Irish Daily Mirror

Healy anger at removal of non-pc scenes from repeats

- BY TOM BRYANT Head of Showbiz tom.bryant@ mirror.co.uk @Mirrortom

Healy in centre of the show’s stars

AUF Wiedersehe­n, Pet star Tim Healy has blasted TV bosses for cutting nonpc scenes from repeats of the classic series.

He said it was a “shame all the gags have gone” in the show, being aired on UKTV.

“It’s political correctnes­s gone mad,” he said. “The rhythm of the scenes is now stilted and awkward.”

The 1983 comedy-drama follows seven British migrant constructi­on workers.

It made household names out of Healy, 68, and co-stars Kevin Whately, Jimmy Nail, Timothy Spall,

Gary Holton, Christophe­r Fairbank and Pat Roach.

The show, written by Dick Clement and Ian La Frenais, quickly gained TV audiences topping 10 million. Nail, who played abrasive bricklayer Oz, once said: “I didn’t understand at the time what the scale of the job was going to be.” Holton, who played Wayne, died after a drug overdose in 1985, aged 33, during filming of a second series.

Ex-wrestler Roach, brickie Bomber, died of throat cancer, aged 67, in 2004 after the second “comeback” run.

Healy, who played Dennis, has said the show will “always be in my heart and soul”.

He is well again after being hit by a mystery bug that left him seriously ill while filming Benidorm in 2016.

A UKTV spokesman said: “We make small edits to archive programmin­g to ensure it will comply with modern Ofcom regulation­s.” Ofcom can look into issues including offensive language and nudity on screen.

All the gags have gone, so the scenes are now awkward. It’s political correctnes­s gone mad

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FURIOUS Tim Healy

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