haddock.

The series shows in graphic detail the enormous difficulties and risks that these fishermen face on a daily basis in order to catch fish for our restaurants and kitchen tables. Of course, if they are successful in tracking down the often elusive wee fishies then the rewards can be enormous, but conversely a bad trip can see them barely walking away with anything in their pockets at the end of a long trip.

Different boats and different skippers and crews are shown. One boat was a prawn boat called the "Amity II" which is skippered by a very likeable character called Jimmy Buchan. Jimmy would literally go to any lengths to track down the prawns, even taking his vessel into the heart of fierce storms. The crews often work up to 20-hour shifts in highly dangerous conditions, getting by on just a couple of hours sleep!

Just how dangerous fishing can be was dramatically highlighted when one of the stars of the series, a young skipper called Kevin West, was swept overboard and drowned in April 2009. Despite a extensive search and rescue operation Mr. West's body was never found!

Three series of "Trawlermen" were aired by the BBC in 2006, 2007, and 2008 consisting of 16 episodes. It was rather a surprising hit for the BBC, and is currently being repeated on the satellite channel "Dave".

All three series are now also available on DVD, and can be bought at the likes of Amazon or eBay for about £8 upwards. (Shop around)

© KenJ October 2009

Summary: Well worth watching either on TV or DVD.