Absolutely Fabulous

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Absolutely Fabulous
File:Ab Fab series 5 title card.jpg
Title card of the final series
Created byJennifer Saunders
StarringJennifer Saunders
Joanna Lumley
Julia Sawalha
June Whitfield
Jane Horrocks
Opening theme"This Wheel's on Fire" by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko
Country of origin United Kingdom
No. of episodes36 (list of episodes)
Production
Camera setupMultiple camera
Running timeUsually 30 minutes
Original release
NetworkBBC
Release12 November 1992 –
11 March 2005

Absolutely Fabulous is a British sitcom written by and starring Jennifer Saunders and co-starring Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha, June Whitfield and Jane Horrocks. It was broadcast on the BBC from 1992 to 2005, and is popularly referred to as Ab Fab.

Background

Absolutely Fabulous grew from a French & Saunders sketch called Modern Mother and Daughter, which starred Jennifer Saunders as the mother and Dawn French as the daughter. Contrary to persistent popular belief, the show 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 Eddie Monsoon is derived from Edmondson's name and is a nickname of his.

Cast

Main

Supporting

Plot

Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone are two immature, prosperous, but preposterous substance-abusing fashion and fad-obsessed Londoners who value fame and style over substance (unless they are controlled substances). Saffron, Edina's daughter, provides the persistently dour voice of Monsoon and Stone's super-ego. Edina and Saffy live in a house in Holland Park (although the house is seemingly very close to Shepherds Bush, much to Edina's chagrin), with Patsy spending most of her time there as well.

The programme circles around Eddy's ongoing struggle to achieve fame, success and a slender figure amidst the disapproval of her daughter and the constant presence of her increasingly senile mother. Throughout, Patsy is at her side encouraging the behaviours that are constantly causing her conflict. Much of the comedy of the show is physical, usually derived from Edina and Patsy's drunken and/or stoned states, with their favourite drinks being "Bolli Stoli" (a cocktail of Bollinger champagne and Stolichnaya vodka) and later "Veuve & Bourb" (a mix of Veuve Clicquot champagne and bourbon). The mutual loathing between Saffy and Patsy as each tries to guide Edina's behaviour also makes for many comic situations. A recurring gag found new ways for Edina to fall headfirst out of cars, windows, or down her kitchen stairs at least once every series.

Characters

Eddy

Edwina Margaret Rose Monsoon, an only child, was born on 6 August 1951 in London. She later changed her name to Edina and is nearly always called Eddy; only her mother and ex-husband Justin call her Edwina. She lives in a nice Holland Park house with her daughter Saffy, and owns a public relations firm whose only steady client is 1960s pop singer Lulu, whose professional relationship with Edina is hanging by a thread. In later years, this was switched to model Twiggy and Spice Girl Emma Bunton, who also went to school with Saffy. Though failing in her business, Edina is desperate to give off the aura of success, wealth and fabulousness, even as her outrageously mismatched and poorly-fitted wardrobe belies this.

In an early episode, Edina says that she has always voted Labour, but she notes her disdain for New Labour in the fourth series. She collects hefty alimony payments from her two ex-husbands, Justin and Marshall. Justin (Saffy's father) is gay and for a time has a boyfriend named Oliver. Her first husband, Marshall Turtle – the father of her gay and almost perpetually off-screen son Serge – later marries brash, scheming New-Age Californian Bo Chrysalis (Gaffney), who effortlessly rules over him.

Edina claims to be a Buddhist practising, in her words, "almost religiously." She also claims to be a vegetarian although she is seen eating meat on a few occasions. For dramatic purposes, she is supposed to be two stone overweight (although Jennifer Saunders clearly isn't), and she frequently moans about being too fat; however, she hasn't the willpower to stay on any diet for long. Weak-willed as she is, she spends much of her life caught in an emotional tug of war between Patsy, her lifelong friend and corrupter, and Saffy, her sensible goody-two-shoes daughter.

Patsy

Eurydice Colette Clytemnestra Dido Bathsheba Rabelais Patricia Cocteau Stone – always called Patsy, or Pats – is the last of a string of bastard children born to an aging bohemian mother in Paris. She and Eddy were childhood friends, and since her mother despised and neglected her - regarding her more as a rival than a daughter - she came to rely on the Monsoons for most of her food, shelter and comfort. The first few years of her life were spent locked in a room, and the rest were dismal by Patsy's own description, without friends, parties or presents. She claims to have blocked out everything before 1968, though occasionally memories come back to her in the form of flashbacks. She is an outrageous, nymphomaniacal, past-her-prime fashion model and ex-Bond girl who drinks like a fish and smokes like a chimney. She shares a codependent parasitic existence with her old schoolfriend Eddy. This relationship usually results in hilarious, albeit dysfunctional, behaviour and over-the-top conflicts.

