When Fisherman’s Friends came out in 2019 with its tale of crooning Cornish trawlermen, the movie was lapped up faster than a clotted cream tea for its feelgood charm and humorous underdogs-come-good story.
And suave James Purefoy, once touted as the next James Bond, attracted new fans by singing gruff sea shanties in a cable-knit sweater as part of one of “the world’s oldest buoy bands”.
When it came to planning a sequel, James, 58, now an executive producer too, felt passionately his character could take on a deeper storyline and, using creative licence, this time explore themes of grief and mental health, between the crooning and comedy.
