This year marks three whole decades since Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone burst onto our screens in a Bolly-drenched, drug-fuelled blaze of ridiculousness in Absolutely Fabulous.
The BBC sitcom followed the antics of PR guru Eddy and fashion magazine editor Patsy, sending up the industry and the colourful characters that inhabited it.
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Ab Fab originally spawned three series and a special between 1992 and 1996, before subsequent revivals in 2001 and 2012, with a big-screen outing seemingly serving as a swan song for the outrageous duo, played sublimely by creator Jennifer Saunders and co-star Joanna Lumley.
Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders as Patsy and Eddy in Absolutely Fabulous
Radio Times via Getty Images
There’s never any shortage of cries for Jennifer to resurrect Eddy and Patsy, and as we approach Ab Fab’s 30th anniversary later this year, speculation is bound to intensify as to whether the comedian has something up her Lacroix sleeve.
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As we wait patiently to find out, we’re continuing our celebration of nostalgic TV in our Rewind To The 90s series with 18 surprising facts about Ab Fab you probably won’t have known…
1. Ab Fab started life as a French & Saunders sketch
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Absolutely Fabulous was first conceived after Jennifer and Dawn devised a sketch for their show French & Saunders called Modern Mother and Daughter.
The skit aired in 1990, and featured the characters that would later become known as Eddy and Saffy – although Dawn played the original “Saffy”.
2. There was originally some concern that the show might be too London-centric for everyone to get it
Ab Fab producer Jon Plowman – who later became the BBC’s head of comedy – said that when they started work on the show, there was concern that “an audience outside the square mile of Soho would not know what this was about”, he told the LA Times in 1994.
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3. It originally started out on BBC Two, before being promoted to the main channel
Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley in the first episode of Ab Fab
According to the LA Times, the BBC originally hoped the show would find a modest cult following, but it proved such a hit with critics and viewers that it was promoted from BBC Two to BBC One for its second series.
“Maybe one of the things about comedy is that if you set out to make something of huge mass appeal, you’re less likely to make something that really catches fire,” Jon Plowman said.
4. The show proved to be a difficult sell in the US, however
A number of the big networks turned down the chance to show Ab Fab in the early 90s, with one TV boss telling Plowman that Eddy and Patsy were not very good “role models.”
Plowman said he was repeatedly told that execs thought the show was “wonderful, but we could never show it”.
The show was eventually picked up by Comedy Central in 1994.
“As soon as we saw it, we knew it was absolutely right for us,” Comedy Central’s senior vice president of programming at the time Mitch Semel said. “For us, it’s dead on target.”
5. Two attempts to make a local US version failed
In the 90s, Roseanne Barr put the wheels in motion to produce a US version of Ab Fab, which would have starred Carrie Fisher and Barbara Carrera as Eddy and Patsy, but it never came to fruition.
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In 2008, another attempt was made with Kathryn Hahn and Kristen Johnston set to play the lead roles, with Zosia Mamet (aka Shoshanna from Girls) as Saffy, but Fox passed on commissioning a full series.
6. Eddy and Patsy did appear on an episode of Rosanne’s comedy, though
After Rosanne’s planned adaptation of Ab Fab did not work out, Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley appeared as their characters in an episode of the US star’s hit sitcom in 1996.
Fellow Ab Fab star Mo Gaffney also appeared in the episode, but did not play her character Bo.
The episode saw Roseanne, Jackie, and Nancy visit New York City’s Upper West Side, where they mingled with celebrities and were invited to Martha’s Vineyard.
7. Bananarama was a huge inspiration for Ab Fab
Jennifer and comedy partner Dawn French with Bananarama in 2017
David M. Benett via Getty Images
Jennifer spent a lot of time with the 80s pop group in their heyday, describing having “some of the best nights of my life” with them.
She told Caitlin Moran during a Radio 4 interview: “I got a lot of gags from Bananarama because they were big vodka drinkers… when I started doing Ab Fab, 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’.”
8. PR exec Lynne Franks was also a rumoured influence for Eddy’s character
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Lynne Franks pictured in 2004
Gareth Davies via Getty Images
Jennifer has long cited publicist Lynne Franks as someone she based the character of Eddy on.
When the show was originally on air, Lynne was rather displeased about her link to the show, but in 2018, she said that it no longer “upsets as much as it used to”.
Lynne, who appeared as a contestant on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! in 2007, told the BBC: “It is a very funny programme and I love it but it can get a little bit tedious when it gets mentioned every time.
“If it creates an interest in me and I can then talk about things I really care about, then it is a really useful and helpful tool.”
9. Eddy Monsoon is named after Jennifer’s husband Adrian Edmondson
Jennifer Saunders and Adrian Edmondson in 1989
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It is a play on his name that he used in an episode of Channel 4 show Comic Strip Presents in 1984, in which Jennifer also starred.