Patsy was born in 1938, and her birthday is 30 October. Although her actual age is never clearly divulged, she often states herself to be between 39 and 43. In one episode ("Cold Turkey") a nurse guesses that she is around 65 years old. Patsy also has an older sister named Jackie, whom Eddy abhors and who twice tried to kill Patsy with drug overdoses. Patsy usually seems as hard as nails and as cold as ice – especially in her behaviour toward Saffy, her chief rival – but she sometimes reveals a more vulnerable side: in flashbacks to her bleak life with her mother, in her overeager admiration for the awful Jackie, and in those rare moments when Eddy temporarily withdraws her friendship.

Unlike Eddy, she is usually stylishly dressed, and almost invariably wears her hair in a characteristic blonde beehive. She has a well-paying, do-nothing job as a fashion director for a fashion magazine, which she received after sleeping with the publisher. She then went on to work in "Jeremy's" - an exclusive high street fashion store, with celebrity clients such as Minnie Driver.

During the 1970s in Morocco, Patsy underwent a sex change and briefly lived as a man; but, as Eddy says "It fell off". She is very promiscuous up until "The Last Shout", then begins to lose her power over men. In two episodes ("Door Handle" and "The Last Shout"), it is revealed that Patsy lives in the storeroom above Oddbins, a chain of UK liquor stores. She says that she has not eaten anything since 1973, having had a "stomach bypass". In the episode "New Year's Eve", however, she painfully chews and swallows a crisp, then pronounces it "delicious"; and in the Christmas Special "Cold Turkey" she renders the entire assembly speechless by demurely asking for a small slice of turkey during Christmas dinner (however, it makes her choke).

Saffy

Edina and Justin's daughter Saffron was born on 17 March 1975 in London. Although most people call her "Saffy", Eddy usually refers to her as "sweetie", "darling", "sweetie-darling" and twice "little budgerigar" – meaning, according to Saunders, the voice of conscience in the household. Eddie once complained, "God! It's like living with a chronically depressed budgerigar!" and another time called Saffy "little budgerigar girl." Patsy, on the other hand, calls her "you little bitch troll from hell", "the bitch daughter" and "you little piece of dribble-piss", etc. As the ever-virtuous high-minded intellectual, Saffy is the perfect foil for Eddie and Patsy, enduring bombastic abuse and immature snideness from both, especially regarding sex. She defends herself by constantly criticizing them both, remorselessly assuming the moral high ground and the voice of reason. However, her mother's neglectful ways, innumerable slights, and occasional outright cruelties have taken their toll, making her excessively serious and rather bitter.

She dresses conservatively – indeed, drably – and almost always behaves responsibly; as a result, many unpleasant chores come her way, and she frequently must rescue Patsy and Eddie from sticky situations. Despite this, Patsy resents Saffy so intensely that once she even sells her into slavery in Morocco. Her mother sometimes treats her affectionately, and in one episode even defends her honour against a married-with-children college tutor who deceitfully tries to seduce her (Edina punches him in the face). Nevertheless, Edina longs for a more exotic, fashionable daughter, and frequently tells her so. Saffy, for her part, passionately wishes to belong to a more normal family, and is once arrested for spying on a random family for her "Observations Diary." Her older brother Serge ran away from home in desperation as a teenager and never calls or writes; nevertheless, he's Eddie's favorite child, even though she can no longer remember what he looks like.

In series four, after completing her education, she writes a play about her life with her mother called "Self Raising Flower;" she means the play to be tragic and is confused when the audience starts laughing. At one point, she becomes involved with New Labour, and says her role model is Cherie Blair. In series five - when she returns home pregnant from a stint of humanitarian work in Uganda - Eddy has nightmares at the prospect of being a grandmother until she learns that Saffy's lover is black, making the baby mixed race and, as such, a fabulous fashion accessory – "the Chanel of babies!" Saffy later gives birth to a daughter and names her Jane; Eddy, however, persists in calling her "Lola".

