The tweet read: “I got a bit of bad news recently. A little touch of the old cancer. Luckily, ball cancer is one of the best ones to have (sorry, ladies!) and they got rid of it all pretty quickly, along with a ball. Bye, ball! I'll never forget the good times!”

He followed up the tweet with another which reads: “Next up is a course of chemo to make sure it doesn't come back. Not looking forward to that, obviously, but it's better than dying.”

The IT Crowd-creator expressed his concern over his upcoming projects, namely the Father Ted musical entitled ‘Pope Ted,’ which Linehan announced earlier in the month. “‘Pope Ted’ is coming along nicely. It’s really making us laugh. I’m not sure whether I’ll have to stop working on it.”

Finally, the comedy-writer and director expressed his gratitude at the positive messages he received following the news breaking, writing: “Ugh, God, people are so nice. You forget sometimes. Thanks, everyone.”

I got a bit of bad news recently. A little touch of the old cancer. Luckily, ball cancer is one of the best ones to have (sorry, ladies!) and they got rid of it all pretty quickly, along with a ball. Bye, ball! I'll never forget the good times!

— Graham “I didnt say that, though” Linehan (@Glinner) June 27, 2018