Absolutely Fabulous

Absolutely Fabulous is a British sitcom written by Jennifer Saunders and starring Saunders and Joanna Lumley. The show, broadcast by the BBC in the United Kingdom, grew from a sketch originally written and performed for the comedy show French and Saunders, which co-starred Jennifer Saunders and Dawn French, and has aired off and on since it first debuted on November 12, 1992. The sketch itself was developed from the earlier Eddie Monsoon: A Life?, a comedy play written for The Comic Strip Presents... TV series.

With its frank depictions of drug and alcohol abuse and irresponsible, irreverent and frequently illegal behaviour, the series gained a large and loyal following as well as attracting censure from various groups, despite its outrageous depictions.

The characters played by Lumley (Patsy) and Saunders (Eddy) became popular subjects for emulation by female impersonators and Halloween revellers. While the programme was widely popular in Britain and gained noteworthy attention in the United States, where it was broadcast by the Comedy Central network (and, from 2003, by the Oxygen network), it has found a particularly strong following among gay men in both of these countries as well as in Australia and Canada, where the show has been broadcast by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation and the Comedy Network respectively.

Contents
1 The Premise
2 Trivia
3 Cast
4 Minor Roles
5 Episodes
6 Remakes
7 Similar shows
8 External links

The Premise

Edina Monsoon (Saunders) and Patsy Stone (Lumley) are two out-of-place, stuck-in-the-1960s, substance-abusing fashion and fad-obsessed Londoners who value style (and substances) over substance. Saffron (Julia Sawalha), Edina's daughter by a previous marriage, provides the voice of Monsoon and Stone's superego.

Edina owns a public relations firm whose only steady client is fading pop singer Lulu, who is barely hanging on by a thread. (In later years, this switched to former Spice Girl Emma Bunton.) Amidst her struggling business Edina is desperate to give off the aura of success, wealth and fabulousness.

Meanwhile, cohort Patsy portrays an outrageous past-her-prime model who shares a co-dependent parasitic existence with Edina. This relationship usually results in hilarious, albeit dysfunctional behaviours, and over-the-top conflicts with all characters who happen to interact with Patsy.

Edina's daughter Saffron is depicted as the long suffering milk-toast intellectual who endures bombastic abuse from both main characters. But in this series, being the voice of reason only adds to the hilarity of the outrageous relationships of the characters.

The show circles around Edina's constant struggle to achieve fame and success amidst the disapproval of her daughter and the constant presence of her dottering, senile elderly mother. Throughout Patsy is at her side encouraging the behaviours that are constantly causing her conflict. Also in and out of her life are her ex-husband Justin (and his gay lover Oliver) and her other ex-husband Marshall, with his scheming new-age California wife Bo.

Much of the comedy of the show is physical, usually derived from Edina and Patsy's drunken states and over the top substance abuse. A recurring gag found new ways for Edina to fall headfirst out of automobiles, windows, or down her kitchen stairs at least once every season. Episodes also found the pair travelling to locations like New York, Paris and Morocco, usually with complaining daughter in tow.

Trivia

Written by: Jennifer Saunders

Directed by: Bob Spiers

Produced by: Jon Plowman

5 seasons, and several one-off specials

Broadcast (in the U.K.): 1992-1996; 2001-2003

TV Channel: BBC2 / BBC1

BBC Television

Cast

Minor Roles

Episodes

See:List of Absolutely Fabulous episodes

Remakes

Similar shows

External links

See also: Absolutely Fabulous, 100 Greatest British Television Programmes, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2003, Adrian Edmondson, Adrian Edmonson, Australia