Absolutely Fabulous


Absolutely Fabulous is a British television sitcom created and written by Jennifer Saunders, which premiered in 1992. It is based on the 1990 French and Saunders sketch "Modern Mother and Daughter", created by Dawn French and Saunders.
Saunders stars as Edina Monsoon, a heavy-drinking, drug-abusing PR mogul who spends her time failing to lose weight and chasing bizarre fads in a desperate attempt to stay young and "hip." Edina's best friend is ex-model and magazine fashion director Patsy Stone, whose drug abuse, alcohol consumption and desperate promiscuity far eclipse Edina's. Edina relies upon the support of her daughter Saffron, a student and aspiring writer whose constant care of her immature mother has left her a bitter cynic. The series also stars June Whitfield as Edina's dotty, sarcastic and often thieving mother, and Jane Horrocks as Bubble, Edina's apparently near-useless personal assistant.
The first three series of Absolutely Fabulous were broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 1995, followed by a series finale in the form of a two-part special entitled The Last Shout, in 1996. In 2000, the show was ranked number 17 on the 100 Greatest British Television Programmes by the British Film Institute. It was revived for two more series and two one-hour specials from 2001 to 2004. Three new episodes, collectively titled Absolutely Fabulous: 20th Anniversary, were released in 2011–2012. Two sketches for charity specials were also released, for Comic Relief in 2005 and Sport Relief in 2012. A film continuation, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, was theatrically released in 2016, with many of the show's supporting cast returning.
Saunders confirmed in 2016 that she is "not doing anything more with Ab Fab", as she wanted to focus on new projects. In October 2024, Saunders, Lumley, Sawalha and Horrocks appeared in the Documentary Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out, which was broadcast on Gold.

Premise

Edina Monsoon is the middle-aged owner of a failing PR firm in London's tony Holland Park neighbourhood. Her best friend is Patsy Stone, an ageing former fashion model who holds a sinecure position at a top British magazine. The two women use their considerable financial resources to indulge in cigarettes, alcohol and recreational drugs and to chase the latest fads in an attempt to maintain their youth and recapture their glory days as Mods in swinging London. The partnership is driven mainly by Patsy, who is both co-dependent and an enabler to Edina.
Their lifestyle inevitably leads to various personal crises, which are invariably resolved by Edina's daughter, Saffron Monsoon, whose constant involvement in their exploits has left her increasingly bitter and cynical. Edina's unnamed mother visits the Monsoon home frequently to keep Saffron company, help with chores and, quite often, taking Edina's possessions to sell at off car boot sales. The relationship between Edina and mother is strained, as they disagree on virtually everything and are rarely alone together, a relationship with which they are both keen to antagonise each other. Meanwhile, Edina's affairs are handled, usually very badly, by Bubble, an incompetent, immature and neurotic personal assistant, whose antics frequently lead to further complications for Edina's business and personal life.

Cast and characters

Main

  • Jennifer Saunders as Edina "Eddie" Monsoon
  • Joanna Lumley as Patricia "Patsy" Stone
  • Julia Sawalha as Saffron "Saffy" Monsoon, Edina's daughter
  • Jane Horrocks as Bubble, Edina's brainless personal assistant
  • June Whitfield as Edina's mother, never named but called "Mrs. M" by Patsy

    Recurring and guest

  • Christopher Ryan as Marshall Turtle, Edina's second husband, father of her mostly-unseen son Serge
  • Mo Gaffney as Bo Turtle, Marshall's American girlfriend, later wife, a nurse and wellness enthusiast
  • Christopher Malcolm as Justin, Saffron's father and Edina's first husband, a Canadian antique dealer
  • Naoko Mori as Sarah, Saffron's neurotic best friend
  • Helen Lederer and Harriet Thorpe as Catriona and Fleur, Patsy's vain and superficial magazine co-editors
  • Eleanor Bron as Patsy's free-spirited dilettante mother
  • Kathy Burke as Magda, the editor-in-chief of several magazines Patsy works for
  • Gary Beadle as Oliver, Justin's partner
  • Miranda Richardson as Bettina, a former friend of Edina's
  • Patrick Barlow as Max, Bettina's husband
  • Llewella Gideon as a nurse/beautician, who openly detests Edina
  • Celia Imrie as Claudia Bing, Edina's chief rival in the PR industry
  • Tilly Blackwood as Lady Candida De Denison-Bender
  • Antony Cotton as Damon
  • Felix Dexter as John Johnson, Saffron's husband, later ex-husband, and father of her daughter Jane/Lola

