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Absolutely Fabulous

Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone blazed onto British screens in 1992 and fairly quickly achieved legend status, up there with Lucy and Ethel in all-time funniest female duos.

Jennifer Saunders stars as International PR guru Edina Moonsoon. Twice-divorced, with a daughter, Saffron, and a son, Serge, Edina is a fad-following fashion victim, with an expensive but questionable dress sense. Her alcohol consumption and capacity for outrageous behavior are surpassed only by the excesses of her best friend, Patsy.

Patsy "works" for a British fashion magazine in the sense that she gets paid and has a title, although the exact location of her offices is but a dim memory. She lives on champagne, cigarettes and a variety of banned substances. Like many really good friends, she is usually getting Edina into serious trouble. Rounding out the household are Saffie, Edina's sour-faced daughter and full-time martyr, Edina's passive-aggressive mother, and Bubbles, her decorative personal assistant.

Created by Jennifer Saunders and comedy partner Dawn French (of French and Saunder, and Vicar of Dibley), the series continues to amuse and influence.

MAIN CAST

Edina 'Eddy' Monsoon . . . . . . . . . .Jennifer Saunders
Patsy Stone . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Joanna Lumley
Saffron 'Saffy' Monsoon . . . . . . . . .Julia Sawalha
Mother . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .June Whitfield
Bubble . . . . . . . . . . . . . Jane Horrocks
Katy Grin . . . . . . . . . . . .(series 4) . Jane Horrocks
Catriona . . . . . . . . . . .Helen Lederer

OTHER APPEARANCES
Justin . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christopher Malcolm
Marshall . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Christopher Ryan
Bo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Mo Gaffney
Magda . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Kathy Burke
Fleur . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Harriet Thorpe
Sarah . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ..Naoko Morl

CREDITS

Creators: Jennifer Saunders/Dawn French
Writer: Jennifer Saunders
Script Editor: Ruby Wax
Directors: Bob Spiers (1992-2001), Tristam Shapeero (2002)
Producers: Jon Plowman (1992-95), Jon Plowman/Janice Thomas (1996), Jon Plowman/Jonathan P Llewellyn (2001), Jo Sargent (2002)

27 episodes (24 x 30 mins - 2 x 45 mins - 1 x 55 mins) color

Series One (6 x 30) 12 Nov-17 Dec 1992 - BBC2 Thu 9pm
Series Two (6 x 30) 27 Jan-10 Mar 1994 - BBC1 Thu 9.30pm
Series Three (6 x 30) 30 Mar-l1 May 1995 - BBC1 Thu 9.30pm
Special (2 x 45 mins) The Last Shout: Part 1 Nov 6-7, 1996 BBC1
Series Four (6 x 30) 31 Aug-5 Oct 2001 - BBC1 Fri 9pm
Special (1 x 55 mins) Gay 27 Dec 2002 BBC1 Fri 9pm
White Box (1 x 45) December 25, 2004 BBC1 Sat 9:35 PM
Joanna Lumley (Patsy): "I do think it's got a very celebratory feel to it, which is unusual on TV these days. So, unlike a character in a hospital drama or a cop show, which quite often have to deal with grim and depressing subjects, we are concerned with much more fabulous and excessive things. It's fun watching people be so naughty."

Jennifer Saunders (Edina): "But when you see great clothes, something that is beautifully cut and hangs well, you know you can wear that for the next ten years. The problem with Edina is that it might be a nice suit, but she will wear it several sizes too small. So everything she wears, even if it's the most gorgeous item in the world, is always going to look tragic. Much as she dreams of it - it's very unlikely she'll ever be the media star, the celebrity she desperately craves to be."

Julia Sawalha (Saffron): "We've all got a really good, saintly side to us, I think, so you can just draw on that. Saffy's the kind of person we'd all like to be, who's morally right and does everything by the book. You'd just want her to have better dress sense though."

"I was thinking when I was in rehearsals the other day, I've laughed all day, every day, for three days, solidly, and it's just a joy to get up in the morning and go to work. I just kept thinking I'm the luckiest person in the world, to work with all those girls. I hope this doesn't sound sexist, but it's just so nice to work with a group of women. There are no egos and everyone in the room is just so talented, and it's a joy to watch people at work."

June Whitfield (Mother): “I’m always surprised that I’m still working but I’d be happy to keep playing Mother as long as they askme. She’s always changing, she gets more dippy every day. In fact, the only thing that never seems to change is her age – even when they advanced 25 years in one show, Mother looked exactly the same!”

“Originally, I think even Jennifer thought that it would only appeal to a small audience in the fashion or the advertising world, but it’s been universal. We’ve all been called icons – although I don’t think I like that … it sounds like something you’d find in a church – and when we flew out to America for the launch of the third series, we went to a party in New York which was just full of our lookalikes. It was fantastic but the amusing thing was that the person who won as Patsy was a man in drag about 10 feet tall – anything less like Patsy, you’ve never seen.”