Mrs. Monsoon - "Gran"

Edina's mother, Mrs. Monsoon, is a good-natured woman who often pretends to be rather senile. She is despised by her daughter but much loved by her granddaughter. She has a strange relationship with Edina and seems to regard her with indifference, giving all her motherly devotion to Saffy.

Edina's insults never seem to affect her; in fact, she usually manages to drop a few hard-hitting but humorous insults of her own. Most of the time she recognises the eccentricities of Edina, Patsy and visitors to the house. At times she even seems to see the dysfunctional qualities in Saffy. She was a sort of surrogate mother to Patsy, whose own mother neglected her; however, their relationship is ambiguous. Patsy shows her some respect, even helping her and calling her "Mrs M". When Mrs. Monsoon's husband dies ("Death"), Patsy attempts to comfort her by awkwardly patting her head and saying "I condole you", adding that Mr.M "chose the right season to go, as black is in this season". Mrs. Monsoon sometimes makes condescending remarks about Patsy, even in her presence, once telling Eddy that she is not a suitable or reliable friend and calling her "poor-dear-sad-old Patsy". Mrs. Monsoon is also apt to confuse the occasional transvestite for Patsy.

Mrs. Monsoon displays a kleptomanical streak at times, taking random items from Edina's household (mugs, ashtrays, clothing) and donating them to the charity shop she volunteers at, "Bric-n-Brac-n-Knic-n-Knack-n-Things." She's been known to turn Edina's high-style clothing into other things (such as "the only genuine LaCroix-Versace-quilty-bedspread in existence").

In the first few series, she is a valuable ally for Saffy in her struggle for domestic control, often mentioning embarrassing facts from Eddy's and Patsy's childhood. But after series three, her mental faculties begin to decline and she increasingly inhabits a strange world of her own. Eddy addresses her, usually indirectly, as "The Old Woman" and once "Old Caca", never as "Mum" or "Mother". However in the episode where Edina left for France, she did give her mother a hug and say "Bye mum" to which Mother asked her if she had everything she needed. In only one scene throughout the entire run of the show are the two alone together, and it's an awkward experience for both of them. When Gran's husband - affectionately known as "Daddy" - dies during series 2, Eddy infuriates Saffy by responding to the news with a blank stare and the question "Did he leave a will?". Gran doesn't seem to care much either, realising that she'll have a bit more room at her house.

Bubble

Eddy's personal assistant at work. Her inability to remember the names of the most common of objects (computer, television, fax machine, etc.) or understand the most basic of concepts (the fact that the year goes up by one on New Year's Eve) are often the basis of much humour. Edina can often be seen painfully trying to drag vital information from her, a feat which is aggravated by her complete inability to recall the simplest of facts. Her sole purpose in Edina's PR company is to make Edina look good by comparison. Despite her utter daftness, Bubble shows rare glimpses of genius and special abilities. She is also fluent in French, but in one episode is heard uttering French sounding gibberish. Bubble has perhaps the strangest fashion sense of the characters, and her outfits are frequently so bizarre as to be parodies. She is inexplicably made editor of Vogue magazine, but she soon returns to Edina and it is not clear that she ever took up her new position. In fact, she resigns her position as Edina's PA on two other occasions. Edina tries to fire Bubble for gross incompetence, but Bubble sues - and wins - the right to keep her job. Unfortunately for her, the details of her job were not specified, so Edina makes Bubble her maid. Later, Bubble abandons Edina when her PR company is on the verge of being taken over by Claudia Bing. During the last series, Bubble's character changes somewhat. Still mad as ever, she assumes an affected and insulting snobbery, looking down on Edina and Patsy, and even big celebrities like Elton John and Minnie Driver. She occasionally rebukes Edina for her irresponsibility, and annoys her with her mad but hard-hitting insights into the celebrity-driven society Edina moves into. From the beginning she is insulting to Patsy, subtly exposing her superficiality. But in later episodes she is not so subtle. Bubble is also Katy Grin's cousin.

Sarah

Sarah is a quiet, shy, studious girl and Saffron's best friend since childhood. In the beginning of the series, she rarely drinks, regarding "low-alcohol cider" as "brilliant," saying that "once, at a party, I drank a whole can!" By season 4, Sarah carried a flask in her jacket, drinking even while working as the stagehand on Saffron's play. Sarah is Saffron's Patsy-figure in tempting Saffy to try drinking alcohol and teasing her about her romantic endeavors, real or imagined. Because of her timid demeanor, Sarah is often the subject of Edina's derision and physical abuse. Edina consistently refers to her as "Titicaca" and once set her hair on fire with a candle. This triggered Sarah to seek professional counselling, which seemed to drive her into a deeper state of imbalance. In the 4th and 5th series, Sarah starts to unravel, becoming more and more unstable, and eventually takes to stalking Spice Girl Emma Bunton, another friend of Saffron's. At this point, Saffy realizes Sarah needs more professional help and reports her to the police.

