Fisherman’s Friends sequel to air on Channel 4

Channel 4 will air Fisherman’s Friends: One and All at 8pm on Saturday 22 June.

Meg Leonard and Nick Moorcroft – who wrote 2019’s Fisherman’s Friends – return as writers and directors for the sea-shanty-singing comedy sequel. The Fisherman’s Friends are on tour, but they’re one man down. Jim’s (James Purefoy) dad has shuffled off to Davy Jones’s locker and it’s hit Jim hard. He finds little joy in the band’s success and turns to drink to keep himself going.

Plus, the record company are leaning on him to replace his old man because they feel the band lacks a tenor – apparently A&R men of major record labels care about this sort of thing. When it turns out that Keane, Mumford & Sons and Florence & the Machine aren’t ready to deliver a new album, it falls to the Fisherman’s Friends to fill the void, both musically and personnel wise. But label boss Jez (Ramon Tikaram) is just about OK with them singing tunes from the 1790s; he just doesn’t want them acting like they’re from the 1790s.

Cue the talent search and sub-plots about inappropriate behaviour – Leadville (Dave Johns) asks a female journalist if she likes meat in her pasty and goes for a wee during a conference call – and misunderstandings with groupies. Oh, and there’s plenty of singing, both live and as part of the soundtrack.