    Special guests

Many celebrities, mainly British or American, appeared in the series, most of them as themselves. They include:
  • Sylvia Anderson
  • Christopher Biggins
  • Crispin Bonham Carter
  • Helena Bonham Carter
  • Jo Brand
  • Fern Britton
  • Simon Brodkin
  • Emma Bunton
  • Danny Burstein
  • Naomi Campbell
  • Linford Christie
  • Nicky Clarke
  • Terence Conran
  • Richard Curtis
  • Carl Davis
  • Daniela Denby-Ashe
  • Marcella Detroit
  • Sacha Distel
  • James Dreyfus
  • Minnie Driver
  • Lindsay Duncan
  • Adrian Edmondson
  • Britt Ekland
  • Idris Elba
  • Marianne Faithfull
  • Jesse Tyler Ferguson
  • Dawn French
  • Rebecca Front
  • Mariella Frostrup
  • Stephen Gately
  • Jean-Paul Gaultier
  • Whoopi Goldberg
  • Dave Gorman
  • Sofie Gråbøl
  • Richard E Grant
  • Germaine Greer
  • Tanni Grey-Thompson
  • Debbie Harry
  • Miranda Hart
  • Josh Hamilton
  • David Haye
  • Tom Hollander
  • Kelly Holmes
  • Colin Jackson
  • Elton John
  • Mark Kermode
  • La Roux
  • Christian Lacroix
  • Nathan Lane
  • Leigh Lawson
  • Robert Lindsay
  • Lulu
  • Stella McCartney
  • Natascha McElhone
  • Suzy Menkes
  • Laurie Metcalf
  • Kate Moss
  • Graham Norton
  • Erin O'Connor
  • Bruce Oldfield
  • Kate O'Mara
  • Anita Pallenberg
  • Suzi Quatro
  • Zandra Rhodes
  • Mandy Rice-Davies
  • Richard and Judy
  • Kristin Scott Thomas
  • Meera Syal
  • Twiggy
  • Rufus Wainwright
  • Kirsty Wark
  • Ruby Wax
  • Dale Winton
  • Katy Wix
  • Clarissa Dickson Wright
  • Dora Bryan

    Production

Development

Absolutely Fabulous evolved from a French and Saunders sketch called "Modern Mother and Daughter", which starred Saunders as the mother, named Adrianna, and French as the daughter, named Saffron. The sketch revolved around a middle-aged single mother who acted like a teenager and was reliant upon the emotional and financial support of her teenage daughter, who behaved like a middle-aged woman.
It has no connection, other than the character's name, to the earlier film, Eddie Monsoon: A Life?, a comedy play written by Saunders' husband Adrian Edmondson in 1984 for the TV series, The Comic Strip Presents.... The name "Edina Monsoon" is derived from Edmondson's name and "Eddy Monsoon" is a nickname of his.
File:Absolutely Fabulous Cast.jpg|thumb|right|300px| The main cast, from left to right: Jane Horrocks, Julia Sawalha, Jennifer Saunders, June Whitfield and Joanna Lumley
Saunders revealed in 2012 that she was inspired by pop band Bananarama, with whom she and Dawn French had become friends after their Comic Relief collaboration in 1989.
"The nights with Bananarama were some of the best nights of my life, and I got a lot of gags from Bananarama because they were big vodka drinkers...when I started doing AbFab, I remembered all of the falls that I saw Bananarama do. I once saw one of them coming out of a cab bottom first and hitting the road, and I thought 'that's class'".
Although Ab Fab was produced by Saunders and French's company, Saunders & French Productions, Dawn French appeared on the show only once, in a cameo in the first-series episode "Magazine", before making a brief cameo in the 2016 film. French was originally intended to play Edina's daughter, Saffron, but a younger actress was ultimately cast.
The first three series were broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 1995, followed by a series finale in the form of a two-part television film entitled The Last Shout in 1996. Saunders revived the show for a fourth series in 2001 after writing and submitting a pilot entitled Mirrorball, which recruited nearly all of the original cast in new roles. The pilot was intended to be turned into a series of episodes. However, Saunders felt the AbFab characters were too rich and interesting to put aside and were far better suited for her new story ideas. Instead of Mirrorball, a new series of Absolutely Fabulous was proposed to the BBC, which later commissioned the fourth series in 2001. From 2001 to 2004, two series were produced, along with two one-off hour-long specials; Gay in 2002 and White Box, which aired in 2004. A Comic Relief sketch was broadcast in 2005.
In November 2010, Lumley revealed to Playbill magazine that she had recently spoken to Saunders about possibly filming a new series. Lumley and Saunders reunited for the M&S Christmas advert in 2009, along with other stars such as Twiggy and Stephen Fry.
In August 2011, Lumley confirmed the planned filming of three new episodes. In 2011, plans for a 20th-anniversary revival were welcomed in The Guardian, which applauded the show as "prophetic". The first new special of Absolutely Fabulous: 20th Anniversary was broadcast on 25 December with the second episode being shown on 1 January 2012. The third and final special, aired on 23 July 2012, coincided with the 2012 Summer Olympics in London, with Stella McCartney appearing in a cameo role. A sketch for Sport Relief was also broadcast in 2012. A film version of the series, Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie, was released to theatres in the summer of 2016.
Three new specials were announced to celebrate the show's 20th anniversary, with the first special, "Identity", airing on 25 December 2011. Jon Plowman, executive producer and original producer of the series, said: "Viewers have been fantastically loyal in their devotion to our show, so we're really thrilled to say that it's coming back for three new shows to celebrate our 20th anniversary. All of the originals who are back together again are still truly absolutely fabulous and the new adventures of Edina, Patsy, Saffy, Bubble and Mother, plus a few surprising guests, will be a real treat for viewers." Saunders announced in November 2011 that she had begun work on a film version of the series.
In the United States, the episodes were jointly co-produced by Logo and BBC America in the US. and aired in January 2012 for broadcast by both BBC America and Logo Channel. Both channels co-produced the 20th Anniversary episodes, although Logo removed some scenes for its airings. BBC America broadcast it in full. Both channels aired the episode in a 40-minute block to allow for commercial interruptions.
On 3 January 2012, following the success of the 20th anniversary specials, it was rumoured that Saunders was set to write another Christmas special for 2012. The BBC was rumoured to be urging her to write a sixth series for 2013. Saunders denied the reports of additional episodes via her Twitter account.
Episodes of Absolutely Fabulous were shot in front of a live studio audience.