Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers sees keen angler and comedian Paul Whitehouse journey around England and Wales to investigate the shocking state of the UK's waterways. He meets concerned locals and campaigners and, in this first episode of the series, he learns how water companies are legally, and sometimes illegally, pumping raw sewage into our rivers. Paul sees firsthand how our rivers are full of nasties such as baby wipes and sanitary towels and hears from activist and former pop star Fergal Sharkey that there’s not a single river in the country that isn’t polluted.
Prepare to be disgusted and appalled by a lot of what your shown in this two-parter. Here's everything to know about Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers on BBC2...
Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers release date
Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers is a two-part series that launches on BBC2 and BBCiPlayer from Sunday March 5 at 8pm.
What happens in Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers
As a lifelong angler, Paul Whitehouse knows more than most about the state of Britain’s rivers, and the comedian has frequently commented on the declining quality of our much-loved waterways in his long-running BBC fishing series Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing. It’s the 64-year-old’s firm belief that Britain’s rivers are ‘the closest thing to Paradise we have’. Sadly, however, he believes that much of this beauty is purely on the surface and our rivers are contaminated like never before.
In his new series, Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers, the Fast Show star travels around England and Wales looking at the pressures our waterways are under, due to the actions of water companies, intensive agricultural practices, and the impact of our growing population.
"Our most precious resource is under threat,’ says Paul. "Years of pollution and neglect mean our waterways are in trouble."
In the first episode he travels to the Lake District, in North West England, where he meets a conservationist who warns of the ecological decline in the beautiful Lake Windermere. He also explores the changes in the water industry since privatisation in 1989 and what regulations are in place when it comes to sewage discharge into our rivers. Along the way, he hears from concerned residents about how water companies are legally, and sometimes illegally, pumping raw sewage into our rivers.
"We’ve had kids playing in the outfall of the sewage treatment works and they have no idea what they are playing in," one worried local, Becky, tells him.
Paul also meets campaigner and former pop star Feargal Sharkey, who has taken the government to task over the state of our waterways, and meet activists such as Mark Barrow, who risks his health by filming underwater footage of raw sewage being pumped into the River Wharfe.
"All these bits you are seeing are human waste, then mixed in you’ve got sanitary towels and wipes and other things," Barrow tells an appalled Paul as he sees the evidence for himself. "Everywhere I’ve been there are stories of doom and gloom,’ says Whitehouse. ‘It’s not a pretty picture and it makes me sad and angry."
Is there a trailer for Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers?
Sadly the BBC hasn't released a trailer for Paul Whitehouse: Our Troubled Rivers so we'll need to give the two-parter a watch.