10. Adrian can also be heard on the show’s theme tune
Wheels On Fire was originally recorded by Bob Dylan in 1967, before Julie Driscoll recorded a cover a year later.
Adrian’s vocal was added to a reworking of Julie’s version, appearing alongside her on the theme. It was remixed when the show returned for a fourth season in 2001, with Julie credited under the surname Tippetts.
Kylie Minogue also recorded a cover as the soundtrack to the 2015 film.
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11. Jennifer was frightened by Julia Sawalha in her original audition
June Whitfield, Jennifer Saunders and Julia Sawalha on set in 1992
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In the 2001 series companion book Continuity, Jennifer said that they had already seen quite a few people for the role of Eddy’s daughter, but none were right – but then Julia auditioned.
“She didn’t try to make Saffy funny,” Jennifer explained. “I found her quite frightening to read with because she was so serious I couldn’t look her in the eye.”
12. There is only 10 years between Jennifer and on-screen daughter Julia
Julia Sawalha (left) and Jennifer Saunders in a scene from episode Fat in 1992
Radio Times via Getty Images
When Ab Fab started, Eddy was just turning 40, while Saffy was 16, but in actuality, Jennifer was 34 and Julia was 24.
13. Joanna Lumley was cast after appearing on Ruby Wax’s sketch show
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During the sketch on a 1991 episode of The Full Wax, Joanna – who was known for her roles in the likes of The Avengers – showed a different side when she sent herself up as a drunk, drug-taking has-been, which cast her in a new light.
14. Joanna used her own hair to create Pasty’s beehive hairstyle
In a promo photo for the show
Radio Times via Getty Images
Pasty’s barnet is nearly as iconic as the woman herself, and it was all Joanna’s own hair used to create it.
Jennifer compared it to “the Tardis” from Doctor Who, writing in Companion: “When it’s down and normal it looks perfectly safe, but once a hairdresser gets inside and whips it up, you realise the extraordinary volume.”
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15. Jane Horrocks actually auditioned to play Saffy
Jane Horrocks pictured in 1992
Ron Galella via Getty Images
Jane tried out for the part of Eddy’s daughter, but Jennifer instead cast her as the character’s assistant Bubble instead.
In the 2001 series companion book Continuity, Jennifer said: “She looked nothing like me and was frankly too old, even though she’s not as ancient as Dawn French… But Jane is so talented and funny and attractive that we immediately offered her Bubble.”
16. Bubble was originally conceived as a very different character
Jane was cast as Eddy’s assistant Bubble after auditioning as Saffy
Radio Times via Getty Images
Jennifer wrote in Continuity: “When I first wrote Bubble, I had imagined a useless ‘Sloane Ranger’ secretary. A girl so posh but very stupid that she might either become a secretary or do a cordon bleu course or work for a high-profile charity.”
Of how the part changed after Jane’s casting, Jennifer added: “What was upper class eccentricity became bizarre and surreal.
“The costumes which always seemed rather childlike and extreme were always based on the very newest ideas in magazines like i-D. Fashion taken to its limits.”
17. Idris Elba appeared in the show before he was famous
Idris Elba appeared in the third series of Absolutely Fabulous
The actor is now world famous, but prior to hitting the big time, Idris appeared in the 1995 episode Sex, where he played an escort.
18. Jennifer thought the original finale of the show was “disjointed”
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When Jennifer decided to wrap up Ab Fab after three seasons in 1996, she responded to criticism from a newspaper critic who called the last episode “an idea flogged well past its sell-by date”.
In an interview with The Independent, Jennifer said that the episode was “disjointed”, but added: “I just had to get rid of all those jokes I’d always wanted to do. It would have been tragic to look back in 2000 and think, ‘I wish I’d done that’.”
As it turned out, Ab Fab ended up returning for two more series between 2001 and 2004.
We all remember the likes of Absolutely Fabulous, SM:TV Live, Blind Date, but there’s been a whole host of other shows from back in the 90s that have been consigned to the TV vaults.
As HuffPost continues its celebration of old-school televisual treats in our series Rewind To The 90s, we’re raiding the archives to uncover a host of programmed you’d likely forgotten all about… until now.
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1. Man O Man
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Man O Man turned the concept of a beauty pageant on its head and featured a host of male contestants, with a female audience voting on the winner after they were put through various challenges. It memorably saw losing contestants pushed into a swimming pool behind them.
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Based on the German gameshow of the same name, Man O Man was hosted by Chris Tarrant and aired for two series between 1996 and 1999.
2. Don’t Try This At Home
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After learning her craft as a presenter with roles on MTV and a number of late night shows, Davina arrived on prime time with her own Saturday night series, Don’t Try This At Home, in 1998.
