Fearless Jeremy Wade
RIVER MONSTERS
ITV, 7.30pm
A word of warning. Don’t eat your dinner in front of this one.
If you thought fishing was all about a stress-free day out in a boat, with some sandwiches and a flask of tea, think again.
Jeremy Wade is not going to proudly hold a carp above his head or catch a tiddler for his tea. He calls himself an extreme angler and freshwater detective. Think Robson Green meets Bear Grylls with a bit of Sherlock thrown in.
For years he’s been tracking down terrifying creatures that we don’t usually see. “It’s their ability to inflict lethal damage that interests me,” he says.
Well, it takes all sorts.
So here’s the gruesome bit. In this first episode, Jeremy is lured to South East Asia after hearing a rather disturbing report – something in the waters of the Mekong river has sliced cleanly through a young man’s testicles. The unknown creature is leaving a trail of disfigured victims in its wake.
For Jeremy, of course, this is all extremely exciting, although the rest of us (male or not) are wincing and crossing our legs.
“A teenage boy was checking his fishing net when he felt a sudden pain in his groin,” explains Jeremy, before heading to Cambodia to investigate.
Jumping in a boat up the river, he is immediately uneasy – although it’s largely because in 1984 he was arrested there as a suspected spy. But that’s another story.
Along the way, he uncovers a host of victims who have been mauled, half-blinded, and even fatally wounded by the same mysterious assailant.
Can he expose the Mekong Mutilator… and will he finish his epic quest with fingers, toes and, er, other parts, still intact?
