‘Hi-de-Hi!’ legend Su Pollard says comedy is being ruined by political correctness.
The 70-year-old actress – who played hapless chalet maid Peggy Ollerenshaw in the beloved 1980s BBC sitcom set in a 1960s holiday camp – says the fear of offending killjoys has taken precedent over making audiences laugh and she believes that lots of people feign offence just so they have something to post on social media.
In an interview with the Daily Star newspaper, she said: "There’s so many people on the politically-correct bandwagon now.
"We were used to saying certain things and it was just water off a duck’s back. If you’ve grown up saying certain words then you still have it in your psyche.
"It’s good to be aware of being offensive, but you have to know where to draw the line.
"I think nowadays you get people who are offended but don’t really know why. Or they want to be seen to look offended so their tweet appears on TV and they look controversial. I sometimes think: ‘What’s the matter with you? Get real!’ "
Pollard also appeared in the sitcoms ‘You Rang, M’Lord?’ and ‘Oh, Doctor Beeching!’ but is her role as Peggy that she is still most recognised for.
Although she has nothing but fond memories of starring in ‘Hi-de-Hi!’, Pollard doesn’t think it should ever make a return to screens because it’s so easy to still watch the original episodes.
She said: "I loved working on ‘Hi-de-Hi!’, and it was such a springboard to other things but I think why bother to reboot it?
"I think the recent ‘Are You Being Served?’ remake was good because they got very near to the original. Ultimately, I just think when you can buy box sets these days, doing a remake would be a vanity project. Leave it alone!"
Su Pollard says political correctness is ruining comedy
