Only Fools and Horses star Patrick Murray says woke BBC would wreck a reboot: Mickey Pearce actor fears word ‘plonker’ could be axed because viewers would find it ‘offensive’

• Only Fools And Horses star Patrick Murray revealed he would love to play Mickey Pearce again, but said he fears jokes would be axed due to ‘wokery’ 
• The actor, admitted the ‘ridiculous woke thing’ could destroy the series by banning the use of the show’s most iconic catchphrases
• He predicted that the word ‘plonker’ could be banned from the iconic show, despite being one of the series’ most famous insults 
• Murray is best known for his role as Trilby loving wide-boy Mickey Pearce in BBC sitcom Only Fools and Horses, a role that defined his career 

Only Fools And Horses star Patrick Murray revealed he would love to play Mickey Pearce again, but said he fears that jokes in the show would be axed due to ‘wokery’.

The actor, 65, who played Trilby loving wide-boy Mickey in the BBC sitcom, admitted the ‘ridiculous woke thing’ could destroy the series by banning the use of the show’s most iconic catchphrases.

In an interview with The Sun, he predicted the word ‘plonker’ could be banned from the show, despite being one of the series’ most famous insults.

‘It would be lovely to do another one but I do worry we would be constrained because we can’t take the mickey out of each other,’ he said.

‘The woke thing has got a bit ridiculous. People with nothing better to do will write in saying they’ve been insulted.’

In the same interview, Patrick revealed he didn’t tell his late co-star John Challis he’d been diagnosed with cancer. He publicly shared his diagnosis on Tuesday.

Patrick admitted he knew the John was having ‘serious problems’ after a lengthy battle with the disease, and didn’t want to ‘lay it on him.’

He revealed that he’s lucky to be alive after doctors discovered a tumour on his liver, and was warned he wouldn’t live to see Christmas.

Patrick revealed that he was in touch with John before his sad passing in September, but after learning of his own cancer diagnosis in August, decided to keep it a secret.

John – who played Cockney car dealer Terrance ‘Boycie’ Boyce – died of cancer, aged 79 on September 19.

Patrick said: ‘I knew he had serious problems and didn’t want to lay it on him that I had it too.

‘The last thing he said to me was, ”I’m eating watermelon” because they help thin the blood naturally, which he needed to do. Bless him, he was a great man.’

He also revealed they’d exchanged recipes during their phone conversations, after trying out different diets to improve their health.

Challis was best-known for his portrayal of second-hand car dealer Boycie – a cigar-smoking businessman with a mocking laugh who butted heads with Del Boy – in the beloved British sitcom, alongside Sir David Jason and Nicholas Lyndhurst.

Speaking shortly after his death, Sir David, who played Derek ‘Del Boy’ Trotter on the hit show, called Challis a ‘dear friend’ and ‘wonderful actor’ and said he was pleased the star had witnessed the outpouring of admiration recently shown for the 40th anniversary of the first episode of the sitcom.

Patrick, who has retired from acting, revealed he was given the heartbreaking cancer diagnosis by his GP in August, after growing concerned about his bloated stomach.

After basic tests failed to come up with an answer, Patrick was booked in for an ultrasound, before doctors shared the grim diagnosis.

He explained: ‘The first primary diagnosis was actually a lot worse than what it was.

‘It showed up a lot of red flags that I had a tumour on my liver and three metastatics – which is cancer of the blood. I was told it looks like I wouldn’t make Christmas.’

Patrick was fast-tracked for MRI and PET scans, before doctors learned that he actually had harmless hemolytics in his blood.

But, the scans did discover a tumour in Patrick’s lung, which was removed in October, with the star currently undergoing chemotherapy.

Earlier this week, Patrick, who admitted he’s lucky to be alive, revealed he’d been diagnosed with cancer after doctors discovered a malignant tumour in his lung.

He confirmed the news on Tuesday evening while publicly endorsing a new government drive to get mystery aches and pains checked out.

He tweeted: ‘Naturally I wanted to keep my own health problems private, but failing to fully endorse this ad would be selfish.

‘Thanks to my ultrascan I have a fighting chance. It showed my organs needed further investigation and tumours were spotted. This led to a PET scan which covers a much larger area.

‘To my wonderful surprise these lesions were not cancerous but the scan did find an early-stage cancerous tumour in my lung. This has since been removed.’

He added: ‘I am tweeting now, which wouldn’t be the case if I hadn’t had the ultrasound all those months ago.

‘A lot of people put these symptoms down to age and the discomfort to simply having a weak stomach. Please don’t ignore it if it persists.

‘As for me, and thanks to the NHS, I can now see the same beautiful horizon as you.’

Patrick played the role of ‘spiv’ Mickey in 20 episodes of Only Fools and Horses during its 22-year run, branded the slang term for his involvement in petty crime and dealing in black market goods.

He became best known for his outlandish declarations about his success in both business and women, and frequently took advantage of Rodney’s inexperience in the industry by stealing his money, and girlfriends.

After the show ended in 2003, landed several big-screen roles including The Firm and Curse Of The Pink Panther, but eventually quit acting to become a private chauffeur in Kent.

Patrick was eventually forced to retire from work after battling Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, which causes breathing difficulties, but remained a regular at Only Fools conventions across the UK.

He married his wife Anong, 40, in Thailand in 2016, and they were drawn into a Visa row in 2017, when his spouse and daughter Josie’s application to move to the UK was denied.

Speaking on Loose Women at the time, he said: ‘I wanted to get her a visa but it was hard so I had to come back here.

‘Being out of the industry for so long, the work dried up so I went back to driving an executive car, a Mercedes, to do it. I only saw my baby on the phone for two years, I was a Skype dad.’

Luckily Patrick was later reuniting with his family after a battle with the Home Office in 2018.