Bob Mortimer Paul Whitehouse feel humbled that their TV series 'Mortimer and Whitehouse: Gone Fishing' has helped save people's lives.

Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer

Paul Whitehouse and Bob Mortimer

The two comedians have both had heart operations and their mutual experience led to them launching their BBC Two programme which shows them travelling the UK visiting various angling spots and also discussing how they can stay healthy.

Bob - who underwent a triple bypass in 2015 as 95 per cent of his arteries were blocked - has been stunned by the response to the programme and the volume of letters and messages he's received from fans telling him, and Paul, that their experiences have prevented them or their loved ones from having heart attacks.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror newspaper, Bob, 60, said: "I get hundreds and hundreds of, I suppose, thank yous, 'Thank you, I've just had the operation, and it was great to see there's life after it.' Or, you know, 'Thank you, because of the show we made our dad go and get checked and it turns out he needs a bypass.' "

Paul, 61, had three stents fitted in his heart 12 years ago and he admits as an "old cynic" he's also been touched by the fans' reaction to the show.

He said: "We get people saying, 'Thanks for the laughs', but it's very different when you get people coming up and saying, 'Thanks, my dad watched your show, and as a result I made him go and get his heart checked.' It's been very rewarding for a couple of old cynics."

The second series begins at 8pm on BBC Two on Friday night (02.08.19) and in one episode the two comics visit the surgeon who performed Bob's triple bypass.

Speaking about the meet-up, 'The Fast Show' star Paul said: "We re-enact it to an extent with Bob's surgeon in one of the episodes, and he says, 'I took your heart out and stopped it.' So basically killed him because they have to stop the heart in order to do the bypass surgery. It was a shame he started it again really, isn't it? Bet he regrets it now."

The re-enactment has Bob lying on a pub table with the surgeon explaining how he performed the surgery.

In the new series they go after wild brown trout on the River Usk in Wales and the elusive pike on Loch Erne in Northern Ireland.

They will also be searching for grayling, known as the "lady of the river", in Yorkshire and carp in Essex.

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