Justin

Justin is Saffron's father and Edina's second ex-husband. He is gay and keeps an antique shop with his partner Oliver, a frequent guest in the early series. Justin tries hard to be the best father he can to Saffron and the two of them have what is probably the healthiest relationship on the show; however, he sometimes seems quite afraid of Edina, and it is never explained why he left the infant Saffy in her care. Justin and Edina put up with each other for Saffron's sake but are not always successful in carrying out this charade. Patsy and Justin have a variable relationship. They often act antagonistically toward each other, but other times seem to get along well. Oliver and Saffy are friends, even though he despises Patsy and loathes Edina... for good reason. Justin is Canadian and usually walks with a cane.

Marshall

Marshall is Edina's first husband and father to Serge, Saffy's half-brother who managed to escape the Monsoon household early on. Numerous references are made to Serge throughout the series, but we only see him once in a special late in the series. Marshall is an unsuccessful movie producer in Hollywood who later begins pursuing other money-making schemes with his wife, Bo. Bo dominates him easily, and when he's with her he seems more like a young child than a husband; she watches what he eats and once even changes his soiled underwear for him. Early in the series, however, Marshall manifests a more masculine, adult persona when he appears with Sondra, a grief therapist, and Cherysh, a classic California airhead. Although Marshall is generally kind to Saffy, perhaps pitying her for having to live with Edina, he does comply with Bo's attempt to steal her baby to be sold through their own private adoption agency to Hollywood actors wishing to adopt. It was hinted later in the series that Marshall had some gay feelings, which he explored with a leather daddy.

Bo

Bo is Marshall's wife throughout most of the series. She is a loud and obnoxious person who at random will shout "Praise Jesus!", but with warm and caring tendencies, except when trying to steal Saffy's baby, however she actually stole the placenta. She is a nurse by training, but we see her perform this function only once in the series when Patsy is living in New York. She tends to have a drug and alcohol problem when she's experiencing hardships. Both Bo and Marshall experiment with different religious groups throughout the show, including Christianity, Judaism, and The Church of Scientology.

Episodes

Main article: List of Absolutely Fabulous episodes

Absolutely Fabulous first aired on 12 November 1992, and ran for three series until 4 May 1995, when the sixth episode of series 3 was billed as the last-ever episode. However, the following year in November 1996, two specials, called "The Last Shout", were broadcast and were also billed as the last-ever episodes. Both 'last episodes' featured end sequences with flashes to the future. However, after writing Mirrorball, Jennifer Saunders decided she had more ideas [1], and on 31 August 2001 the fourth series premiered. A further series and three specials followed, the last of which aired on 25 December 2004. In July 2005, Saunders announced she would not be writing or playing Edina again, stating "The 6am calls to go to make-up and all the promotional work wear you down. I would like to write and direct — that would be my joy".

Special Guests

Many celebrities appeared in the series, most of them as themselves. They were: Template:MultiCol

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Theme song

The theme song for Ab Fab is called This Wheel's on Fire written by Bob Dylan and Rick Danko and performed in this instance by Julie Driscoll and Adrian Edmondson. The song was also sung by Marianne Faithfull and P. P. Arnold for The Last Shout Special in 1996. This version does not appear on the new BBC Video DVD release. Hermine Demoriane sang a French version of the theme song over the closing credits of the episode 'Paris'. More recently, it has been sung by Blondie lead singer, Debbie Harry along with Saunders' husband Adrian Edmondson as well, who also guest-starred in the 2002 Christmas Special "Gay".

In addition to the official theme song, in 1994, the Pet Shop Boys recorded a song for Comic Relief using excerpts of dialogue from the series put to dance music. The music video featured clips from the show and specially recorded footage of the Pet Shop Boys with Patsy and Edina.

