The announcement of Eddie Monsoon and Patsy Stone returning in an 'Absolutely Fabulous' movie was met with a huge amount of enthusiasm, but now that's become somewhat muted by an uncomfortable controversy that could potentially set the film back a few decades in regards to political correctness: introducing, yellowface-gate.

Jennifer SaundersJennifer Saunders is returning in Absolutely Fabulous

The show sees the return of former guest actress Janette Tough, who's best known TV role was as Wee Jimmy Krankie; one-half of comedy duo The Krankies. She's reported to be playing a Japanese fashion designer named Huki Muki in the upcoming 'Ab Fab' movie, a move that has been slammed by comedian Margaret Cho.

'I am f***ing sick of yellowface', she posted on Twitter. 'Have some respect. Hire Asian actors [for] Asian roles.' She went on to add that, while she's a huge fan of 'Ab Fab', the 'yellowface' fiasco is 'something [she] cannot watch'.

Scottish actress Tough's last appearance on 'Absolutely Fabulous' was as the midwife in the 2003 episode 'Book Clubbin'' in series 5, and it has to be pointed out that even then her character was a little on the unsavoury side, even appearing in Eddie Monsoon's nightmares. It is unknown whether or not her reported new character's name is in relation to Hookie Mookie; a fictitious designer label of which Joanna Lumley's character Patsy wore a dress made of silkworm saliva ahead of her appearance at the Style Awards in that same series.

More: Everything you need to know about 'Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie'

The show has been daring when it came to race in previous episodes. Again, even in that same series, Jennifer Saunder's character was seen getting overly excited at the prospect of becoming a grandmother to a mixed-race baby, which she dubbed to be 'the finest accessory' she could own - indeed, the 'Chanel of babies'.

So far Fox Searchlight have declined to comment on this race row, and we-re hoping that the incident has been blown out of proportion. As of now, however, it's difficult to imagine how Huki Muki can be portrayed in a non-racist manner.

'Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie' will hit cinemas in July 2016.