Cast of ‘scandalous’ 90s BBC comedy finally reuniting for one-off special

Jane Horrocks, Dame Joanna Lumley, Jennifer Saunders and Julia Sawalha come together for an Absolutely Fabulous reunion (Picture: Adam Lawrence/PA Wire)

The cast of Absolutely Fabulous are finally reuniting for the time in eight years for a one-off special, dah-ling.

Jennifer Saunders, Dame Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha and Jane Horrocks will be coming together to celebrate one of the most debaucherous British comedies of all time, which even they’ve admitted ‘couldn’t be made today’ because it was ‘too scandalous’.

The gang will be reflecting on its creation and evolution from the BBC to the big screen as well as paying tribute to June Whitfield, who died in 2018 aged 93 and played Edina Monsoon’s mischievous mother only known to viewers as ‘Mother’.

Ab Fab followed reckless PR Edina (Saunders) and former ‘It’ girl and model Patsy (Lumley) as they partied through their 40s, avoided any adult responsibility at all costs by drinking bottles of Bolly like water, taking whatever drug came their way while spending afternoons bankrupting themselves at Liberty.

Eddy’s long-suffering daughter Saffy (Sawalha) would usually be the thankless grownup to clean up their mess.

Horrocks starred as Edina’s strange and slow assistant Bubble while A-list celebrities such as Lulu, Emma Bunton, and Twiggy regularly made cameos bemoaning Edina’s dreadful PR company.

Saunders, who wrote and created Ab Fab as well as starring as Eddie, said she was thankful for the ‘kind and helpful’ sitcom.

Absolutely Fabulous was one of the most debaucherous comedies of the 90s (Picture: BBC)

Patsy and Eddie are two of the greatest icons of comedy (Picture: Mark Lloyd/ANL/REX/Shutterstock)

She said: ‘I loved making Ab Fab but I can’t remember a great deal, so much of this retrospective is a revelation to me.’

Dame Joanna added: ‘It was a fabulous wander down memory lane by actresses who only have the faintest grip on reality. Really thrilling, and I hope vastly entertaining. I loved every second.’

Kirsty Hanson, who commissioned the documentary for comedy channel Gold said the show ‘helped break the mould for female-led comedy’ and added fans are ‘in for a real treat’.

Celebrity fans will also join in on the fun to share their memories of Ab Fab while viewers will also be treated so some never-before-seen clips.

Absolutely Fabulous launched in 1992 and ran until 2003. It returned for three more episodes in 2011 and 2012 to celebrate its 20th anniversary before ending with Absolutely Fabulous: The Movie.  

Absolutely Fabulous: Inside Out airs on Gold later this year.

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