'Absolutely Fabulous' Star Joanna Lumley Laments Political Correctness Is Making Comedy 'Harder'

Joanna Lumley has hit out at political correctness, claiming she thinks it’s responsible for watering down British comedy.

The ‘Absolutely Fabulous’ actress, who is about to reprise her role as Patsy Stone in the big screen adaptation of the BBC sitcom, has admitted she thinks that future comedies are going to suffer, at the hands of PC culture.

Speaking to the Daily Star about the early days of ‘Ab Fab’, she lamented: “The world has changed.

“In those days, it was shocking - women drinking too much, staying out, not caring, doing stuff like that.

“Now the world is much more sensitive. People take offence at the smallest things, which in those days were just funny. In the future, it’s going to be harder to write anything.”

The ‘Ab Fab’ film doesn’t hit UK cinemas until next month, but has already faced a backlash on social media.

Some online critics have gone as far as accusing the film of racism, for having white comedy actress Janette Tough - better known as Wee Jimmy Krankie - playing Japanese fashion designer, Huki Muki, which has been angrily branded “yellowface”.

Joanna will be back alongside regular cast members Jennifer Saunders, Jane Horrocks, June Whitfield and Julia Sawalha in ‘Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie’, but she has now revealed she was almost never involved in the project at all.

In a new interview with Graham Norton ahead of the film’s release, Joanna spoke about her first read-through back in the early 1990s, admitting it was an “awkward” experience.