Make a date with your TV at 8pm tonight and enjoy the latest look at the working lives of fishermen here in the far south west as the first of three Trawler tales programmes airs.
“You’re not right in the head if you go to sea. And the sooner you realise that, the sooner you’ll be a fisherman.” - Scott, first mate of the Filadelfia trawler
This new three-part documentary series for ITV focuses on the lives of Cornish trawlermen - who battle bad weather, sharks and the very real danger of death to provide for their own families.
Made by Wild Pictures, the producers of the acclaimed ITV series HMP Aylesbury, Strangeways and The Zoo, this programme depicts how the fishermen of Newlyn in Cornwall toil around the clock with little sleep, often in rough seas, hunting for their catch.
It also provides a vivid insight into how they struggle to meet the expectations of their wives, girlfriends and children at home while they are away for a week at a time.
In the first episode, seasoned skipper Don is on The Filadelfia, a beam trawler, 40 miles off the Cornish coast in the Atlantic. His four-man crew spend most of their lives at sea out of contact with their families, and working in all weathers.
His son Scott is the boat’s first mate, but managing your own family has its challenges. Don says: “He’s been a sod at times but he’s grown up now, he’s not the sod he used to be. But apart from that he’s mate-cum-engineer on the boat and he’s got us out of a few sticky situations now and again.”
