In a special Christmas treat for BBC Two, Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders reunite for a trip to the Champagne region of France to find out exactly how to put the bubbles into bubbly, from the annual harvest to the miles of underground cellars, while sharing stories of filming Ab Fab and reminiscing about their friendship.
Absolutely Fabulous glam gals Jennifer Saunders and Joanna Lumley (in character as Edina and Patsy) are among the few down-to-earth participants in Roseanne's outrageous Halloween outing. They're guests at an Upper West Side soirée, where new multimillionaires Roseanne and Jackie have gained entrée into New York society. But for grandmother-to-be Roseanne, a witches' coven soon comes into play — a la Rosemary's Baby — and bizarre happenings begin to involve a very pregnant Darlene.
Special taking a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the first two series of "Absolutely Fabulous". Includes interviews with the cast and producers, telephone messages from Bette Midler, and Elizabeth Taylor and Neil Tennant conducting business with Roseanne regarding the American version of the series.
The Story Of Absolutely Fabulous is the definitive account of one of British comedy's most successful sitcoms. The programme answers burning questions such as: was Patsy once a man? Why was Joanna Lumley nearly put off taking the role of Patsy? Who was originally going to play Saffy? And what do Marisa Berensen, Jennifer Saunders and Lynne Franks all have in common? From how it came into being to how it manages to stay at the top of its game, this entertaining and engaging documentary follows the antics of the Ab Fab crew, namely Jennifer Saunders, Joanna Lumley, Julia Sawalha and June Whitfield. It also sheds light on some of comedy's most far-out characters. Featuring behind-the-scenes footage and drunken outtakes, The Story Of Absolutely Fabulous is everything you need to know... and a little bit more.
Eddie spends her first Christmas at home, much to Saffy's chagrin, and goes all out for the festivities. John is preoccupied with knowing the details of Justin's sex life. Marshall and Bo arrive for Christmas with their details of the infomercial they've been doing "since the bottom fell out of the baby business." Patsy, who detests Christmas, is happy when she collapses and gets to spend a few days on drugs in the hospital... though it seems that her condition may be more dire than anyone realized.
Patsy's off to New York's fashion week and drags Eddie along for company. As you can imagine it didn't take much persuasion, especially after Mother lets it slip that Serge is living there. The pair get into all sorts of mischief in New York, including a Gay wedding, celebrity appearances and fashion faux pas. Meanwhile, back in the UK, Eddie's first husband and partner Bo run a christian TV channel. Saffy's studying people whilst in a cupboard and Bubble desperately tries to be useful.
This is the pilot for what was intended to be a new sitcom called Mirrorball. Although it's written by Jennifer Saunders, and includes all of the main cast members from AbFab, as well as some of the supporting cast, the plot and characters in Mirrorball are different, despite many personality similarities to the AbFab characters. After this was filmed, Saunders was inspired to revive Absolutely Fabulous in 2001, and the Mirrorball series was never produced. The show centers around Vivienne Krell (Saunders) and Jackie Riviera (Joanna Lumley), two aging stage actresses who live in vertically adjacent flats. The two are of questionable talent, and their careers seem to be at a standstill. During the course of the pilot, Vivienne has the opportunity to be cast in a new show but delivers a horrifying rendition of the standard "Send in the Clowns", thanks in part to Jackie's off-kilter advice (Jackie shouts at her from off-stage to "Sparkle! SPARKLE!").