Maureen Lipman: Ending culture can erase comedy.
Lady Maureen Lipman said the comedy was in danger of being "lost" for fear of discontinued. He told the he believed comedians were now very careful not to mention that a "revolution" was underway.
"The trade-off is whether we'll ever be funny again," he said. Their comments come as more than half of Britons say they have stopped voicing their political and social views for fear of prosecution.
The YouGov poll, viewed exclusively by the BBC, found that 57% of respondents said they censor issues such as immigration and transgender rights, especially when their views are seen as the less politically correct end of the spectrum.
YouGov interviewed 1,677 people in mid-November to hear their views on what is known as a "culture of elimination."
While only a third (35%) of respondents said they knew what a withdrawal culture was, they were far more effective at saying they felt withdrawn from time to time.
The world of culture often reflects what happens in real life.
I met Lady Maureen in Manchester, where she was filming Coronation Street. He said to me: "The destruction of culture, this abolition, this punishment, is everywhere. Punishment. An eye for an eye." You said that so you don't have to work anymore. Sooner or later, those who drop out of school will win."
He highlighted the world of comedy, which he believed was in danger of "annihilation" because comedians feared it would offend the audience, so they softened the material.
This is a dramatic prophecy. "To laugh, something has to be forbidden, to really laugh on your stomach. Then you don't have to laugh," he said. "All the things that have been overturned as true, I'm afraid, all the things that make people laugh."
But is he right? Many comedians say their industry is in good shape - and fun. They claim that nothing is censored. And in the end, the audience decides what is funny and offensive.
For example, take comedian Russell Kane, who knows a thing or two about repeals. On Radio 4, he features Evil Genius, who takes a different character from the story each week and decides whether they should be saved or canceled based on his actions.
He told me it was "bullshit" for comedians to sacrifice to be funny because they didn't want to be undone.
"I don't think anyone said you couldn't be offended; nobody said that we said you can't use hate speech that will provoke gender-based crimes, sex crimes, or related crimes."