Other countries

In the United States, Absolutely Fabulous has been broadcast on Comedy Central, PBS, BBC America, and since 2003 Oxygen Network as well. In Canada, since 1994, all episodes have been broadcast on BBC Canada, the CBC and The Comedy Network. In Australia, all series were originally shown on the ABC, and on cable it aired on UK.TV and moved to The Comedy Channel in 2007. Repeats of the first three series were also shown on the Seven Network. The ABC continues to show it sporadically and shows Christmas Specials and occasional repeats of Series Five or Six episodes. In Portugal it was shown in RTP2. In Serbia, the first series was aired in 1998, through a network of local television stations; in 2004 the series was aired in its entirety on B92 while in the Czech Republic all episodes have been shown. In the Republic of Macedonia, all episodes have been shown a couple of times on Sitel. In the Netherlands, the series is popular, still being broadcast by the VPRO. In Sweden, the show is broadcast by TV4 Plus. In Germany, it was broadcast by the franco-German TV network arte. In France, before it was rerun on terrestrial TV arte, it was successively premiered on Pay TV channel Canal +,cable channel Jimmy and is now broadcast on France 4. In Finland, the series was broadcast by YLE TV1. In Brazil it was aired on Multishow.

Remakes

Absolutely Fabulous inspired a French feature film, called Absolument fabuleux, in 2001. This was written and directed by Gabriel Aghion, and starred Josiane Balasko as Eddie and Nathalie Baye as Patsy. Jennifer Saunders had a small cameo alongside Catherine Deneuve as a spectator at a fashion show. French gay icon and Patsy Stone lookalike Amanda Lear was asked to play the part of Patsy but turned it down saying she'd "already lived it".

A proposed American remake that would have starred Carrie Fisher was put into motion by Roseanne Barr but never got off the ground. However, Barr did incorporate many elements of the show into the final season of her eponymous show Roseanne in which her character wins the lottery, even hiring Saunders and Lumley to reprise their Absolutely Fabulous characters Edina and Patsy in one episode[2].

An American sitcom called High Society was not a direct remake of Absolutely Fabulous but was clearly inspired by it. This toned-down adaptation starred Jean Smart and Mary McDonnell and lasted only a shortened single season, but did garner an Emmy nomination for Jayne Meadows in the role of McDonnell's character's mother.

The American sitcom Cybill, which was not directly intended as a remake, shared some elements of Ab Fab's comedic style, particularly in the boozy, campy antics of Christine Baranski's Maryanne.

In 2000, a short-lived Canadian adaptation called P.R., starring Diane Flacks and Ellie Harvey, also aired.

Mirrorball

Mirrorball was a show written by Saunders that featured a completely different plot and set of characters, but starred all of the main cast of Absolutely Fabulous. While not being a remake or spin-off, it is the only time in British TV history that two identical casts were used in two totally different shows. Only a pilot of Mirrorball was ever made.

File:AbFabDVD1.jpg
Series 1 DVD cover

The pilot of "Mirrorball" is included in the Special Features of the American DVD release of the fourth season. Several jokes and plotlines of the pilot episode were used in the eventual Season Premiere of the 4th season of AB FAB albeit with the original characters.

DVD releases

All episodes of Absolutely Fabulous have been released on DVD in Region 2 (UK), by 2 Entertain Video, with the exception of the 2004 Christmas Special.

Series 1-5, in addition to the specials "The Last Shout" and "Ab Fab: New York" (Released under the title "Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Special" and "Absolutely Fabulous: Gay" in the UK), have also been released on DVD by Warner Brothers and BBC Video in Region 1 (US/Canada). The original French and Saunders sketch is an 'extra' on the Series One DVD (on both the UK, US and Australian versions), and the pilot of Mirrorball is an extra on the DVD of Series 4. Each series' DVD also features a fifteen-minute outtake reel. On October 16, the 2004 Christmas special "White Box" will be released on DVD with two featurettes ("How to Be Absolutely Fabulous" and "Ab Fab Moments") and the original sketch from French and Saunders that served as the basis for it. It is unknown at this time whether or not the 2005 Comic Relief special will be included as another extra on this DVD.

The Region 4 (Australia/Pacific Islands) DVDs have been released up to Series 5, with all the specials released as individual DVDs with their original episode names. In March 2007, the complete box set of Absolutely Fabulous, entitled Absolutely Fabulous: Absolutely Everything was released in Region 4.

Footnotes

  1. ^ "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy". BBC Worldwide Ltd. 2003.
  2. ^ "Radio Times Guide to TV Comedy". BBC Worldwide Ltd. 2003.

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to Absolutely Fabulous.

Fashion blog

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