Absolutely Fabulous (often shortened to Ab Fab) 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 (Joanna Lumley), whose drug abuse, alcohol consumption and desperate promiscuity far eclipse Edina's. Edina relies upon the support of her daughter Saffron (Julia Sawalha), 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 (Saunders) is the middle-aged owner of a failing PR firm in London's Holland Park neighbourhood. Her best friend is Patsy Stone (Lumley), 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 (most notably Bollinger Champagne) 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 (Sawalha), whose constant involvement in their exploits has left her increasingly bitter and cynical. Edina's unnamed mother (Whitfield) visits the Monsoon home frequently to keep Saffron company, help with chores and, quite often, taking Edina's possessions to sell off at 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 (Horrocks), an incompetent, immature and neurotic personal assistant, whose antics frequently lead to further complications for Edina's business and personal life.
Cast and characters +CharacterActorSeries 1Series 2Series 3‘The Last Shout’ Specials (1996)Series 4‘Gay’ Special (2002)Series 5‘White Box’ Special (2004)20th Anniversary Specials (2011-2012)Film (2016)Main CastEdina ‘Eddie’ MonsoonJennifer SaundersMainPatricia ‘Patsy’ StoneJoanna LumleyMainSaffron ‘Saffy’ MonsoonJulia SawalhaMainMotherJune WhitfieldMainBubbleJane HorrocksMainMainRecurring CastMarshall TurtleChristopher RyanRecurringCatrionaHelen LedererRecurringFleurHarriet ThorpeRecurringJustinChristopher MalcolmRecurringRecurringSarahNaoko MoriRecurringRecurringRecurringMagdaKathy BurkeRecurringRecurringPatsy’s MotherEleanor BronRecurringRecurringBo TurtleMo GaffneyRecurringRecurringOliverGary BeadleRecurringRecurringLulu (singer)LuluRecurringRecurringNurse/BeauticianLlewella GideonRecurringRecurringRecurringBettinaMiranda RichardsonRecurring RecurringMaxPatrick BarlowRecurringRecurringClaudia BingCelia ImrieRecurringRecurring RecurringJackie StoneKate O'MaraRecurringRecurringKaty GrinJane HorrocksRecurringRecurringTwiggyTwiggyRecurringEmma BuntonEmma BuntonRecurringRecurringJohn JohnsonFelix DexterRecurring
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 (Horrocks also recurs as TV hostess Katy Grin in Series 4 and 5) June Whitfield as Edina's mother, never named but called "Mrs. M" by Patsy
Recurring and guest Christopher Ryan as Marshall Turtle, Edina's first husband, father of her mostly-unseen son Serge (Series 1–5, film) Mo Gaffney as Bo Turtle (née Crysalis), Marshall's American girlfriend, later wife, a nurse and wellness enthusiast (Series 1, 3–5, film) Christopher Malcolm as Justin, Saffron's father and Edina's second husband, a Canadian antique dealer (Series 1–5) Naoko Mori as Sarah, Saffron's neurotic best friend (Series 1–5) Helen Lederer and Harriet Thorpe as Catriona and Fleur, Patsy's vain and superficial magazine co-editors (Series 1–5, film) Eleanor Bron as Patsy's free-spirited dilettante mother (Series 1–2, 5) Kathy Burke as Magda, the editor-in-chief of several magazines Patsy works for (Series 1–3, film) Gary Beadle as Oliver, Justin's partner (Series 1, 3) Miranda Richardson as Bettina, a former friend of Edina's (Series 2, 5) Patrick Barlow as Max, Bettina's husband (Series 2, 5) Llewella Gideon as a nurse/beautician, who openly detests Edina (Series 2, 5, film) Celia Imrie as Claudia Bing, Edina's chief rival in the PR industry (Series 3–4, film) Tilly Blackwood as Lady Candida De Denison-Bender (Series 4) Antony Cotton as Damon (Series 4) Felix Dexter as John Johnson, Saffron's husband, later ex-husband, and father of her daughter Jane/Lola (Series 5)
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" (from series 3 episode 6), which starred Saunders as the mother, named Adrianna, and French as the daughter, named Saffron (as in the series). 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.
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'".'Caitlin Moran talks to Jennifer Saunders', Chain Reaction, Series 8 Episode 6. BBC Radio 4, 31 August 2012
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 (Sawalha) was ultimately cast.
Jennifer Saunders recalled in 2016 that Joanna Lumley was not "what I had in mind for Patsy", having originally envisaged the character as a "low-life journalist". Lumley asked her agent to withdraw her from the project, following the "awkward" initial read through, having received a subdued response from Saunders. Lumley's agent persuaded her to commit to the pilot and the character was re-shaped around Lumley's performance and modelling past.
Absolutely Fabulous initially met with some resistance at the BBC. Producer Jon Plowman recalled that the Head of Comedy did not think women being drunk was funny. According to Plowman, an assistant to the Head of Entertainment enjoyed the pilot so much that she made copies of it and shared it with friends, this positive reaction helped persuade the BBC to commission the series.
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 (retitled and issued as Absolutely Fabulous in New York for the United States) in 2002 and White Box (another series finale), which aired in 2004. A Comic Relief sketch was broadcast in 2005.