It saw members of the public facing tough and extreme challenges, such as bungee jumping, or facing their fears by being locked in a room full of spiders.
One episode saw Davina have to bungee jump from a helicopter into the Grand Canyon after one contestant pulled out of a challenge at the last minute.
3. Hetty Wainthropp Investigates
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Patrica Routledge is beloved for her role as snobby neighbourhood busybody Hyacinth Bucket in BBC sitcom Keeping Up Appearances. But after leaving the show in 1995 at the height of its popularity, Patricia said she wanted to pursue other more dramatic roles – the first of which came a year later when she began playing the titular character in detective series Hetty Wainthropp Investigates.
Airing for four series between 1996 and 1998, viewers followed Hetty – a retired woman from the North West of England – solving crimes that were often seen as too trivial for the police.
4. Ground Force
Coming off the success of home renovation series Changing Rooms was its horticultural counterpart Ground Force.
Each week a team of designers, builders and gardeners, headed up by Alan Titchmarsh, Charlie Dimmock and Tommy Jones would transform an unloved garden, sparking a national obsession with decking and pebble bubble fountains.
5. The Thin Blue Line
The 90s was a golden era for British comedy, with shows like Absolutely Fabulous, Keeping Up Appearances, Desmond’s, Dinnerladies, Men Behaving Badly and The Vicar Of Dibley among the most notable.
One that is often less well remembered is The Thin Blue line – a sitcom penned by Ben Elton set in a police station.
Starring Mr Bean himself Rowan Atkinson and Rudolph Walker (aka EastEnders’ Patrick Truman), it focused on the divide between the uniformed squad and CID and their conflicting approaches to policing.
Only 14 episodes were made across two series between 1995 and 1996.
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6. Sunburn
Sunburn was a BBC drama that followed the lives of a group of British holiday reps working in the Algarve, starring Michelle Collins, Sharon Small, Sean Maguire and Paul Nicholas.
The idea for the show, which ran for two series between 1999 and 2000 – came about after writer Mike Bullen (the man behind Cold Feet) watched the docu-soap Holiday Reps.
7. The Grimleys
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This comedy drama followed the trials and tribulations of the everyday Grimley family, based in the Midlands in the 1970s.
Written by Line Of Duty creator Jed Mercurio, it also starred Amanda Holden in one of her early dramatic roles, where she played school teacher, Miss Geraldine Titley.
After a pilot in 1997, it ran for three series between 1999 and 2001.
8. The Cruise
Following the success of the BBC’s fly-on-the-wall documentary series Airport, the broadcaster set its sight on the seas, and launched The Cruise, which followed the staff aboard the luxury liner Galaxy.
It was also the show that launched the TV career of Loose Women legend and cruiser extraordinaire Jane McDonald.
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Jane was working as a singer on board and captured the nation’s hearts with her down to earth sense of humour and blossoming relationship with partner Henrik, who she went on to marry on the show, which aired for 12 episodes in 1998.
One of the key shows in Channel 5’s early years was House Doctor – a home renovation series with a twist.
Each episode would see Californian real-estate stylist Ann Maurice come to the rescue of people struggling to sell their homes, helping them to declutter and redecorate on a budget in order to attract potential buyers.
Having originally aired between 1998 and 2003, there was a brief revival in 2016, where Ann was succeeded by new designer Tracy Metro.
10. Peak Practice
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Peak Practice was an ITV drama that ran from 1993 to 2002 which was set in a fictional GP surgery in the Peak District.
Kevin Whately, Amanda Burton and Sarah Parish were among those who appeared during the course of its 12 series.
The show ended on somewhat of a cliffhanger when it was axed by ITV, with two characters going over the edge of a cliff, with their fate remaining unclear.
11. Talking Telephone Numbers
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This ITV game show gave viewers the chance to win cash based on their telephone number.
During the course of each episode, various variety acts would perform and play a short game that would generate a number. Once five digits were selected, viewers who had them in their phone number could call into one of the show’s 96 telephonists. A phone line would then be picked at random, and that person given the chance to win £25,000.
The show was presented by Phillip Schofield between 1994 and 1997, with Emma Forbes joining him for the first four series, and Claudia Winkleman co-hosting the final run with him.
12. The Frank Skinner Show
Graham Norton and Jonathan Ross make up the majority of hosts on the chat show circuit these days, but back in the 90s, they had company from the likes of Michael Parkinson, Mrs Merton, Des O’Connor and Frank Skinner.
You might have forgotten that Frank hosted an eponymous late-night show for the BBC between 1995 and 1999, before moving to ITV for its final six years.
As well as celebrity chat, the show also used to feature a stand-up routine, sketches and a comedy song.
